"The lot is cast into the lap, but the whole disposing thereof is
of the Lord."--PROVERBS XVI. 33.
And even thus did the mighty Empire hurry headlong to its fall; with
shouts of joy and cries of exultation, with triumphal processions, with
music, with games and with flowers.
The Cæsar had returned from Germany and Gaul having played his part of
mountebank upon the arena of the world. Eaten up with senseless and
cynical vanity, Caius Julius Cæsar Caligula desired to be the Cæsar of
his army as he was princeps and imperator, high pontiff and supreme
dictator of the Empire. But as there was no war to conduct, no rebellion
to subdue, he had invented a war and harassed some barbarians who had no
thought save that of peace.
He stage-managed conspiracies and midnight attacks, drilling his own
soldiers into acting the parts of malcontents, of escaped prisoners, of
bloodthirsty barbarians, the while he himself--as chief actor in the
play--vanquished the mock foes and took from them mock spoils of war.
Then he upbraided Rome for her inertia whilst he, the Emperor,
confronted dangers and endured hardships for her sake. His letters, full
of glowing accounts of his supposed prowess, of the ferocity of the
enemy, of the fruits of victory snatched at the cost of innumerable
sacrifices were solemnly read to the assembled senators in the temple of
Mars, and to a vast concourse of people gathered in the Forum.
They listened to these letters with awe and reverence proud of the
valour of their Cæsar, rejoicing in the continued glory of the mightiest
Empire of the world--their own Empire which they, the masters of the
earth and of the sea, had made under the guidance of rulers such as he
who even now was returning laurel-laden and victory-crowned from
Germany.
And the triumphal procession was begun. First came the galley in which
Caligula was said to have crossed the ocean for the purpose of subduing
some rebel British princes, but in which he in verity had spent some
pleasant days fishing in the bay. It was brought back to Rome in solemn
state by land, right across the country of the Allemanni and carried the
whole of the way by sixteen stalwart barbarians--supposed prisoners of
war.
The galley was received with imperial honours as if it had been a human
creature--the very person of the Cæsar. In the presence of a huge and
enthusiastic crowd it was taken to the temple of Mars, where the
pontiffs, attired in their festal robes, dedicated it with solemn ritual
to the god of war and finally deposited it in a specially constructed
cradle fashioned of citrus wood with elaborate carvings and touches of
gilding thereon; the whole resting upon a pedestal of African marble.
Upon the next day a procession of Gauls entered the city carrying
helmets which were filled with sea-shells. The men wore their hair long
and unkempt, they were naked save for a goatskin tied across the torso
with a hempen rope and their shins were encircled with leather bands.
The helmets were said to have belonged to those of Cæsar's soldiers who
had lost their lives in the expedition against the Germans, and the
sea-shells were a special tribute from the ocean to the gods of the
Capitol. By the Cæsar's orders the helmets were to be the objects of
semi-divine honours in memory of the illustrious dead.
Thus the tragi-comedy went on day after day. The plebs enjoying the
pageants because they did not know that they were being fooled, and the
patricians looking on because they did not care.
And now the imperial mountebank was coming home himself, having ordered
his triumph as he had stage-managed his deeds of valour. Triumphal
arches and street decorations, flowers and processions, he had ordained
everything just as he wished it to be. From the statue of every god in
the temples of the Capitol and of the Forum the bronze head had been
knocked off by his orders, and a likeness of his own head placed in
substitution. His intention was to receive divine homage, and this the
plebs--who had been promised a succession of holidays, with races,
games, and combats--was over-ready to grant him.
The vestibule connecting his palace with the temple of Castor had been
completed in his absence, and he wished to pass surreptitiously from his
own apartments to the very niche of the idol which was in full view of
the Forum and there to show himself to the people, even whilst a
sacrifice was offered to him as to a god.
To all this senseless display of egregious vanity the obsequiousness of
the senators and the careless frivolity of the plebs easily lent itself;
nor did anyone demur at the decree which came from the absent hero, that
he should in future be styled: "The Father of the Armies! the Greatest
and best of Cæsars."
All thought of dignity was dead in these descendants of the great people
who had made the Empire; they had long ago sold their birthright of
valour and of honour for the pottage of luxury and the favours of a
tyrannical madman. What cared they if after they had feasted and shouted
themselves hoarse in praise of a deified brute, the ruins of Rome came
crashing down over their graves? What cared they if in far-off barbaric
lands the Goths and Huns were already whetting their steel.
Only a few among the more dignified senators, a few among the more sober
praetorian tribunes, revolted in their heart at this insane exhibition
of egoism, these perpetual outrages on common sense and dignity; but
they were few and their influence small, and they were really too
indolent, too comfortable in their luxurious homes to do aught but
accept what they deemed inevitable.
The only men in Rome who cared were the ambitious and the self-seekers,
and they cared not because of Rome, not because of the glory of the
Empire, or the welfare of the land, but because they saw in the very
excess of the tyrant's misrule the best chance for their own supremacy
and power.
Foremost amongst these was Caius Nepos, the praetorian praefect,
all-powerful in the absence of the Cæsar, well liked by the army, so
'twas said. Some influential friends clung around him and also some
malcontents, those who are ever on the spot when destruction is to be
accomplished, ever ready to overthrow any government which does not
happen to further their ambitions.
Most of these men were assembled this night beneath the gilded roof of
Caius Nepos' house. He had gathered all his friends round him, had
feasted them with good viands and costly wines, with roasted peacocks
from Gaul and mullets come straight from the sea; he had amused them
with oriental dancers and Egyptian acrobats, and when they had eaten and
drunk their fill he bade them good night and sent them home, laden with
gifts. But his intimates remained behind; pretending to leave with the
others, they lingered on in the atrium, chatting of indifferent topics
amongst themselves, until all had gone whose presence would not be
wanted in the conclave that was to take place.
There were now some forty of them in number, rich patricians all of
them, their ages ranging from that of young Escanes who was just twenty
years old to that of Marcus Ancyrus, the elder, who had turned sixty.
Their combined wealth mayhap would have purchased every inhabited house
in the entire civilised world or every slave who was ever put up in the
market. Marcus Ancyrus, they say, could have pulled down every temple in
the Forum and rebuilt it at his own cost, and Philippus Decius who was
there had recently spent the sum of fifty million sesterces upon the
building and equipment of his new villa at Herculaneum.
Young Hortensius Martius was there, too, he who was said to own more
slaves than anyone else in Rome, and Augustus Philario of the household
of Cæsar, who had once declared that he would give one hundred thousand
aurei for a secret poison that would defy detection.
"Why is not Taurus Antinor here this evening?" asked Marcus Ancyrus when
this little group of privileged guests once more turned back toward the
triclinium.
"I think that he will be here anon," replied the host. "I have sent him
word that I desired speech with him on business of the State and that I
craved the honour of his company."
They all assembled at the head of the now deserted tables. The few
slaves who had remained at the bidding of their master had re-draped
the couches and re-set the crystal goblets of wine and the gold dishes
with fresh fruit. The long narrow hall looked strangely mournful now
that the noisy guests had departed, and the sweet-scented oil in the
lamps had begun to burn low.
The table, laden with empty jars, with broken goblets, and remnants of
fruits and cakes, looked uninviting and even weird in its aspect of
departed cheer. The couches beneath their tumbled draperies of richly
dyed silk looked bedraggled and forlorn, whilst the stains of wine upon
the fine white cloths looked like widening streams of blood. Under the
shadows of elaborate carvings in the marble of the walls ghost-like
shadows flickered and danced as the smoke from the oil lamp wound its
spiral curves upwards to the gilded ceiling above. And in the great
vases of priceless murra roses and lilies and white tuberoses, the
spoils of costly glasshouses, were slowly drooping in the heavy
atmosphere. The whole room, despite its rich hangings and gilded
pillars, wore a curious air of desolation and of gloom; mayhap Caius
Nepos himself was conscious of this, for as he followed his guests from
out the atrium he gave three loud claps with his hands, and a troupe of
young girls came in carrying bunches of fresh flowers and some newly
filled lamps.
These they placed at the head of the table, there, where the couches
surrounding it were draped with crimson silk, and soft downy cushions,
well shaken up, once more called to rest and good cheer.
"I pray you all take your places," said the host pleasantly, "and let us
resume our supper."
He gave a sign to a swarthy-looking slave, who, clad all in white, was
presiding at a gorgeous buffet carved of solid citrus-wood
which--despite the fact that supper had just been served to two hundred
guests--was once more groaning under the weight of mammoth dishes filled
with the most complicated products of culinary art.
The slave, at his master's sign, touched a silver gong, and half a dozen
henchmen in linen tunics brought in the steaming dishes fresh from the
kitchens. The carver set to and attacked with long sharp knife the
gigantic capons which one of the bearers had placed before him. He
carved with quickness and dexterity, placing well-chosen morsels on the
plates of massive gold which young waiting-maids then carried to the
guests.
"Wilt dismiss thy slaves before we talk?" asked Marcus Ancyrus, the
veteran in this small crowd. He himself had been silent for the past ten
minutes, doing full justice to this second relay of Caius Nepos'
hospitality.
The waiting-maids were going the round now with gilt basins and cloths
of fine white linen for the cleansing and drying of fingers between the
courses; others, in the meanwhile, filled the crystal goblets with red
or white wine as the guests desired.
"We can talk now," said the host; "these slaves will not heed us. They,"
he added, nodding in the direction of the carver and his half-dozen
henchmen, "are all deaf as well as mute, so we need have no fear of
them."
"What treasures," ejaculated young Escanes with wondering eyes fixed
upon his lucky host; "where didst get them, Caius Nepos? By the gods, I
would I could get an army of deaf-mute slaves."
"They are not easy to get," rejoined the other, "but I was mightily
lucky in my find. I was at Cirta in Numidia at a time when the dusky
chief there--one named Hazim Rhan--had made a haul of six malcontents
who I understood had conspired against his authority. It seems that
these rebels had a leader who had succeeded in escaping to his desert
fastness, and whom Hazim Rhan greatly desired to capture. To gain this
object he commanded the six prisoners to betray their leader; this they
refused to do, whereupon the dusky prince ordered their ears to be cut
off and threatened them that unless they spoke on the morrow, their
tongues would be cut off the next day. And if after that they still
remained obdurate, their heads would go the way of their tongues and
ears."
Exclamations of horror greeted this gruesome tale, the relevancy of
which no one had as yet perceived. But Caius Nepos, having pledged his
friends in a draught of Sicilian wine, resumed:
"I, as an idle traveller from Rome had been received by the dusky
chieftain with marked deference, and I was greatly interested in the
fate of the six men who proved so loyal to their leader. So I waited
three days, and when their tongues and ears had been cut off and their
heads were finally threatened, I offered to buy them for a sum
sufficiently large to tempt the cupidity of Hazim Rhan. And thus I had
in my possession six men whose sense of loyalty had been splendidly
proved and whose discretion henceforth would necessarily be absolute."
This time a chorus of praise greeted the conclusion of the tale. The
cynical calm with which it had been told and the ferocious selfishness
which it revealed seemed in no way repellent to Caius Nepos' guests. A
few pairs of indifferent eyes were levelled at the slaves and that was
all. And then Philippus Decius remarked coolly:
"So much for thy carvers and henchmen, O Caius Nepos, but thy
waiting-maids?--are they deaf and dumb too?"
"No," replied the host, "but they come from foreign lands and do not
understand our tongue."
"Then you all think that the next few days will be propitious for our
schemes?" here broke in young Escanes who seemed the most eager amongst
them all.
"Aye!" said Caius Nepos, "with a little good luck even to-morrow might
prove the best day. The Cæsar is half frenzied now, gorged with his
triumph, the mockery of which he does not seem to understand. He is more
like a raving madman than ever, much more feeble in mind and body than
before this insensate expedition to Germany."
"I suppose that there is no doubt as to the truth of the tales which are
current about the expedition," quoth Marcus Ancyrus, whose years
rendered him more cautious than the others.
"No doubt whatever," rejoined the host, "and some of the tales fall far
short of the truth. There never was a real blow struck during the whole
time that madman was away. He travelled from place to place in his
litter borne by eight men, and sent his soldiers ahead of him with
sprays and buckets of water that they should lay the dust along the road
on which he would travel. At Trevirorum on the banks of the Rhine, he
caused two hundred of his picked guard to dress up as barbarians and to
make feint to attack the camp at midnight. This they did with necessary
shoutings and clashings of steel against steel. Then did the greatest
and best of Cæsars sally forth in full battle array followed by a few of
his most trusted men, and in the darkness there was heard more shouting
and more clashings of steel until Caligula returned in triumph at
sunrise to his camp. He had passed hempen ropes round the necks of the
mock barbarians, and ever after had them dragged in the wake of his
litter, even as if they were prisoners of war. No doubt he had paid them
well for acting such a farce."
"But was the army blind to all this folly?"
"The Cæsar only kept some five hundred picked men round him in his camp.
These he bribed into acquiescence of all his mad pranks. The rest of the
legions were some distance away all the time. They believed all that
they were told; mayhap they thought it wisest to believe."
"I know that in Belgica, on the shores of the ocean----" began Augustus
Philario after a while.
But he was not allowed to proceed. Shouts of derision broke in upon the
tale, followed by expressions of rage.
"What is the good of retailing further follies," said Caius Nepos at
last; "we all know that a madman, a vain, besotted fool wields now the
sceptre of Julius Cæsar and of great Augustus. The numbers of his
misdeeds are like the grains of sand on the seashore, his orgies have
shamed our generation, his debauches are a disgrace upon the fame of
Rome. Patricians awake! The day hath come, the hour is close at hand.
To-morrow, mayhap, at the public games ... a tumult amongst the people
... it should be easy to rouse that ... then a well-edged dagger ... and
the Empire is rid of the most hideous and loathsome tyrant that ever
brutalised a nation and shamed an empire."
Even as he spoke, and despite the deaf-mute slaves and the foreign
girls, he lowered his voice until it sank to the merest whisper.
Reclining upon the couches with elbows buried in silken cushions the
others all stretched forward now, until two score of heads met in one
continued circle, forehead to forehead and ear to ear, whilst in the
midst of them an oil lamp flickered low and lit up at fitful intervals
the sober, callous faces with the hard mouths and cruel, steely eyes.
The slaves--those who had lost ears and tongue and those who spoke no
language save their own foreign one--had retreated to the far corners of
the room, up against the columns of Phrygian marble or the hangings of
Tyrian tapestries; their great uncomprehending eyes were fixed on that
compact group at the head of the table, where round the bowls of roses
and of lilies and the goblets of wine, the future of the Empire of Rome
was even now being discussed.
"The tumult can be easily provoked," said one of the guests presently--a
young man whose black hair and dark eyes bespoke his Oriental blood.
"The Cæsar is certain to provoke it himself by some insane act of
tyrannical folly. Ye must all remember how, two years ago, during the
Megalesian games he ordered the women of his retinue to descend into the
arena and to engage the gladiators in combat. At this outrage the
discontent among the people nearly broke out into open revolt. It was
thou, Caius Nepos, who checked the tumult then."
"The hour was not ripe," said the latter, "and we were not allied. It
will be different to-morrow."
"How will it be to-morrow?"
"When the tumult is at its highest, he who has the surest hand shall
strike the Cæsar down. I, in the meanwhile----"
"Then thou, Caius Nepos, art not certain of the sureness of thy hand?"
interposed Hortensius Martius who hitherto had taken no active part in
the discussion.
He lay on a couch at some distance from his host and had declined every
morsel offered to him by the waiting-maids; but he had drunk over
freely, and his good-looking young face looked flushed and dark beneath
its wealth of curls. Unlike his usual self he was ill-humoured and
almost morose to-night, and there was a dark, glowering look in his eyes
as from time to time he cast furtive glances towards the door.
"Nay, good Hortensius," said the host loftily, "mine will be the greater
part. The praetorian guard know and trust me. It will be my duty when
the Cæsar is attacked to keep them from rushing to his aid. The army is
apt to forget a tyrant's crime, and to think of him only as a leader to
be obeyed. But when the guard hear my voice, they will understand and
will be true to me."
"'Tis I will strike," now broke in young Escanes, with all the
enthusiasm of his years. The ardour of leadership glowed upon his face,
and he seemed to challenge this small assembly to dispute his right to
the foremost place in the great event of the morrow.
But his challenge was not taken up; no one else seemed eager to dispute
his wish. Somewhat sobered, he resumed more calmly:
"The Cæsar hath much affection for me. I oft sat beside him in the
Circus or at the games last year. The Augustas too like to have me
beside them, to talk pleasing gossip in their ears. 'Twill be easiest
for me, at a signal given, to strike with my dagger in the Cæsar's
throat."
"Thine shall be that glory, O Escanes, since thou dost will it so," said
Caius Nepos, not without a touch of irony. "Directly the deed is done,
the praetorian guard shall raise the cry: 'The Cæsar is dead!'"
"And it should at once be followed by another," said Marcus Ancyrus, the
elder, "by 'Hail to thee, O mighty Cæsar!'"
