‘Sejanus’ go-between; the Thracian chief priest, Rhoteces.’
CHAPTER II
Queen Tryphaena placed Antonia’s letter down on the polished oak table and looked at the two brothers; Vespasian, like Sabinus, wore a toga as it was a private meeting. They were sitting in her sumptuous, warmly lit study, part of her suite of private rooms deep within the palace complex and far away from the flapping ears of the numerous palace functionaries and slaves that infested the formal areas. Here only her secretary and body slave could come and go as they pleased; even her son, King Rhoemetalces, had to wait outside whilst one of the four sentries that constantly guarded the suite’s only access sought permission granting him an audience. Because of his close ties with Antonia, Vespasian always found himself quickly welcomed into Tryphaena’s presence.
‘So my kinswoman has located the priest that would kill my son and me and rule Thracia in the gods’ name,’ she said, flicking her sharp, blue eyes between the brothers. ‘And she requests that I help you capture him by providing men; which I am happy to do, but of how much use they will be against the Getae I don’t know.’
‘What do you mean, domina?’ Vespasian asked, leaning forward on his lavishly cushioned chair in an attempt to get out of the way of the wafts of pungent incense emanating from a brazier close behind him.
‘My people are mainly foot soldiers; only the moderately wealthy can afford horses so we have relatively few cavalry. The Getae however live on the grasslands to the north of the Danuvius where horses are plentiful; they fight almost exclusively on horseback; our cavalry would be no match for them and our infantry would never catch them. I could even, as the highest-ranking Roman citizen in Thracia and Rome’s puppet ruler, order you to take the two cohorts stationed here but they would also be ineffective against such a mobile force; remember Carrhae, gentlemen?’
‘Then we have to wait for them to come to us,’ Sabinus said, recalling the strategy that had been employed to defeat the Numidian rebels when he had served with the VIIII Hispana in Africa. ‘We go north and speak to Pomponius Labeo and find out where they’ve been raiding, then work out a likely target and wait for them to attack it; with luck the priest will be with them as he has been for the last few raids.’
Vespasian cast a scathing, sidelong glance at his brother. ‘That seems a bit hit or miss.’
‘You got any better ideas, little brother?’ Sabinus retorted. ‘Send them an invitation to the games and then back to yours for dinner after, I suppose?’
‘Your brother is right Vespasian,’ the Queen cut in before the argument got out of hand. ‘It may take time but eventually you will get close to them, and then you will have to see what opportunities Fortuna presents you with.’
‘I’m sorry, domina.’ Vespasian felt chastened; his brother was right no matter how much it irked him. He quickly put his feelings to one side and expanded on Sabinus’ idea. ‘We will need men but not many; this would be better done with a half-dozen picked fighters. Stealth is the key if we can’t match them in open battle.’
‘Well done, little brother, you’re catching on.’
‘If stealth is the key, gentlemen, then may I suggest that harmony should be the watchword?’
The brothers looked at each other and with a slight nod of their heads called a silent truce.
‘Good,’ Tryphaena continued, ‘that’s agreed then. I shall get the captain of my guard to provide you with six of my best men, skilled in all weaponry, especially the bow as you will be up against the best archers that you have ever encountered.’
‘But you said they were mainly cavalry,’ Vespasian pointed out. ‘Thracians don’t use horse-archers.’
‘This tribe does; they’ve taken on quite a few of the customs of their northern neighbours, the Sarmatians and the Scythians; they even wear trousers.’
Vespasian’s eyes widened at the implication. ‘Trousers? I think that I may have met a couple of them today.’
Tryphaena looked amused. ‘Impossible, we’ve had no contact with the Getae since Rome took Moesia as a province over fifty years ago.’
Vespasian quickly related the events of the afternoon, taking care to emphasise Artebudz’s role and the promise that he had made to him. When he had finished the Queen sat in silence for a while thinking.
‘From your description of them they certainly seem to be Getic,’ she affirmed. ‘You’re convinced that they were targeting you?’
‘Without a doubt.’
‘Then it would seem that our friend Rhoteces has not forgiven you for preventing him from killing my son and has sent some assassins after you as revenge.’
‘Why’s he waited nearly four years?’
‘Once he fled to the Getae it would have taken him time to ingratiate himself with the tribal leaders; they don’t have the same customs as we do and they’d have viewed him with deep suspicion.’
‘So, assuming that he eventually persuaded the tribal leaders to send assassins, how did they know what my brother looks like?’ Sabinus asked.
‘I don’t have the answer to that; but what I do know is that Rhoteces is a fanatic and he sees people who thwart his plans as corpses that have to be stepped over; so it won’t end until one of you is dead, which will make your trip back to Rome with him very interesting indeed. But first you must capture him. You should leave tomorrow; the snow in the Haemus Mountains is receding and the Succi pass into Moesia has reopened. I will have your men outside the Roman camp at noon and I’ll send a message to your commanding officer Prefect Paetus telling him that you will not be coming back.’
‘We have every intention of coming back, domina,’ Vespasian insisted.
‘Yes I’m sure you have, but not through here. I cannot risk having that man in my kingdom again; many of my subjects see him as a hero who could save them from growing Roman encroachment into our affairs. If his presence in Thracia became known and I was seen to be helping you get him to Rome then we would have a very combustive situation which would have only one outcome: Rome would annex us after a lot of killing.’
‘So what should we do with him?’ Vespasian asked.
‘Head for Tomi on the Euxine Sea; I will have my personal quinquireme waiting for you in the port from the beginning of May; its crew are completely loyal to me. They will have orders to stay there until you arrive and will take you directly to Ostia. I think that a month at sea with the priest chained in the hold will be far preferable to two months travelling overland having to watch him day and night, don’t you, gentlemen?’
‘You are very generous, domina,’ Sabinus said, starting to feel a little easier about the mission now that the return trip would involve no more than a month of vomiting.
‘I am generous, but am I generous enough to free my most expensive hunting slave, I wonder?’ She smiled at Vespasian who reddened, realising that he had been free with someone else’s property without knowing its value.
‘I’ll pay you for your loss, domina.’
‘I doubt that you could afford Artebudz; he is worth a small fortune. Not only is he a most talented tracker but he‘s also the finest shot with a bow that I have ever seen, and it is because of that I will free him; but on the condition that he comes with you. Now, before I start to give away the rest of my kingdom tell me, Sabinus, how is Antonia’s campaign against Sejanus proceeding? She only makes oblique references to it in her letters for fear of them being intercepted.’
Sabinus grimaced and shifted uncomfortably in his seat. ‘Not well, domina. Sejanus has strengthened his position with the Emperor; he is now almost the only person with any access to him on Capreae. He has managed to convince Tiberius that it’s his family that are plotting against him and not Sejanus himself. Just before I left Antonia’s eldest grandson Nero Germanicus and his mother Agrippina were arrested and tried for treason on Sejanus’ orders; she’s been imprisoned on the island of Pandateria and he’s been sent to the island of Pontiae. Antonia is now worried that her other two grandsons and prospective heirs to the Purple, Drusus and Caligula, will soon follow their mother and older brother. Sejanus is being very careful, just picking off his targets slowly and methodically.’
The Queen nodded her head whilst digesting the news. ‘That’s logical; for Sejanus to succeed he’ll have to eliminate all of Tiberius’ potential heirs who would be too old to warrant a regent; that surely is his route to power:
