Death at Pompeia

One

The wedding of Pompeia Didia was an elaborate affair — not at all the sort of thing I usually attend. Anyone who was anyone in the colonia was likely to be there, and Glevum was founded for wealthy veterans, and was thus one of the richest towns in all Britannia. Not generally an event for humble slaves-turned-pavement-makers then, but His Excellence, my patron, had requested me to go — actually as his personal representative — and when Marcus Aurelius Septimus offers one an honour of that kind, it is not something that a man can readily decline — not if he hopes to live a long and happy life.

Of course, I was not expecting any such request so I was surprised early one morning to get a messenger at my home summoning me to come at once to Marcus’s country house which was only a mile or two from where my roundhouse was. I put on my toga, collected my young slave Minimus — himself on loan from my patron for a while — and set off at once. I was duly ushered into the triclinium, where I found him reclining on a dining couch, languidly nibbling a bowl of sugared figs — most unusual at this time of day.

‘Ah, Libertus, my old friend!’ He waved a hand at me so I could kiss his ring.

I performed the usual obeisance rather cautiously. When Marcus greets me as ‘old friend’ like that, it is usually because there is some favour that he wants to ask. ‘You wanted to see me, Excellence?’ I said.

‘I did.’ He waved the hand again, this time to indicate a stool where I could sit and keep my head politely below his. When I had perched on it, he smiled approvingly. ‘I’m sorry to have to greet you in the dining room like this. The household is in sorry disarray, I fear. As you know, in just a day or two we are setting off for Rome, and the slaves are busy packing everything we need. I am leaving it to Julia to supervise the task, she has strong ideas about the quantity to take. This seems to be the only room where there is any peace.’

I nodded. I had seen the evidence of this as I came into the house. Much of the normal household furniture had been stored away, and there was already a pile of wooden boxes stacked beside the gate, obviously awaiting the arrival of the luggage-cart. ‘She will need a good deal for the child, I expect,’ I said, thinking of the quantity of crates — then rather wished I hadn’t. Marcus was unfashionably devoted to his wife and son, and this might seem a little critical.

I need not have worried. He gave another smile. ‘My old friend Pertinax, who used to be the governor of this very province, is Prefect of Rome now, of course, and he has invited us to visit him, so we shall be seen at the Imperial Court. I believe that Julia would take every robe she owns, and she would take a similar quantity for Marcellinus if he were not likely to grow out of it all.’ He leaned forward and selected another sugared fig. ‘And your own wife and son? They are well, I trust?’

‘Very well, I thank you, Excellence,’ I answered, still more cautious now. Marcus was well aware of my household circumstances. Indeed, he had given me a plot of land to build a roundhouse on, when I was reunited with my wife after years of painful separation when we had both been captured and sold separately as slaves. And he had done the same thing for my adoptive son, who until recently had been my faithful slave. But Marcus did not usually trouble to ask after them like this. Whatever this favour was, I thought, it must be onerous. I sighed. He had used me in tricky situations once or twice before, but I had hoped to escape these duties while he was away. I glanced doubtfully at him.

However, he seemed to be waiting for me to tell him more. ‘Junio is enjoying his new role as freeman and citizen,’ I said. ‘All of which he owes to your advice. And, of course, he is now a husband on his own account. I must thank you once again for your handsome wedding gift.’

‘Ah!’ His expression altered, and he ceased to meet my eyes. ‘Weddings! That reminds me. That is why I called you here. You know the citizen Honorius, I believe? Honorius Didius Fustis, the town councillor?’

I nodded. Honorius was not merely an important figure in the town, he was one of the most wealthy citizens in the area. ‘I recently installed a pavement in his town house,’ I replied.

Marcus grunted. ‘I have visited the place. Rather a vulgar ostentation of wealth and privilege, I thought.’ There was some truth in that. It had been built with the obvious intention to impress, on an enormous site which Honorius had obtained by buying up a number of little businesses and having them pulled down. Town houses on that scale were not common here, though any public officer of any rank is obliged to maintain an establishment within a certain radius of the basilica. Marcus himself kept up only an apartment in the town, which — although it was luxurious enough inside — was nonetheless over a public wine shop and had attic flats above.

I looked at him, surprised. Marcus did not usually stoop to jealousy. Perhaps there was a certain animosity between the pair of them. Honorius set great store by his wealth and rank, and claimed to come from a patrician family, but my patron easily outstripped him on all counts. Marcus is the wealthiest man in all Britannia and — especially now that Pertinax was appointed to the Prefecture of Rome — one of the most influential in the Western Empire. Honorius may pride himself on his patrician blood, but Marcus is said to be related to the Emperor himself.

