coincidence that just then, from the direction of Claudius's bedroom, the death-wail sounded. Her smile was as serene as the summer sea. "Balbillus you belong in the company of the greatest astrologers of all time for so correctly predicting the succession of my son and the death of his adopted father Claudius. Your reward is the prefecture of Egypt, prepare for your immediate departure."
Balbillus dropped his eyes to hide his humiliation, lifted them only when he'd purged them of emotion, when he'd forced himself to accept that he was about to look into the face of the most powerful mortal on earth, someone who would from now on explore the uncharted realms of the future safe from his prying eyes. “Thank you Augusta, I am most honored."
In fact he felt defiled.
I watched with Agrippina from a balcony when precisely half an hour before midday, to the surprise of most of the battalion of Guards stationed outside, the palace gates were thrown open and out came Nero at the side of Sextus Afranius Burrus, the Praetorian commander. Spiculus the Sting, who seemed to stalk as he walked, was one step behind with his Germans, Nero’s bodyguards now.
"Claudius is dead," Burrus announced, "he died peacefully in his sleep from a congestion which took hold of him last night. I present to you his son, Nero Claudius Drusus Caesar. He grants you his generous patronage. I'm certain that in return you will give him your unqualified allegiance, just as you once gave it to his great-great-grandfather Augustus. Hail Caesar!"
There was a moment of stunned silence.
"Hail Caesar!" shouted a claque of voices, just a little too soon to be spontaneous. "Hail Caesar, hail Nero Caesar!"
Nero was bundled into the litter that would carry him to the Guards' camp. The escort commander asked Nero for the customary password.
A dramatic pause, then his reply. "The best of mothers."
"Hail Caesar! Hail Nero Caesar!" became a mighty roar as the cry spread through the city.
Triumph glowed from Agrippina like heat from a furnace. She turned to me. "Now do you believe me Epaphroditus? You are who I think you are!"
Fratricide
March 17 – May 13, 55 A.D.
You are who I think you are. A creature of the stars , a conduit of destiny, an instrument of Fate reaching down from heaven, my instrument.
First Messalina. Then Lollia Paulina. Now Claudius. How long was the list of Agrippina's victims? Was I destined to play my part in killing them all? What was the final, fateful act that must remain unrevealed until the appointed time? That she was destined to kill me too?
Balbillus, about to depart for Egypt now that the sailing season had recommenced and at pains to show that he was eating out of the hand of his new patroness, revealed the identity of her next victim at his Moon of the Year reading which he delivered an hour before sunrise on the day of the Liberalia, Freedom Day. The Moon of the Year was an opportunity for astrologers to interpret the meaning of the current planetary positions for their clients. It was timed to coincide precisely with the new Moon or the full Moon preceding the spring equinox which was when the Sun crossed the cusp of Aries, the first sign of the Zodiac. The seed of everything was in its beginning.
Agrippina was with Nero in his study when I entered. She sat motionless in a chair, hands folded on her lap, staring out of the window into the darkness.
Nero paced up and down, picking nervously at a plate of dried Syrian figs whenever he passed it. "Ah, there you are, Epaphroditus. Mother insists you take down every word because this is my very first reading as emperor. Personally I think I'd rather not know the future seeing nothing can be done about it anyway."
An indulgent smile relaxed the compression of his mother's lips. "That is not entirely true, my son. Knowledge of the future allows us to compose ourselves for the inevitable. Surely Seneca has taught you that. He’s a Stoic."
The
Balbillus dropped his eyes to hide his humiliation, lifted them only when he'd purged them of emotion, when he'd forced himself to accept that he was about to look into the face of the most powerful mortal on earth, someone who would from now on explore the uncharted realms of the future safe from his prying eyes. “Thank you Augusta, I am most honored."
In fact he felt defiled.
I watched with Agrippina from a balcony when precisely half an hour before midday, to the surprise of most of the battalion of Guards stationed outside, the palace gates were thrown open and out came Nero at the side of Sextus Afranius Burrus, the Praetorian commander. Spiculus the Sting, who seemed to stalk as he walked, was one step behind with his Germans, Nero’s bodyguards now.
"Claudius is dead," Burrus announced, "he died peacefully in his sleep from a congestion which took hold of him last night. I present to you his son, Nero Claudius Drusus Caesar. He grants you his generous patronage. I'm certain that in return you will give him your unqualified allegiance, just as you once gave it to his great-great-grandfather Augustus. Hail Caesar!"
There was a moment of stunned silence.
"Hail Caesar!" shouted a claque of voices, just a little too soon to be spontaneous. "Hail Caesar, hail Nero Caesar!"
Nero was bundled into the litter that would carry him to the Guards' camp. The escort commander asked Nero for the customary password.
A dramatic pause, then his reply. "The best of mothers."
"Hail Caesar! Hail Nero Caesar!" became a mighty roar as the cry spread through the city.
Triumph glowed from Agrippina like heat from a furnace. She turned to me. "Now do you believe me Epaphroditus? You are who I think you are!"
Fratricide
March 17 – May 13, 55 A.D.
You are who I think you are. A creature of the stars , a conduit of destiny, an instrument of Fate reaching down from heaven, my instrument.
First Messalina. Then Lollia Paulina. Now Claudius. How long was the list of Agrippina's victims? Was I destined to play my part in killing them all? What was the final, fateful act that must remain unrevealed until the appointed time? That she was destined to kill me too?
Balbillus, about to depart for Egypt now that the sailing season had recommenced and at pains to show that he was eating out of the hand of his new patroness, revealed the identity of her next victim at his Moon of the Year reading which he delivered an hour before sunrise on the day of the Liberalia, Freedom Day. The Moon of the Year was an opportunity for astrologers to interpret the meaning of the current planetary positions for their clients. It was timed to coincide precisely with the new Moon or the full Moon preceding the spring equinox which was when the Sun crossed the cusp of Aries, the first sign of the Zodiac. The seed of everything was in its beginning.
Agrippina was with Nero in his study when I entered. She sat motionless in a chair, hands folded on her lap, staring out of the window into the darkness.
Nero paced up and down, picking nervously at a plate of dried Syrian figs whenever he passed it. "Ah, there you are, Epaphroditus. Mother insists you take down every word because this is my very first reading as emperor. Personally I think I'd rather not know the future seeing nothing can be done about it anyway."
An indulgent smile relaxed the compression of his mother's lips. "That is not entirely true, my son. Knowledge of the future allows us to compose ourselves for the inevitable. Surely Seneca has taught you that. He’s a Stoic."
The
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