‘I’m a Soldier, the third grade. It’s not until you reach the seventh that all is revealed, then you become known as “Father”. But seriously, if you’re interested I can arrange for you to be initiated.’
Vespasian found it odd that a religion could be so hierarchical that its secrets were kept by the few from the many, who were required just to have faith and follow blindly. He guessed that it must be something to do with power and control, which was why, he surmised, that it was becoming popular within the army.
‘Thanks, but no thanks, Sabinus. I prefer the old gods whom you just have to appease in order to ask practical favours of: like bring me victory or a good harvest or death to an enemy; tangible stuff, not worrying about your spirit or your soul, whatever that may be.’
‘The old gods too have their mysteries, which, I’m led to believe, are very similar to those of Mithras.’
‘Then why have you chosen to follow this new god?’
‘All religions are essentially the same if you delve deeply into them; it’s a matter of choosing the one that best expresses the truth to your inner self about life, death and rebirth.’
‘Well, I’m very happy just worrying about life; whatever happens after, if indeed anything does happen, can look after itself.’
‘As you wish, brother.’
Their theological musings were brought to a close upon finding Clemens, who was remonstrating with a young stable lad about the tightness, or lack of it, of his saddle’s girth.
‘I’d swear that the little idiot was trying to kill me,’ he said indignantly to the brothers, having given the boy a sharp cuff around the ears and sent him to redo his work.
‘Where’s Secundus, Clemens?’ Sabinus asked. ‘We want to ask him a few questions before you take him back to Antonia.’
‘He’s in one of the storerooms. I’ll show you, but you’ll be lucky to get anything out of him. I’ve already tried.’
‘Perhaps you didn’t use the right sort of persuasion,’ Vespasian replied as Clemens led them away.
‘It seems to us,’ Vespasian said reasonably, ‘that you have a very clear choice, Secundus: talk to us and you’ll receive the Lady Antonia’s protection; or say nothing and Antonia will inform Macro that you have betrayed not only her but him, and the unpleasant death that he promised, for both you and your wife, will be forthcoming.’
‘You leave Albucilla out of this,’ Secundus snarled. His pronounced mono-brow was creased over his narrow, pale-blue eyes. His high cheekbones and square jaw showed signs of bruising.
‘I’m afraid that she’s very much a part of it,’ Vespasian replied smoothly, ‘and has been ever since you prostituted her to Livilla and Sejanus.’
‘I didn’t prostitute her. What she does is of her own volition.’
‘So it’s of her own volition, is it,’ Sabinus drawled, ‘that she repeats to you all the interesting snippets of information she could only have learnt whilst being crushed between her two new clients? Who does what to whom, I wonder?’
Secundus leapt from his chair at Sabinus but was immediately restrained by Vespasian and Clemens. A sharp punch to the solar plexus from Sabinus’ right fist took the wind out of him and he dropped to the floor.
‘Now listen, Secundus,’ Vespasian continued reasonably, ‘you and your wife have played a dangerous game, which is now over. Antonia can very easily have a nice little maternal chat with her daughter Livilla, even though they loathe each other, and mention a few of the things that Albucilla has passed on to you, which you have, in turn, shared with Macro. Just imagine what Sejanus will do when he finds out that there is a spy in his bed? I don’t know about you, but I think I’d prefer to take the unpleasant death that Macro promised rather than the lifetime of agony that Sejanus would doubtless offer you and your dear wife.’
Secundus had regained his breath; he looked up at Vespasian with a mixture of resignation and loathing. ‘What do you want and what can you offer me?’ he asked.
‘That’s better; I knew that you’d see sense. I admire ambition in a man but only if it is tempered by some degree of loyalty — something you don’t seem to possess at all. I suggest that you acquire some; the Lady Antonia and Macro may well reward you for it by keeping you and Albucilla alive and safe. As to what we want, it’s very simple: tell us why you went to Sejanus and what you’ve told him.’
Secundus struggled to his feet. ‘May I sit back down?’
Clemens retrieved the chair for him. Secundus sat down, wiped the sweat from his forehead and rubbed his bruised chest.
‘So,’ Sabinus said, ‘start talking.’
Secundus looked miserably around him. He knew that he had no choice and took a deep breath. ‘I’ve always been loyal to Macro,’ he protested, ‘but when he started to conspire with Antonia against Sejanus I began to worry that I might have backed the wrong chariot. Sejanus is a formidable enemy and I feared that Macro could well be destroyed by him and that I would go down with him. However, Antonia is not to be underestimated either and if I was seen to be disloyal to Macro and therefore her, I would also suffer if she won the struggle.’
‘But you didn’t want to risk being on the losing side,’ Sabinus said with a thin smile.
Secundus shrugged. ‘Well, it’s always better not to be. I don’t know anyone who’ll tell you different because they tend to be dead. Anyway, I told my wife about my concerns and she came up with the idea that she should seduce Livilla and then hopefully Sejanus and in that way it wouldn’t matter to us who won the power struggle as we would have a foot in each camp.’
‘That’s one way of putting it,’ Vespasian mused.
Secundus ignored the jibe. ‘Once she had managed to inveigle her way into their bed she started passing on bits of information about Antonia that I gave her under the pretence that she’d got them from one of the Praetorians guarding Caligula with whom, she told them, she was also having an affair.’
‘Who?’ Clemens asked suspiciously.
Secundus looked at him with a sneer. ‘You.’
Clemens’ fist lashed out. ‘You little bastard!’
Secundus ducked and avoided the blow. ‘What else could she have said? They wouldn’t have believed that she was having an affair with a mere ranker; it had to be the captain of the guard. In that way I could pass on what I found out about Antonia’s plans from the messages that I carried between her and Macro without betraying him.’
‘So Sejanus doesn’t know that Macro is working with Antonia,’ Vespasian said, placing a calming hand on Clemens’ forearm.
‘Of course not. I’m not stupid — if Albucilla told Sejanus that, he’d have Macro murdered and Antonia would guess that it was me that betrayed them. I know what she’s like, I wouldn’t last a day, however far and fast I tried to run.’
‘So what have you passed on to Sejanus?’ Sabinus demanded, stepping threateningly close to Secundus.
‘Mainly small things, the things that Clemens would know: like the names of people I saw coming in and out whilst I was waiting to see her. The main thing that I passed on was about the arrival of the prisoner. You see, I knew that Antonia was trying to bring a witness to Tiberius to testify against Sejanus because I was there at the meeting with you, Pallas and Macro.’
‘Wait a moment,’ Vespasian butted in, turning to Sabinus. ‘You never told me that you had a meeting with Macro.’
‘You never asked,’ Sabinus replied dismissively.
‘How was I to know to ask you that question? I thought that we agreed to tell each other everything of relevance.’
‘Look, it doesn’t matter. I accompanied Pallas when he approached Macro on Antonia’s behalf. Secundus was there as Macro’s bodyguard, and that’s how I recognised him last night. Now carry on, Secundus.’
Secundus raised his mono-brow at the brothers. ‘When Antonia told me to tell Macro that what she was waiting for would arrive soon I guessed that it was this witness. Albucilla passed that on and Sejanus set a watch on the port and all the gates into the city. Albucilla told me that Sejanus was furious that his men couldn’t see the man’s face because he was hooded.’
‘So Sejanus has no idea who this witness is?’ Sabinus pressed.
‘No, or where he comes from. I couldn’t have Albucilla tell him that he was being fetched from Moesia because why would Clemens be a party to that sort of information? It would have made Sejanus suspicious and he might have got rid of her, in more ways than one. I needed her in that bed because I was getting information that
