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Validvs: A Novel
Validvs: A Novel
Validvs: A Novel
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Validvs: A Novel

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Novemus Opimius Validus was mortally wounded while serving as a tribune in Romes legions in Old Judea during the first century ADand was then touched by the healing hand of Jesus Christ himself. After that momentous occasion, his life forever changed; his inspirational story is one of undying faith, indomitable perseverance, and courage unlike any other ever told.

Validus witnessed Christs fabled and momentous Sermon on the Mount and became a secret Christian, embarking on an astounding journey that puts him in close proximity to other monumental historical figures, including Christs devoted apostle, Peter. He encounters the young and demented Emperor Gaius Caligula, his unlikely successor and uncle; the stuttering, physically crippled, and oft ridiculed but kindly Emperor Claudius; and Claudiuss lifelong friend, the illustrious King Herod Agrippa.

From the lowly depths of the gladiatorial arena to the grand halls of the Roman Senate and later to the Roman Emperors chair, Validus changes the path of Roman history, making a distinct connection between faith and empire.

VALIDVS is the first installment in a classic four part series. With this novel author C. Martinez Landrau offers a fascinating, alternative look at what ancient Rome might have been like had a man destined to become its greatest emperor also been one of Christianitys first Roman coverts albeit secretly

LanguageEnglish
PublisheriUniverse
Release dateFeb 17, 2011
ISBN9781450280198
Validvs: A Novel
Author

C. Martinez Landrau

C. MARTINEZ LANDRAU was born in 1962 in New York City. After his parents relocated to Puerto Rico in 1968, he attended local schools and studied history and business administration at the University of Puerto Rico. Landrau is currently a real estate agent in New York City.

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    Validvs - C. Martinez Landrau

    Introduction

    The Roman Empire was unquestionably the greatest political and military power of its day. Its lasting impact on history and its countless contributions to the world we today live in are astonishing in their scope and importance. From the classic Latin language spoken by its people evolved many of the tongues spoken today, including two of the most commonly used, those being Spanish and to a great extent English. Their lettered alphabet is the very foundation upon which all of the western world’s literature is written. The calendar by which we keep measure of the track of our lives was concieved and designed by the great Julius Caesar and two of the months in his Julian calendar, those being the months of July and August, were named after Caesar himself and his grandnephew and designated heir – the immortal Augustus. Those who have had the privilege of visiting Washington D.C.’s Capitol Building and stood under its iconic dome, or observed up close the columned splendor of that city’s Supreme Court edifice or the magnificent grand marble statue of a seated Abraham Lincoln displayed within its Greco-Roman styled temple-like monument dedicated to him have, in essence, observed an architectural style and tradition that saw its origins in the great Roman Forum of antiquity. The domed Washingtonian Capitol itself is home to a democratic-republican form of government whose beginnings can be traced all the way back to the old Roman Senate, ancient Rome’s Tribal/Centuriate Assemblies and its venerated Plebeian Council. The very word republic is derived from the Latin words res and publica, which when combined then translated into English are defined as the affairs of the people. Perhaps even the roads we today travel upon are, in a sense, tangibly metaphorical extensions of the old Appian Way built by the ancient Romans so many centuries ago. The Romans were indubitably the master builders, scientists, inventors and engineers of their time, and most of their accomplishments were recorded throughout the ages. Yes, as reputed they could indeed be brutal and merciless. But in order build their empire and conquer the unforgiving world they inhabited they had to be ruthless, there was no other way. They reveled in the pitiless spectacle of death at the Roman Coliseum’s gladiatorial arena and yet, out of this often violent, warlike and bloodthirsty culture Christianity emerged and then made of the City of Rome itself its center of worship.

    But for all of its greatness and accomplishments I have always been left with a feeling that Rome and its empire could have achieved so, so much more. This empire, perhaps the greatest domain of its kind ever established, despite all of its greatness and successes did have one major flaw. That one most identifiable flaw was its own system of government. The Autocracy (defined as a system of government where one person has absolute power, such as a dictatorship), or in the case of the Romans the emperorship that ruled this empire since the days of Caesar Augustus exemplified little if any difference from the sort of monarchial system of governance the Roman people came to so famously despise. Most of the imperial successions were awarded to those who shared bloodlines or family ties with the rulers. This practice more often than not proved disastrous simply because the Roman Caesars’ handpicked successors were not always the best qualified people to carry on the responsibilities demanded of an emperor. For the Romans it seemed as if for every great emperor like Augustus that came along they then had to suffer through another alike Caligula, for every one like Trajan there was another like Nero and for every such as Marcus Aurelius there was one such as his son Commodus waiting in the wings. The great ones lived long and ruled efficiently well, the tyrants ruled oppressively and died young.

    The Roman Empire reached its greatest extent, success and influence during the period between the years AD 96 to 180, an era in Roman history known as the time of the Five Good Emperors. This particular era was designated as such in reference to the vastly successful reigns of Emperors Nerva (96-98), Trajan (98-117), Hadrian (117-138), Antoninus Pius (138-161) and the aforementioned Marcus Aurelius (161-180). The first four of these five good emperors did not have any sons and were therefore forced to adopt their successors based on merit and not on bloodlines. It was no coincidence that the empire prospered because of it. But the last of these rulers, Marcus Aurelius, did have a son and successor. Once his heir Commodus became emperor after his father’s passing, he began to display irrational and despotic behaviors similar to those of his more oppressive and despotic predecessors. Commodus’s elevation to the emperorship essentially ended the era of the Five Good Emperors and soon thereafter began the slow decline of the once mighty empire. But let us imagine how much greater the Roman Empire could have been had her emperors been somehow democratically elected by a watchful senate that ably oversaw the whole process of government. Let us imagine that a man’s intelligence, upright moral values, clarity of vision in understanding what was best for his people and his empire were the yardsticks by which emperors were measured and selected, and not by whose blood they carried in their veins or whose name they had legally assumed. Let us imagine the greatest empire the world ever saw governed by a long line of Caesar Augustuses, without the interruptions of the Neros. The impact on society, religion and history itself would have been astounding.

    Let us imagine how during the 1st century AD one man’s extraordinary life, a life literally touched by the hand of God Himself, could have – in another reality – changed history and the world as we know it forever…

    Contents

    Introduction

    PART ONE

    Chapter I VIPERA ROMANA

    Chapter II • DIES DE CAESAR APVD CIRCVS MAXIMVS

    Chapter III IGNOSCO DE CLAVDIVS

    Chapter IV SAPIENTA DE SENECA

    Chapter V DIVINVS CAESAR

    Chapter VI PRAETORIS FIDELIS

    Chapter VII TENTATIO

    Chapter VIII VOCIS FATVM

    Chapter IX BENEDICTIO MATERNAE

    Chapter X ARENA AC CONCHAE

    Chapter XI TRIVMPHVS INMERITVS

    Chapter XII DIVVS ROMANVS DE TERROR

    PART TWO

    Chapter XIII PRECATIO DOMINVS

    Chapter XIV CONTVMACIA

    Chapter XV PARRICIDI

    Chapter XVI • ITA LOCVTVS CLAVDIVS GERMANICVS

    VALIDVS - Glossary of Latin Words Used

    …and signified by the spirit that there should be great dearth throughout all the world: which came to pass in the days of Claudius Caesar…

    The Acts of The Apostles 11:28

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    PART ONE

    Chapter I • VIPERA ROMANA

    The Roman Viper

    Novemus Validus immensely enjoyed taking his walks around the great Roman Forum. To this proud and well-traveled citizen of Rome there was no other place like it in all of his God’s good earth. The sight of its splendid marble temples and soaring columned edifices gave him a sense of innate pride in being a Roman citizen, not that he needed this view in order to gather that sense of pride. But he nevertheless felt that sense of pride whenever he strolled past The Forum’s Arch of Augustus which, with its wide high arched pathway and its finely sculpted relief carvings, commemorated Rome’s first emperor’s seminal victory at Actium over Mark Antony and his mistress the infamous Queen Cleopatra; or whenever he strolled past its similarly adorned Arch of Tiberius – a self-laudatory monument erected by the recently deceased emperor in celebration of his mighty legions’ recovery of the precious golden eagle standards once lost during the disastrous Battle of the Teutoburg Forest in Germania; or whenever he chanced a glance at the magnificence of its Temple of Saturn with its lofty columns set so high they seemed to reach for the heavens and where most of the empire’s treasure of gold and silver was guardedly stored; or whenever he dreamily gazed at the odd but enthralling circular white marble colonnaded form of the Temple of Vesta where the consecrated virgin priestesses maintained the sacred flame perpetually lit. So also did he gather that invigorating sense of pride whenever he stepped inside the comparatively diminutive and short columned Curia Julia with its small Corinthian styled colonnaded porch, home to the Roman Senate where the handsome young twenty eight year old Validus had already established a reputation as one of that body’s best debaters. Whenever he walked in or around these monuments to history he would often think to himself; Every great civilization has had its own symbol of its accomplishments. Egypt has its pyramids at Gizah, Athens has its towering hill-topped Acropolis, Jerusalem has His Divine Father’s Temple and we Romans have our grand civic Forum…

    Yet he always felt that Rome could be even greater than it was. As were many of his colleagues in the Roman Senate, so also was he not endeared to the concept of having an all powerful supreme Emperor. The Roman emperorship as established by the long deceased Augustus, and later maintained by his successor Tiberius, very much resembled the ancient Roman monarchies of old the Roman people had once so famously disdained. In his opinion, and in the opinion of most in the senate, the emperorship only served hinder the return of the old Republic. But yet, and strangely so, these same Roman people who so detested the concept of a supreme monarchy had also embraced their imperial rulers.

    Why are they so enamored of their kingly emperors? Validus often thought to himself,…is their love for them born out of loyalty to the memory and past greatness of the long dead Julius Caesar or out of respect to the memory and achievements of his adopted son Augustus. Can one truly understand the people? Well, if they are happy with their emperors, then let them have them.

    As he walked up towards the city of Rome’s stately Palatine Hill quarter within walking distance of The Forum on his way to the young emperor’s palace on this sun- drenched early November afternoon, he could only ponder as to what unpleasant surprises might await him there.

    *     *     *

    As dusk settled over the fading emperorship of an aging and ill Tiberius Caesar, no one could argue that Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus posseseed an ancestral lineage more illustrious than that of any other Roman citizen of his time other than emperor himself. His father had been the late Germanicus, a grandson of Augustus’s third wife Livia Drusilla. Germanicus had also been a grandson to the legendary Mark Antony and his wife Octavia Minor; Octavia having been the adored sister and only sibling of the great Augustus. Germanicus himself had dutifully earned the love and respect of the Roman people as a legionary general during his successful military campaigns in Germania. During these campaigns he would bring his beloved wife Agrippina and their young son Gaius along with him. In no time the boy became endeared to his troops. The adoring soldiers soon affectionately nicknamed young Gaius Caligula, meaning little boots in Latin, because his mother would often dress him in a miniature legionary’s uniform complete with tiny boots. Even at so tender an age it was assumed by all that young Gaius would someday follow in his illustrious father’s footsteps. But, to Rome’s great misfortune, that assumption never came to fruition.

    It was rumored that during Emperor Tiberius’s reign, while commanding his legions in Syria Germanicus was poisoned on orders from his uncle the emperor due to his unfounded fears Germanicus’s popularity might be a threat to his rule. It was this notoriously detrimental tendency by the Roman rulers of eliminating those best capable of leading out of fear of losing their own prominent positions, that oft left the door open for the despots to walk through. After a fully grown little boots Caligula was sent to live with the Emperor at his villa on the Isle of Capri years after his father’s untimely death, he wisely hid his anger and contempt at the aging emperor for what he in his heart knew had been Tiberius’s complicity in his father’s death. His high intelligence and natural acting ability allowed him to convince the aging Caesar that his perceived devotion and servility were an honest show of affection when, in fact, he was just trying to survive while many around him mysteriously did not. Like a viper, he sat coiled and tight, waiting for the right moment to strike. His father’s untimely passing years earlier nevertheless proved advantageous for young Caligula as it set him on a path to inherit the emperor’s throne once an ill and waning Tiberius died on March 16, AD 37. When word of Tiberius’s passing reached the streets of Rome, many a gossipmonger spread rumor as to how Caligula himself had hastened the death of the already moribund emperor.

    Twelve days after Tiberius’s traveled his last voyage into the afterlife, on the 28th of March the new twenty four year old emperor marched down the Roman Forum’s Via Sacra in a gleaming gilded chariot harnessed by four white horses as the immense crowd cried out and hailed him as our young son, our star. Over the next two months more than one hundred and fifty thousand animal sacrifices were made in his honor as the delighted populace welcomed their new sovereign. In spite of the fact Caligula had done almost nothing during his youth to prepare himself for the rigors of command, instead preferring to spend his time in Capri immersed in sexual perversions and sadistic behavior, the novice emperor’s reign began well enough as the Romans envisioned their new young ruler as an antidote to his old, aloof and famously reclusive predecessor.

    Some of Gaius Caligula’s first acts as emperor displayed a generosity that seemed to reinforce the trust the public had placed in him almost from the very moment they received word of his elevation. He ordered Tiberius’s sedition papers, the former emperors’s unofficial death warrants, burned in public before a large cheery crowd at The Forum. That same day he then had all treason trials outlawed. He, out of all people, then had all convicted sex offenders banished from the empire and abeted those who had been harmed by the imperial tax system. In a very wise gesture he also gave Tiberius’s grateful legion of Praetorian Guardsmen a substantial raise in salary with bonuses while smartly enlisting and additional battalion known as The Imperial Germanic Guard for his own protection. He also lavished the Roman people with spectacular gladiatorial matches and chariot races that won him an even greater affection from them. Validus and his colleagues in the senate understood better than anyone that these actions by part of the new ruler were pure political theater designed to coerce the masses.

    Validus’s fellow senator and dearest friend Atilius Bassius alluded to this very topic when he once jokingly remarked over one of his frequent late afternoon dinners with his friend and their wives at his domus Validus townhouse villa.

    Novemus, this farce that is now played by our new emperor has all of Rome fooled and I must admit that I myself am becoming one of his biggest hoodwinks, had said the six foot plus, balding, corpulent and powerfully built Bassius to which a somewhat sarcastic and sideways grinning Validus responded, Maybe we’ve underestimated our young inexperienced Caesar. Hopefully and with any luck he just might bring back the outwardly happy but nevertheless tyrannical days of his grandfather Augustus. Who knows? Validus then turned slightly somber and contemplatively added, But then again, under the right man the emperorship does have its merits. Was not his grandfather living proof of that? I myself will try to find a way to come closer to him so that I may better ascertain what sort of a man truly lays behind this so named Caligula’s youthful affable veneer.

    In recognition of the Caligulian emperorship’s auspicious beginning, the citizenry itself soon began to compare the young emperor to his beloved revered Father Germanicus and even to the great Julius Caesar himself. It had been Caesar’s common touch with them, that same sense of confraternity that Caligula seemed to be blessed with, that had won him their love generations ago. But all of this abruptly changed sometime during the month of October in the year AD 37…

    *     *     *

    As the first few months of his reign passed, they slowly exposed in the new emperor an increasingly evolving impression of what appeared to be a self-conscious sense of apprehensive insecurity in dealing with his new position and the enormous responsibilities attached to it. To those closest to him or those who knew him well, like family members or those among his staff of servants, it seemed as if he constantly attempted to hide these feelings by giving an outward facade of false confidence. He had a casual and almost adolescent air of narcissistic entitlement common in the upper class Roman males, but now that he was truly beginning to comprehend the unlimited power at his disposal, these character traits became more exacerbated. The palace slaves soon circled in fear around him for he was prone to rabid rages at the slightest provocation. A misplaced item of clothing or jewelry, a cup of wine too spiced or watered down, or dinner served too cold or not warm enough for his taste could be sufficient motive for a severe lashing or even a tortured death. And how the new emperor enjoyed the sight of a torture and death, as much or perhaps more so than even old Tiberius himself had once enjoyed the wanton depravity of his secretive sexually themed orgiastic revelries amid his palatial hilltop hideaway on Capri. Because of this, most of his subordinates and even his uncle Claudius Germanicus – Caligula’s last surviving male relative – dared not disagree with or confront him over anything. Validus himself would soon come to know this.

    Early into his reign, on a whim Caligula ordered the construction of a temporary three and a half mile-long Roman legionary style floating bridge using small ships as pontoons. As specified by him, it was to be built across the bay between the Italian coastal town of Baiae and the neighboring port of Puteoli west of nearby city of Neapolis. Being a master shipbuilder and engineer by profession, in an attempt to make the emperor’s acquaintance and better come to know who this young man was, Validus volunteered his services to oversee the endeavor. A few days later he was notified by the senate consul Pontius Nigrinus of the emperor’s eager acceptance of his offer and of his desire to meet with him in person.

    The day after he received Nigrinus’s notice Validus promptly answered Caesar’s call and paid him a visit in Tiberius’s old marble columned Palatine Hill palace that overlooked the Roman Forum from its wide northwestern terraces. Soon after Validus and Caligula were properly introduced by the soon departed Nigrinus, they then began to walk across one of those terraces under a clear late morning Roman sky as they conversed. Early into their chat, and with a sense of vague but deliberate haughtiness intended by Validus to test the emperor’s tolerance, the senator then demandingly asked, "Imperator, for what purpose am I and thy corps of legionary engineers to expend such great effort in building this bridge for thee, if I may ask? I am sure thou would agree there are more productive tasks that both they and I could be called upon by thee to perform."

    Mildly stunned by the senator’s slighty conceited tone, a visibily miffed Caligula halted his step. He then miserably failed Validus’s tolerance test when he wasted not a second and arrogantly responded to him as he said, Every task I demand of my subjects should never be construed as a wasted effort, is that understood? Now, if you wish to know why I desire to have this brigde built for me I will then tell you why. By any chance, do you remember an old soothsayer that went by the name of Thrasyllus of Mendes?

    I vaguely remember him sir. Was he not that eccentric Egyptian astrologer and mystic old Tiberius used to swear by? responded a now more noticeably demure and respectful Validus.

    Yes! responded the young emperor excitedly, …your memory has not failed you my dear senator. But his mood instantly turned dark as he continued, "It was that laughing hyena Thrasyllus who once mocked me by famously declaring that I had no more of a chance at becoming emperor of Rome than crossing the Bay of Baiae by horse. He told this to my beloved Tiberius when he requested he predict my chances at succeeding him. Thrasyllus’s death last year was fortunate for him. If he were alive today, I swear to you Validus, I would have had him disemboweled on the grand stage of Pompey’s Theatre for all to see! What I wouldn’t give to have all the lightning-throwing and thunder-clapping powers of the almighty Jupiter Maximus himself so that I could bring him back to life and then kill him again, on my terms. Do you know there’s a rumor of a man from the Judean province who can actually bring the dead back to life and who was Himself resurrected after being crucified?" said the emperor as his needlessly aroused anger seemed to slightly dissipate.

    A startled look came across the normally stoic, somber yet handsome cleft-chined face of Novemus Validus that even the notoriously self-centered emperor noticed. It caused him to inquisitively ask, Validus, were you not once stationed as a legionary soldier in Judea? When I inquired of you after you graciously volunteered to help me with my bridge Nigrinus mentioned something as to that.

    "Yes sire, I proudly served in Tiberius’s army as a tribunus laticlavius while deployed in the Tenth Legion’s garrison in Jerusalem," he firmly answered.

    The inquisitive emperor then further asked, Well then, while stationed there did you ever encounter or hear of this man I’ve been told of? Or is He just another one of those Judean myths those Hebrews are so famous for?

    A now eerilry unmoved Validus stared, as if in a trance, across The Forum and at the captivating sights of its high columned temples below. He then thought to himself, Why should I tell my story to this lad, for although we are almost equal in age I denote he is still but a boy and would not understand the meaning of Him. If I were to ever speak of Him he may decide to send me back to that mystifying land in search of Him. And how could I explain to this ill-tempered and allegedly murderous boy the account of a man who was once crucified then died, but yet still miraculously lives? No, he would never understand and would in all probability have me tortured to death due to his own failure to comprehend. It would be best for me to deny my knowledge of Him, as I have always done… he thought.

    Senator! loudly asked an impatient Caligula as he broke Validus’s trance, You have not answered my question! Do you know of such a man or not? If you do, I shall send you to Judea in search of him. Now, do you know of Him or not? demanded the emperor with a slight hint of threat.

    After a thoughtful pause Validus prudently replied, No sire, I have never heard such myths. He then added, …besides, whatever an old fool like Thrasyllus might have said would not be worth arousing a resurrecting God’s annoyance, now would it? he opined as an elated Caligula laughed hysterically. As the tall, long black haired and dark blue eyed Validus stared down at the slightly shorter-statured pale-skinned Caligula, he noticed how his last comment had greatly improved his mood. This gave him the necessary confidence to ask him once more, but now in a more deferential tone, Sir, does an inconsequential remark made by a charlatan truly merit the effort and time needed to complete a burdensome project such as this?

    Yes it does … answered Caesar as he then superciliously continued, …because as emperor I must be treated with the reverence and respect deserved of a god. That is what I am, you know? Therefore such a remark, even if made by a fool, is worth arousing my annoyance…

    Several days later Validus sat with a few of his more trusted friends and told them about the emperor’s bridge building plans and what he considered to be his ludricrous reason for constructing it. He spoke to them while partaking of a banquet held at his friend Titus Strabo’s modest yet attractively decorated home in Rome’s Quirinal quarter, near the beautifully sculptured Gardens of Sallust. The tall, athletic, blond haired Germanic bred Strabo – who on that day was joyfully celebrating the recent birth of his first son after three daughters – was one of the leaders of the Roman Plebeian Council and also a city magistrate. He oft made no secret of his goal of one day attaining membership in the Roman Senate and always delighted in inviting his closest friends into his home to talk politics.

    The young man has never held any meaningful office and it must have been overwhelming to have all of the responsibilities of the highest office in the empire thrust at him all at once. He needs time adjust into his position and grow into it. Maybe this bridge building silliness is his way of seeking therapeutic relaxation, a harmless and perhaps even edifying hobby of some sort, remarked old Cornelius Figula, a veteran senate member, as he drank wine and relaxingly lounged on one of the cushioned couches beside the honored guests’ table set at the center of the main room of Strabo’s home. Figula went on speaking, …do not misunderstand me, I am not thrilled with the idea of the emperorship being held at the reins by one so young and evidently inexperienced. But that is what Tiberius decreed in his will and testament, is it not? Besides, the people seem to agree with his choice for a successor and we certainly cannot go against their will.

    Figula echoed the subtle but long held resentments the senatorial class had held towards the emperors ever since Julius Caesar first declared himself dictator for life, an act that ultimately cost him his life at the hands of a few senators loyal to the concept of the Republic. But Caesar’s historic assassination so outraged the public that it allowed for his adopted son Augustus, through clever and ruthless manipulation, to take advantage of that sentiment and over time obtain for himself the very same powers that had cost his mentor his life. He was then able to retain his hold over those powers for well over four decades due to his exceptionally proficient mode of leadership. His successor and stepson Tiberius was never as loved or respected by the people as had been his predecessor. But he did a competent enough effort as emperor and kept the empire growing under his rule. Now it was Caligula’s turn to lead and the Roman Senate now quiescently observed, listened to the rumors and speculated as to whether this neophyte Caesar was up to the task.

    "So he wishes to build a bridge over two thousand passus long between two ports just so that he can ride his horse over it and rescind an insult from a man who’s already dead? asked Marcus Norbanus, another senator and close friend of Validus’s. What does he plan to do with it afterwards, take his wife and sister for a romantic moonlit walk over the waters?" he added with a heavy dose of sarcasm.