"'Tis thou shouldst raise that cry, O Caius Nepos," said Hortensius with
a sarcastic curl of his lip.
"Oh! as to that----" began the other with some hesitation.
"Aye! as to that," said Escanes hotly, "if I slay the tyrant to-morrow
with mine own hand, then must I know at least for whom I do the deed."
There was silence after that. Everyone seemed absorbed in his own
thoughts. Dreamy eyes gazed abstractedly in crystal goblets, as if
vainly trying to trace in its crimson depths the outline of an imperial
sceptre. At last Caius Nepos spoke:
"Let us be rid of the tyrant first. The army then will soon elect its
new chief."
"And is it on the support of the army, O praefect! that thou dost base
thine own hopes of supreme power?" asked Hortensius, whose ill-humour
seemed to grow on him more and more.
"Nay!" retorted Caius Nepos, "I did not know that by so doing I was
dashing thine!"
"Silence," admonished Marcus Ancyrus, the elder. "Are we children or
slaves that we should wrangle thus? Have we met here in order to rid the
Empire of an abominable and bloodthirsty tyrant, or are we mere vulgar
conspirators pursuing our own ends? There was no thought in our host's
mind of supreme power, O Hortensius! nor in thine, I'll vow. As for me,
I care nought for the imperium," he added naïvely, "it is difficult to
content everyone, and a permanent consulship under our chosen Cæsar were
more to my liking. Bring forth thy tablets, O Caius Nepos, and we'll put
the matter to the vote. There are not many of the House of Cæsar fit to
succeed the present madman, and our choice there will be limited."
"There is but Claudius, the brother of Germanicus," interposed the host
curtly.
"Germanicus' brother to succeed Germanicus' son," said another with a
contemptuous shrug of the shoulders.
"And he is as crazy as his nephew," added Caius Nepos.
He had not assembled his friends here to-night, he had not feasted them
and loaded them with gifts with a view to passing the imperium merely
from one head to another. He was fairly sure of the support of the
praetorian guard, whose praefect he was, and had counted on the
adherence of these malcontents, who he hoped would look to him for
future favours whilst raising him to supreme dignity.
He liked not this talk of the family of Cæsar which took the attention
of his closest adherents away from his own claim.
"The entire House of Cæsar," he said, "is rotten to the core. There is
not one member of it fit to rule."
"But of a truth," said prudent Ancyrus, "they have the foremost claim."
"Then if that be the case," broke in young Hortensius Martius suddenly,
"let us turn to the one member of the House of Cæsar who is noble and
pure, exalted above all."
"There is none such," said Caius Nepos hotly.
"Aye! there is one," retorted the younger man.
"His name?" came loudly from every side.
"I spoke of a woman."
"A woman!"
And shouts of derisive laughter broke from every lip. Only Marcus
Ancyrus remained grave and thoughtful, and now he said:
"Dost perchance speak of Dea Flavia Augusta?"
"Even of her," replied Hortensius.
Involuntarily at the name, the voice of the older man had assumed a
respectful tone, and all around the vulgar sneers and bitter mockery had
died away as if by magic contact with something hallowed and pure.
Even Caius Nepos thought it wise to subdue his tone of contempt, and
merely said curtly:
"A goddess of a truth, but a woman cannot lead an army or rule an
empire."
"No," rejoined Hortensius Martius, "but a wise and virtuous woman can
rule wisely and virtuously over the man whom she will choose for mate."
There was silence for a moment or two, whilst young Hortensius' glowing
eyes swept questioningly over the assembly. Everyone there knew of his
passion for the Augusta, a passion, in truth, shared by many of those
who had the privilege of knowing her intimately, and strangely enough
though the proposal had so much daring in it, it met with but little
opposition.
"Wouldst thou then suggest, O Hortensius Martius," quoth Marcus Ancyrus,
the elder, after a slight pause, "that the Augusta's husband be made
Emperor of Rome?"
"Why not?" retorted the other simply.
"It is not a bad notion," mused young Escanes, who thought himself high
in the favour of Dea Flavia.
"An admirable one," assented Ancyrus, "for we must remember that Dea
Flavia Augusta is of the true blood of the Cæsars--the blood of the
great Augustus--and there is none better. Since she, as a woman, cannot
rule men or lead an army, what more fitting than that her lord, whoever
he might be, should receive the imperium through her hands?"