    The very mention of the emperor’s wife Caesonia and his sister – the beautiful strawberry blond and pale porcelain-like skinned Drusilla – then spiked the conversation with heated gossip.

    You must be referring to his wife and his mistress, sardonically added Strabo as then Norbanus eagerly added, But my dear Strabo how can you tell who is the wife and who is the mistress, for he treats them both with equal devotion, he humored as all except for Validus were compelled to laugh, albeit hushly, at the rumored incestuous relationship between Caligula and his sister hinted by his remark.

    Strabo caught Validus’s obvious discomfort over the joke and he suspiciously asked him, Novemus, did you not find what Marcus said hilarious?

    A man’s private life is his own, Validus responded then guardedly added, …but in Rome a man must watch his tongue, for even the flies that buzz about are listening, he said as he purposely stared directly at the slave girl pouring a seventh serving of wine into the already bloated Norbanus’s empty goblet.

    Figula squinted his inquisitive brown eyes and then slowly nodded in agreement with Validus. He then turned to Norbanus and told him, I have seen men lose their lives for attempting even lamer humor than your’s Marcus, said Figula. But the good natured Norbanus brushed him off as he jokingly replied, Maybe I should put comedy aside and stick to politics. But even you Cornelius would admit how politics at times can be a lot funnier than comedy! he kidded as he now had even Validus smiling.

    Seventy three year old Cornelius Figula had been around the Roman political game long enough to know how dangerous a simple attempt at satire could be around the earshot of an emperor or one of his spies. They have a lousy sense of humor, these Caesars, especially if the joke is on them, he thought. He then spoke aloud, Whatever personal affairs Caesar might involve himself in are just that, his own affairs and no one else’s. As long as he does well for the people and by the senate we should not concern ourselves with his indulgences, loudly exclaimed one of the wise old men of the senate as his tablemates all nodded in silent agreement, the tone now turning somber. He then reawakened the conversation’s humored undertone as he said, I still remember how we all to had watch over our wives when the great Augustus was around, even when he was already far into his years. I once gathered the nerve to ask him about his rumored extramarital affairs and nearly regretted having done so after he gave me glare that rendered me quivered. He then suddenly showed me a smile and in his good-natured way answered by saying; ‘There is no better way to find out what opinion a senator might genuinely have of me than asking his wife at bedside – with my head on his pillow.’ He then flashed that unforgettable mischievous grin of his and asked me, ‘You are not yet married Figula, are you? said Figula as he ended his anecdote and then accompanied the rest of his companions in a chorus of laughter.

    It is a good thing that I caught him in good disposition that day, for if not, I might not be speaking to you today. My dear colleagues, no one is perfect! Not even a truly divine and judicious emperor such as our late, ever-wise and much-loved Caesar Augustus, said Figula aloud.

    No one is perfect you say? You might be wrong about that my old friend… thought Validus as his mind drifted back to his legionary days in Judea.

    After the suspicious death of his father a then young Caligula was shuffled from relative to relative until his early adolescence, when he found himself at the care of his great-grandmother Empress Livia – Augustus wife. But the nuturing love and attention that every child craves was sorely lacking during most of his early years and during his time at Livia’s home he had little outside contact; his sole companionship coming from his sisters Agrippina, Julia and Drusilla. But it was his demonstratively affectionate behavior towards his favored Drusilla unhealthfully nutured during his formative years, the kind of affection expected from a loving husband towards a wife, that fueled the rampant rumors of his incest with all three of his sisters as mentioned by Strabo’s guests. Once he became emperor, and even though both he and his beloved sister were already married, this scandalously inappropriate behavior nevertheless continued.

    If I did not now who they were, I would be almost impossible for me to discern which one is the sister or the wife, for neither of the two women behaves towards him as a sister should, Validus’s wife Aemilia once discreetly commented to him at a banquet given by the emperor in honor of Empress Caesonia’s birthday. She told her husband this as she and another seven hundred guests observed the two women’s coquettish comportment towards him as they lounged in their couches at either side of him. …they are as two wives with the emperor.

    So it came as no surprise to Validus to see both Drusilla and Caesonia present when Caligula arrived by carriage to inspect his new bridge across the bay from Baiae to Puteoli soon before he completed its construction in less than two week’s time. The young senator, along with some of the best military engineering corps available, had concocted the three and a half Roman mile long wooden road atop large fishing boats stretched forty five feet apart. It was hastily built, for the notoriously impatient emperor wanted the crossing erected as soon as possible – as always. But despite the speed in which it was laid out over the waters, everyone who saw it noted how solidly built it looked.

    Caesar, we could march ten full legions across that bay before this bridge begins to crack! proudly said to the emperor a tribune named Lucius Priscus, one of the chief engineers who’d worked on the structure alongside Validus.

    As they were nearing the end of construction, the work had been further delayed when the finicky emperor insisted on having a layer of ground added over the structure’s wooden plank as to make the bridge seem like a road over water.

    What a waste of manpower and ingenuity, said Validus when told this by Priscus. Something as efficiently designed and constructed as this should be put to a much better use – logic demands it. But then again, logic is a term that is seemingly foreign to this emperor of ours.

    But in the end it all came together when on the day Validus declared the bridge completed, the emperor jumped up and down with a joyful giddiness of the sort that is pleasantly natural in children, yet undignified and even unwelcome when coming from an adult. The dance of his long, thin spindly arms and legs, and the high pitched child-like squeals he gave out betrayed the genuine excitement he felt at the expectation of riding his stallion over the waters across Validus and Priscus’s novel contrivance.

    Magnificent, Validus, magnificent! the emperor jubilantly exclaimed, now that you have thrown the dirt across it, my bridge must now be even more impressive than the one built by Xerxes at Hellespont, he said in reference to a similar device assembled by the legendary Persian king’s army during his failed invasion of Greece over four centuries earlier.

    Upon hearing this, a wisely quiescent Validus thought, Yeah, but at least Xerxes had a good enough reason for fabricating his, he pondered – even though he felt personally flattered by the comparison. In an attempt to make use of the emperor’s merriment to his own advantage he then dared ask, "Imperator, I must ask your permission to leave, if you would please grant it sir? My tasks here in Puteoli are completed and I have not attended a senate session nor have I seen my wife in well over three weeks. I must return to Rome."