"He might prove to be a more miserable creature than the Caligula
himself," suggested Philario, who was too ill-favoured to have hopes of
winning the proud and imperious beauty for himself.
"Nay! that were impossible," asserted Hortensius hotly; "the man whom
Dea Flavia will favour will be a brave man else he would not dare to woo
her; he will be honourable and noble else he could never win her."
"Methinks that thou art right, O Hortensius," added Ancyrus, who had
taken upon himself the rôle of a wise and prudent counsellor, "and
moreover he will be rich by virtue of the wealth which the Augusta will
have as her marriage portion; her money, merged with the State funds,
would be of vast benefit to the land."
"And on his death his son and hers--a direct descendant of great
Augustus--would be the only fitting heir," concluded another.
"Meseems," now said Ancyrus decisively, "that we would solve a grave
difficulty by accepting the suggestion made by Hortensius Martius. The
imperium--as is only just--would remain in the family of the great
Augustus. We should have a brave, noble and rich Cæsar whose virtuous
and beautiful wife would wield beneficial influence over him, and for
the present we should all be working for unselfish ends; not one of us
here present can say for a certainty whom the Augusta will choose for
mate. Directly the tyrant is swept out of the way, we, who have brought
about the great end, will ask her to make her choice. Thus our aims will
have been pure and selfless; each one of us here will have risked all
for the sake of an unknown. What say you friends? Shall we pledge our
loyalty to the man whom not one of us here can name this day--a man
mayhap still unknown to us: the future lord of Dea Flavia Augusta of the
House of Cæsar?"
The peroration seemed greatly to the liking of the assembled company:
the thought that they would all be working with pure and selfless
motives flattered these men's egregious vanity; vaguely every one of
them hoped that all the others would believe in his unselfish aims, even
whilst everyone meant to work solely for his own ends. Hortensius
Martius' proposal pleased because it opened out such magnificent
possibilities: the imperium itself, which had seemed infinitely remote
from so many, now appeared within reach of all.
Anyone who was young, well-favoured, and of patrician birth might aspire
to the hand of the Augusta, and not one of those who possessed at least
two of those qualifications doubted his own ability to win.
Raising himself to a more upright position, Marcus Ancyrus the elder,
goblet in hand, looked round for approval on all the guests.
The murmur of acquiescence was well-nigh general, and many there were
who held their goblets to the waiting-maids in order to have them filled
and then drained them to the last dregs. But there were a few
dissentient voices, chiefly among the less-favoured who, like Philario,
could hardly dare approach a beautiful woman with thoughts of wooing
her.
Caius Nepos had not taken up the pledge, nor had he taken any part in
the discussion since Dea Flavia's name first passed the lips of young
Hortensius. Indeed, as the latter seemed to lose his ill-humour and
become flushed and excited with the approval of his friends, so did the
host gradually become more and more morose and silent.
Clearly the proposal to leave the matter of the choice of a Cæsar in the
hands of a woman was not to his liking. Though good-looking and still in
the prime of life he had never found favour with women, and Dea Flavia
had often shown open contempt for him, and for the selfish ambition
which moved his every action, and which he was at no pains to conceal.
It was easy to see, by the glowering look on his face, that the meeting
this night had not turned out as he had wished.
"We cannot decide this matter otherwise than by vote," said one of the
guests when the murmurs of approval and those of dissent had equally
died down.
"Thou art right, O friend," assented Ancyrus, "and I pray thee, Caius
Nepos, order thy slaves to bring us the tablets, and let each man record
his vote according to his will."
Caius Nepos could find no objection to this, even though the question of
voting was in no way to his liking. He had a vague hope, mayhap, that by
gaining time he might succeed in sowing seeds of discord amongst those
who had been so ready to accede to the new proposal; any moment even
now--a chance word spoken, a trifling incident, an incipient quarrel
might sway these men and bring them back to their allegiance to himself.
He had been so sure of their support; the banquet this night had been
destined to set the seal to their fealty and to cement their friendship:
it was more than exasperating that the suggestion of a young fool should
have caused them to swerve from their promised adherence.
For the moment however, he could not help but acquiesce outwardly in the
wish of the majority. After an imperceptible moment of hesitation, he
called to one of his deaf-mute slaves and made him understand by signs
that he wanted forty wax tablets prepared and brought hither with forty
stylets wherewith to write. Then he cheerily bade his guests once more
to eat and drink and to make merry.