    The famously narcissistic Caligula would hear none of it. Leave now! Why now? the emperor fastidiously responded, …now, that the celebration is about to start! Do you not wish to see me as I ride my beautiful white stallion Incitatus across the water over this wonder that you have built for me? he asked in a manner not dissimilar to a young bride seeking her husband’s approval of her wedding gown.

    Sire, I have not seen my wife and newborn son in over a month and, in all honesty, I am very tired, Validus pleadingly repeated. Noticing how his appeal was having no effect as evindenced by the emperor’s emerging look of irritation, he condescendingly added, …but I am sure the news of the splendid sight of you galloping on your stallion above the waters of this bay shall reach all of us in Rome very, very soon.

    After she overheard their conversation, it was Drusilla who winningly obtained for an appreciative Validus his leave when she came near and lovingly whispered into her brother’s ear.

    Oh please let him go my dear. He obviously yearns for the warm loving arms of his wife. You and I can certainly understand that? she said in an oddly sensual tone as she gently caressed at her now calmed brother’s cheek.

    Caligula thoroughly enjoyed having men of such stature and obvious courage as Validus, men whose mere presence demanded respect, forced to submit to his whims out of deference to what his immense power could do to them. Since he had become emperor men who previously would have dismissed him for what he truly was – a useless and insignificant patrician underachiever, now tripped over themselves trying to find ways to gain his favor. And how he enjoyed humiliating them, for his degradation of them gave him a tangible sense of his true dominion over them.

    Just six nights earlier, during a banquet hosted by him at Tiberius’s old palace, after too many a cup of wine he ordered a senator named Heraclius Paetus and his much younger wife to disrobe and then engage sexually so that he and his guests could be entertained by them. Since his elevation to the emperorship, it was becoming a common occurrence for his guests to comply when the emperor demanded of them such things. But the dignified and aristocratic Paetus was already far into his years and too conservative a man to submit to this without complaint. He had nervously attempted to dissuade the persistent emperor. But Caligula would not accept any excuses and threatened the senator with imprisonment for treason if he refused to amuse him.

    But as any self-respecting senator of Rome would, Paetus argued his case when he said, "Imperator, on what grounds would thou have me indicted sire? And of subversion out of all things! Among my colleagues in the senate I am thy most faithful servant Caesar!" he cried out in a quivering plea as he uselessly begged of an impetuous man young enough to be his grandson.

    If you are my servant then do as I say. If you do not comply then it is subversion, plain and simple he snootily demanded in a cold and impassive manner that contrasted sharply with the horribly maniacal mask that was now his face.

    Very well, as you wish sire, the visibly aggravated old senator declared. Lets get this childish nonsense over with! he murmured under his breath after he turned away from the grinning emperor and then began to disrobe.

    Paetus’s wife was a full-bodied Roman beauty who was much younger than her husband and her olive-skinned beauty became a curse the very instant the emperor noticed her.

    How hilarious it would be too see that old fool try to satisfy that pretty young girl of his, the emperor mischievously thought to himself when they first approached him and paid their respects after they arrived at the imperial banquet. She’d married the older man for the more prominent position in Rome’s upper class society that such a union would provide her and now she was about to learn how dangerous such prominence could be in Caligula’s Rome.

    I cannot do this Heraclius, not here and not in front of all of these strangers, protested the young bride to her helpless husband in a wasted attempt at avoiding the unavoidable.

    After he heard her complaining Caligula walked slowly towards her, his hollow-set eyes and sinister long reddish brows angled in such a way that they made his naturally unattractive face even uglier in the most frightening way. He then stood in front of young Lady Paeta and warned her, You will entertain us, or I will have both your and your husband’s heads on the stake before this night is out. Is that understood? He could now deliriously sense in her a primal fear he now excitedly fed off of. So powerfully alluring was this deliciously malevolent feeling that now pulsated throughout his being that it made him want to rip her gown off and force himself upon her right there and then.

    Her legs were now trembling as a nauseating feeling slowly and uncontrollably began to overtake her. She now realized, in a way that only a woman’s intuition could make her aware, that this man’s viciousness was not merely inherent to his nature, she now upsettingly realized it also came from deep within his soul like a form of madness that could not be reasoned with or opposed. She now understood if she defied him everything she held dear would be lost in the most dreadful way.

    So all the while she softly sobbed, removed her gown and then reclined her shapely nude body face-down at the edge of the dinner table the emperor mockingly praised her as he commented to the eighty or so guests about the sensual beauty of her exposed form as he lasciviously gazed at her protruding buttocks.

    Why are you crying my dear? There is nothing to weep over. Besides, a figure as pleasing to the eye as is yours should be admired by everyone. So enticing are you I might just bring you to my palace and place you permanently in my gardens alongside with my statue of Venus once your husband is finished! he said as some of the guests now cautiously laughed along with him. For sure they were grateful to their gods that it was somebody else besides them at the end of that long u-shaped marble and oak table.

    Old Paetus soon lay above her. He then whispered to his wife from behind, If you close your eyes it will soon be over my love, it will be as if we were back home in our bed, he said in his attempt to calm her. But all that she felt for him, the emperor and all those guests who sat around her ogling as they giggled was hateful disdain.

    She then thought, What good does it do me now to be the wife of a senator of Rome if he is powerless to stop this. I should have stayed where I belong, tending my father’s inn at Capua. Oh how I miss him and mother… she thought to herself in spite the overwhelming sense of humiliation and fear that now engulfed her.

    The old man tried to make love to his wife but couldn’t. The weight of his years, the degradingly open laughter that now surrounded him and his broken dignity dissolved any passion he may have tried to muster. The emperor let not the moment pass him by without attempting to further demean the mismatched lovers as he said, Common Paetus, get it done man! If you do not, I’ll then fetch one of old Tiberius’s three legged slaves I had brought over from Capri who will for sure handle this chore quicker than you could dress back into your wrinkled toga. Believe me, you would not want to see this manly specimen go at it with your wife! He puts my stallions to shame, if you know what I mean! hollered the emperor as he now had the guests roaring with laughter. He then continued, Your wife might enjoy him so much she may not wish to return back to you once he is done with her!

    "Imperator, why not bring in that slave of yours for some real amusement!" yelled a sycophant from amongst the crowd.

    With her pride now shattered and her heart filled with a rage and hatred such as she had never felt before, the senator’s young wife pushed her large shapely bottom up against her leaning husband and abruptly pushed him aback. She then stood up straight, with a resolute poise that shone through despite her nakedness, a poise that soon drowned out all the laughter. She then looked at Gaius Caligula square in the eye, pointed her finger at him and bravely exclaimed,You’re nothing more than a coward you! You take pleasure in the humiliation you impress upon others only because you know you cannot be punished for it!

    She then looked out at the guests and spoke in fierce anger, an anger so overwhelming it exorcised all of her fears, even her fear of death. Do you think he would have done this to us if my husband, as old and feeble as he is, were allowed to take the sword and defend my honor against him? she said as the guests now looked towards the emperor and studied the rather comical look of shock that overtook his face.

    As her hazel brown eyes sparkled moist as they blazed with fury young Lady Paeta then continued, He does this only because he has the swords of his guardsmen behind him; only because he knows they will do his fighting for him!

    Sensing that with these words she had perhaps procured her own death sentence, she then threw whatever caution she may have had left into the wind and proclaimed, What sort of a man is our ‘emperor’ Caesar…? she asked with sarcastic emphasis in the word ‘emperor’ as she then continued …that he requires the services of his ‘favorite’ slaveboy to do for him that which he himself does not have the courage or maybe even the potency with which to do, she declared as she scornfully questioned the emperor’s virility and perhaps even his masculinity, now daring him to so much as touch her.

    After he heard her say this, a furious Caligula speedily bolted from the table and ran towards the nearest Praetorian Guardsman, yanking his short-bladed sword from out of its leather sheath. With his face now the very personification of unbridled fury, with sword in hand he then slowly approached young Lady Paeta as he threatened, How dare you speak to your lord and Caesar in that manner. I myself, and not any slave of mine, shall slice your long scrawny neck this very instant!

    He then slowed his gait as he came within three steps of her, as if trying to prolong her agony for his own gratification. But instead he saw how her defiant gaze grew stronger. Her boldness now took his rage to a point beyond lunacy as he leveled the blade in her direction. Then, just as he was about to begin swinging his arm her way, Paetus’s hand gently grabbed the emperor’s forearm.

    Caesar, I beg thee, said the old senator as he stood beside Caligula calmly holding his arm while wearing his disheveled purple striped senatorial tunica sloppily tied around his waist. Please forgive her sire, my wife is young and headstrong and does not understand her trespass.

    Young Paeta proved her husband right as she disrespectfully interjected, Do not apologize to him Marcus! It is he who should apologize to you – and me!

    Quiet woman! You’ve said enough. It is you who shall apologize to our great Caesar for your insults, said the old man in a last attempt to appease the raging emperor.

    I will not! defiantly said Paeta as her newly found confidence allowed her the audacity to now aim her insolence at her husband.

    She turned to her right and bent down to retrieve her gown. As she arose, she then exclaimed, You hear me well Marcus, I will not –– but before she could finish her sentence she felt the cold polished-iron blade swiftly cut across her throat.

    As she desperately clutched at her neck in panic and began to fall back, she saw that the blade was not in the hand of the emperor but was instead in her husband’s, for he had wrestled it from him and then slashed her. In the Roman world in which Marcus Paetus lived women were seen but not heard unless they had their husband’s consent. It did not matter that the emperor had dishonored them. Regardless of the resentment he felt at the indecency of the act, such acts were considered the ruler’s prerogative and he understood that. As brave as his wife had demonstrated herself to be in standing up to Caligula, she nonetheless did not have the right to disrespect and embarrass him nor her husband in such a way. So despite the fact his love and fondness of her had been genuine in every way, Paetus could not forgive her impudence. Had he allowed her that indiscretion it would have meant a certain death for them both.

    Bravo! My esteemed Paetus, Bravo! That’s exactly how one should treat an impertinent wife. Well done my dear senator! exclaimed a suddenly joyful emperor as some of his guests, his sister and wife included, all gasped in horror. Caligula on the other hand stood gleefully amused at the sight of the young woman as she lay before him heavily stained in her own spraying blood over the white streaked marble floor in a convulsive quiver as she slowly bled to death.

    As soon as she’s done ‘entertaining’ us here I’ll have my servants carry what’s left of her back to your home after I have her washed and dressed in her gown. Is that fair enough with you Paetus? said a now oddly polite Caesar.

    That is most kind of thee sir, said the old senator with only the slightest hint of insincerity that nonetheless did not go unnoticed by the emperor.

    The very next morning word reached the senate as to how Caligula ordered his Praetorians to arrest Paetus two hours after he’d sent his servants over to his domus to deliver young Paeta’s remains unceremoniously wrapped in a sack of burlap.

    …But they arrived much too late to detain him. They found him laying dead in his tub, bathed in his own blood and still holding the hand of his dead young wife, coldly said Faustus Sulla who along with his wife Domitia had been invited to the ill-fated banquet and had been eyewitnesses to the sordid events. He now relayed the troubling story to his friend and fellow senator Validus as they, Norbanus and a few others sought shelter from a slight mourning rain under the colonnaded porch of the Curia Julia.

    Well, at least the old fox was able to take a final bath with his young beloved, tactlessly joked Norbanus. But noting how no one laughed he then added, It’s a shame, a real damned shame our esteemed Paetus had to go that way.

    It was the honorable thing to do, considering the circumstances, said Validus of Paetus’s suicide.I am beginning to understand this emperor of ours a little better and take my word, once the insult from the young woman was taken, they were both as good as dead, he added.

    Sulla then gave his personal opinion on the matter and said, Paetus was a very wealthy man and his wife’s wanton act of stupidity gave Caligula a faultless excuse by which to go after his estate. Believe me gentlemen, Paetus had been around long enough to know what he was in for. As a matter of honor, by sacrificing his loud-mouthed wife he did the only reasonable thing he could.