And it was characteristic of these strange products of a decadent age,
that in the midst of grave discussions wherein their own lives and their
future aggrandisement were at stake, these men were quite ready to
respond to their host's invitation and momentarily to forget their own
ambitious schemes in the enjoyment of epicurean delights.
Wine and fruit were once more handed round; both were excellent, and
during a brief interval mighty issues were set aside and conversation
became more general and more free. The pageant of games and combats
which was to last for over thirty days in honour of the deification of
Caligula and his safe return from Germany became the subject of eager
talk. There had been rumours of a remarkable load of African lions
arrived in the Tiber a day or two ago, which were to make a gorgeous
spectacle in the arena pitted against some tigers from Numidia. There
was also talk of a novelty in the shape of crocodiles who were said to
fight with great cunning and power against a pack of hyenas from the
desert.
Then there would be the chariot races and gladiatorial combats; heavy
betting on these events had been in progress for some time all over the
city among the wealthy patricians as well as among the impoverished
plebs; the respective merits of the blues, the greens, the reds, and the
yellows were the subject of heated discussions, and Caius Nepos was glad
to note that more than a suspicion of antagonism was aroused between his
guests in the defence of their respective choice.
He only took a very cursory part in the discussion, putting in a word
here and there where contradiction or approval might further inflame
overheated tempers.
And he ordered his slaves to pour the wine with a free hand, and himself
was ready to pledge every one of his guests over and over again for as
long as they were ready to drink.
Inside the room the heat had become excessive, the evening air only
entered through narrow windows, and the gentle breeze did no more than
fan the flames of the oil lamps or make the petals of dying roses
tremble and fall. The noise grew louder and louder as the fumes of heady
wines obscured the brains of these makers of future empires. Slaves were
called for loudly to undo the tunics and to help cast off all but the
necessary garments.
Every face round the table now was flushed and moist; every forehead
streaming with perspiration. Escanes, goblet in hand, was singing a
ribald song, the chorus of which was taken up by the group of young men
nearest to him. The older ones were making insane bets and driving
preposterous bargains over horses and slaves.
By the time that the slaves had returned with the tablets the praetorian
praefect had cause to be satisfied with the temper of his guests. Coarse
jests and drunken oaths were heard more often than whispered serious
talk, the names of popular gladiators seemed of more account than those
of future Cæsars. Arguments were loud and violent; every mouth
slobbered, every lip trembled and every eye glowed with unnatural
brightness: curls were dishevelled and laurel crowns awry; the silken
draperies on the couches had become tattered rags and the cushions were
scattered all about the floor; debris of crystal vases littered the
table and bunches of dying flowers were tossed about by unsteady hands.
Given a little more time, a few more draughts of Sicilian wine, and all
thoughts of voting for a future Cæsar would be beyond the mental power
of these degenerates, and drunken quarrels would turn to violent enmity.
This Caius Nepos had in mind when he took the tablets from the slaves,
and threw them down with affected carelessness on the table before him.
"We cannot vote," he said loudly, "whilst Taurus Antinor is not here."
His words were even more potent than he had hoped; all that he had
wanted was further delay, and most of his guests nodded approval with
drunken solemnity and then called for more wine. But Hortensius Martius
who, though he had drunk as heavily as the others, had not joined in the
ribald songs or the senseless orgy of shouts and of laughter, now jumped
up with a violent oath.
"What hath Taurus Antinor to do with us?" he shouted at the top of his
voice, "or we with Taurus Antinor? Ye do not intend, I trust, to raise a
freedman to the imperium and place the sceptre of Cæsar in the hands of
a descendant of slaves!"
He was trembling with such unbridled fury, his eyes glowed with the lust
of such deadly hate that instinctively the ribald songs and immoderate
laughter were hushed, and eyes, veiled with the film of intoxication
were turned wonderingly upon him.
But Caius Nepos was smiling blandly: the ire of Hortensius pleased him
even though he did not understand its cause.
"Nay, as to that," he said, "are we not all descended from slaves?
Taurus Antinor hath the ear of the plebs. Doth suggest, O Hortensius,
that he also hath the ear of Dea Flavia Augusta?"
He had shot this arrow into the air, little guessing how hard and truly
it would hit.
Hortensius was making vigorous efforts to curb his temper, biting his
lips until tiny drops of blood slowly trickled down his chin. But he
felt that the mocking eyes of his host were upon him, and had just a
sufficiency of reason left in him to see through the machinations of
Caius Nepos. He would not hold himself up to ridicule now before those
who should prove his strong supporters in the future; his proposal had
not yet been put to the vote, and he did not mean to alienate his
adherents by an insane show of maniacal rage.