    Validus seemed greatly annoyed at Sulla for what he had said and stared sternly at him. He then spoke, Faustus, you speak as if the emperor has done nothing wrong here! It was his deed that caused the tragedy, not the young woman’s courage. She did what would be expected of any decent Roman female, what I myself would have expected my Aemilia to do had she been so humiliated! Lady Paeta defended her honor and if anyone has dishonored himself it has been the emperor with such unnecessarily harmful behavior.

    For a moment after he spoke a noticeably embarrassed Sulla glared rather angrily at Validus with his piercing leonine gray-eyed stare but said nothing. But after a pensive pause he then soon enough lowered his head in mild shame and then told him, "You are right my young friend – as you often are. For some inexplicable reason I sometimes I find myself forgetting that he who today carries the cognomen of Caesar is not one and the same as old Augustus or the late Tiberius…"

    *     *     *

    The emperor had not been feeling particularly well on this day for he was running a mild fever and had been complaining about it to his sister and wife throughout the entire carriage journey from Rome to Baiae. As they rode in the privacy of their luxuriously oversized and enclosed ox-drawn stagecoach he drank of an African herbal stimulant that Caesonia routinely gave him to arouse his libido, even though it caused him mild but lasting headaches. As they neared their destination, the emperor took time to ‘relax’ while she and Drusilla took turns pleasuring and teasing him in ways that they knew he enjoyed. As they both orally delighted him in unison he then soon climaxed in hopes it would help appease his head pains. After she wiped his seed from her lips his wife then asked him how he felt, to which he remarked, I feel worse! Now my head feels like it is about to burst. Maybe the two of you should have left me rest.

    As a young boy Caligula had suffered from constant dizzy spells, fevers and headaches that at times grew so severe they would cause him to lose his balance and fall. But it had been a few years since the last of these episodes, yet lately he was beginning to feel the unpleasantly familiar symptoms once again.

    "Maybe all of these damned responsibilities I have to deal with now that I am princeps are what have me afflicted. I would let the senate deal with them for me if it were not for the fact that most of its members despise me. I know they do, although they disingenuously pretend to like me. I only wish I could do away with all those senatorial hypocrites and let the people rule the senate in their place. I now for sure they love me," he whimsically thought aloud.

    Some three days after his arrival at Baiae, and immediately after Drusilla had conviced him to allow Validus his leave, he then indecisively recanted his decision as he shouted back at the departing senator, Wait Validus, do not leave yet!

    What does he want now? silently pondered an impatient Validus as he turned around and lazily faced the emperor.

    Wait – don’t leave yet, you must see this! excitedly said Caesar as he eagerly motioned to one of his servants. He then ordered the slave to fetch a red-colored wooden box from out of his carriage that had been hand-delivered from Rome amid a three dozen man strong Praetorian escort earlier that morning. After it was brought over he then opened the box, peeled away the layers of linen inside it and then revealed a finely decorated armored breastplate that was stored within. It was made of golden brass and brilliantly polished metal that perfectly detailed its muscular chest and abdominal engravings. At the top center of it, just above the chest mark, there was a large round coin-like seal with the profile of a young Grecian-looking long-haired man etched into it.

    Before the emperor could say a word an impressed Validus had already exclaimed, What a magnificent piece of armor, fit for an emperor! He spoke as would a ship designer and engineer who always appreciated the the talent and skill demonstrated in the work of others. He then remarked, The taskmaster who created this breastplate for you should be commended for his fine work.

    Well I would if I could. But whoever he is – he’s long dead. the emperor remarked off-handedly and then asked,Do you know who this exquisite piece of armor once belonged to Novemus?

    Your great-grandfather, perhaps? he guessed in reference to Julius Caesar.

    The emperor laughed and then answered, No, No, No, not him! This plate of armor was once the property of the great Alexander himself! It now belongs to me, Caligula proudly announced as he took great delight at the startled look that came over the face of the habitually stoic Validus.

    Almost three hundred years before the great Julius Caesar’s historic ascent to prominence, Alexander the Great had been the young military genius who conquered an empire greater than even Rome’s, a domain that stretched from the coasts of the Ionian Sea to the slopes of the Himalaya range of north-western India. As a young man it had been Caesar himself who, while standing at the pedestal of an effigy of Alexander, had once tearfully declared how in his relatively short lifespan the mythical young king had accomplished so much more than even he. Alexander had achieved it all before his death at the age of thirty three years. In the ancient Roman world, a world that held a higher regard for power and might above everything else, there was no greater or more revered a figure than him. Caligula had the priceless relic he now held in his hands stolen from the legendary Macedonian king’s tomb in Alexandria and then had it brought back to Italy as a charm for goodluck.

    "How did thou obtain this Imperator?" asked a fascinated Validus.

    It is a gift from my esteemed Egyptian subjects,boasted the lying emperor as he then continued, And just as the great Alexander once conquered the world wearing this armor while riding his stallion Bucephalus, so shall I ride today into glory wearing it as I gallop my Incitatus over the clear blue waters of this bay!

    Moments later, as Validus said his hurried farewells and was finally able to escape to Rome, he thought to himself, It is not the armor he wears that makes the man great, it is the valiant man who wears it honorably who makes himself great…

    A few days earlier, as the sun’s yellowish afternoon gleam glistened alike tiny diamonds above the waters of the bay, a large crowd of locals assembled near its shores upon being told the news of their emperor’s arrival town. For the next few days Caligula then amiably mingled among them and even invited them onboard the bridge’s pontoon boats so that they could get a closer look at him as he rode by as soon as work was finished on his bridge.

    Two days later, within an hour of Validus’s departure back to Rome, Caligula then furiously galloped his beautiful white stallion across the makeshift passage, stopping near the Puteoli end of it only to give the panting animal a respite along with a bucket of fresh water to drink. Soon after he began to gallop back towards Baiae he halted his horse’s trot so that he could dismount and tighten a loose strap on his saddle. As he did this, an elderly woman who had ventured onto the bridge at the emperor’s invite and had sat on one of the boats with

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