"Of that," he said in response to his host's taunt, and in a voice
quivering with the mighty effort of control, "of that there is but
little fear. The Augusta is too proud to look with favour on a stranger;
as for me, I would sooner ask Escanes to plunge his dagger in my throat
than I would serve the Empire under the Cæsarship of Taurus Antinor."
"Thou canst record thy vote as thou thinkest best," said Caius Nepos
with calm urbanity. And those who were sufficiently sober nodded
approval with solemn gravity.
"Nay," here interposed Marcus Ancyrus with stern reproof, "before we
begin to vote let us be agreed on one point: let us be prepared to swear
by the gods that we will adhere truly and loyally to the choice of the
majority--and if, as meseems is likely, we agree that the unknown future
husband of Dea Flavia Augusta become the ruler of us all, then must we
swear to proclaim him the Cæsar with one accord, else doth our voting
become a mere farce. Friends, before ye vote, are you ready to take this
oath?"
"Aye! aye!" came from almost every mouth round the table. But they
nodded like automatons, with heavy heads that rolled on bowed shoulders
and blurred eyes half-hidden behind closing lids.
"I'll not swear allegiance to Taurus Antinor," persisted Hortensius
obstinately.
"Dost think it likely that the Augusta favours him?" asked the host
ironically.
"No--but----"
"Then what hast thou to fear?"
"As for me," interposed young Escanes in a thick voice broken by
hiccoughs, "I am ready to swear as Marcus Ancyrus directs. If we are not
satisfied with the new Cæsar, whoever he may be, my dagger will not rust
in the meanwhile; I can easily whet it again."
Even as these last cynical words left the young man's lips there came
from outside the noise of much shouting and shuffling of naked feet, and
anon the sound of a voice, loud and harsh, asking for leave to speak
with the praetorian praefect. Caius Nepos paused, tablets in hand.
Strangely enough the voice, though well-known, seemed to have a sobering
effect on all these ebullient tempers. Marcus Ancyrus, who was the most
calm among them all, threw a quick glance of inquiry on his host, one or
two furtive glances were exchanged, a look that was half-ashamed crept
into some of the faces, and there were hurried, whispered calls to the
slaves to bring the bags of ice.
Quickly the tunics were re-adjusted and an attempt made at
re-establishing some semblance of decorum round the table. Caius Nepos
was giving hastily whispered directions to the waiting-maids.
"Pull that coverlet straight, quick!" he ordered, "and those cushions,
pick them off the ground ... that broken vase, set it aside.... There!
try and hide that wine stain with a fresh cloth."
And all the while rapid, eager questions flew from mouth to mouth.
"Wilt tell him at once, O Caius Nepos?"
"Or wilt ply him with wine first?"
"'Twere safer."
"Nay! nay!" said Escanes, whose wrists and ankles were being bathed,
"that would take too long. Taurus Antinor hath a strong head, and I, for
one, could not keep sober another half-hour."
"Dost know if he is at one with us?" was the query that came from every
side.
Hortensius Martius alone had remained silent. He did not call either for
water or for ice. It was his hatred that had sobered him, making the
lines of his face set and hard, causing the flush to die from his cheeks
and leaving them ashy pale.
"Dost know if he is at one with us?" reiterated Augustus Philario
impatiently.
He had ordered a slave to hold lumps of ice to his forehead, whilst
Philippus Decius--lying next to him--was having perfume rubbed into the
back of his neck.
"We must look stern and deliberate," said Ancyrus. "Dost know, O Caius
Nepos, if he is at one with us?"
"We must enlist him," rejoined the latter hurriedly; "he holds the
plebs, and without his help our position might become difficult. A word
from him to the crowd and the new Cæsar is assured of peace within the
city."
"Then do thou tell him what has been decided," said one of the others
who was busy smoothing his tangled hair.
"No, no!" whispered cautious Ancyrus, the elder, "have a care ... thou,
Caius Nepos, must probe him ere thou speakest."
"Tell him naught of Escanes' dagger," added another hurriedly.
"Speak of abdication," said the older man, "of anything that comes in
thy mind. Some men there are who----"
But he had no time to explain his meaning further, for the next moment
Taurus Antinor stepped into the room.