But Honorius had paid me fairly handsomely. I did not wish to criticise the man. ‘Well, I did the pavement, if you noticed that. I dealt with the steward, I did not meet the man himself.’

Marcus paused in the act of nibbling his fig. ‘Well, now you will have an opportunity.’ He gestured towards a piece of scrolled vellum on the floor beside the couch, which I had not noticed up till now. ‘His daughter’s getting married. He has invited me — but the ceremony will take place after I have gone. But I should make a gesture — he is rewriting his will, and I am to be appointed residuary legatee.’

I nodded. It is not an uncommon thing to do, in fact, to nominate an influential man as heir of last resort. It is a kind of compliment of course — and it does prevent the estate from being forfeit to the Imperial Purse, as it would be otherwise, if any primary legatees should die or be untraceable, and thus cause a ‘querella’ about the provisions of the will. Marcus had been named in this way many times, and more than once had benefited from the inheritance. I saw where this was leading, or I thought I did. ‘You wish me to deliver a gift on your account?’

Marcus bit thoughtfully into his fig before he said, ‘A little more than that. I have written suggesting that you should take my place, and go as my personal representative. Oh, don’t look so reluctant, it won’t be difficult. No temple rituals, or fictional sales before the court — it isn’t to be an old-fashioned manus wedding of that kind. Just a modern wedding in the family home — a simple civil contract exchanged between the bride and groom in front of the proper number of Roman witnesses, and then a small offering to the household gods, followed by a cheerful party afterwards.’ He grinned. ‘You’ll like that, Libertus. You’ll have a good feast there. Tell me all about it, when I get home again. No need even to take a dining knife with you — the family is so wealthy they provide one for their guests, even on a large occasion such as this. Oh, and speaking of the guests, you can keep a watch on one of them for me: one in particular, I’m certain he’ll be there.’

So this was the reason for the summons. I said nothing, and after a moment he went on again.

‘Antoninus Seulonius, he’s a merchant in the town, and he’s clearly aiming to be elected as decurion next year. Wants me to propose him as a candidate. But I’m not sure that he’s honest. He’s risen very quickly — and I’m not sure how. He’s not well-connected so he may be using bribes — or have some secret influence over somebody in power. He’ll be at the wedding, but he won’t be on his guard. Keep an eye on him. See who he consorts with, and write and let me know.’

So that was it. I felt my spirits sink. I was to attend the wedding of a girl I’d never met, in a class of society where I did not belong, simply to spy for Marcus on a fellow guest. It was not an appealing prospect. ‘I don’t imagine that the father of the bride — anxious about his standing in the town — will be altogether delighted at this substitution, Excellence. I might be a citizen, but I am a tradesman all the same — and an ex-slave at that. Everyone in Glevum will be aware of it. Hardly the social equivalent of a great man like yourself.’

He looked more flattered than disturbed by this. ‘You were born a Celtic nobleman and I have told him that. In any case, it has all been arranged. I have instructed him to send you an invitation scroll, and you should be receiving it within a day or two. A pity I could not have asked him to invite your wife and son — they might have enjoyed a Roman wedding, I suppose — but since you are specifically representing me and none of you are known to the household socially, I could hardly impose on him for that.’

He helped himself to the last remaining fig, saying as he did so, ‘Well, we seem to have eaten the very last of those. I don’t suppose we shall buy figs again until I’m back from Rome. Of course, if you would care to take a little wine, I can try to find a servant — I’m sure one could be spared. Meanwhile take this silver platter with you, it’s rather coarse and heavy, but you can take it as my gift to Pompeia and her husband on their wedding day.’

I recognized the signs that I was now dismissed, so I excused myself and went back to Minimus, who was still waiting for me in the anteroom. He grinned at me enquiringly, but I was in no mood to talk. I gave him the silver salver and we walked back to the roundhouse as quickly as we could.

My wife was remarkably sanguine when she heard the news — though, of course, I hadn’t told her about the spying task. ‘I will get your toga to the fuller’s straight away. You can’t go to a place like that with damp bedraggled hems. A really wealthy town councillor, you say? What an opportunity for you, to mix with folk like that! Why, one day you might be elected to the curia yourself.’ She fussed around the fire, stirring something delicious-smelling in a pot.

I refused to share her optimistic view. ‘I don’t know what Honorius will make of this at all — knowing the kind of man he is,’ I said. ‘He is notorious for his old-fashioned attitudes, you know, especially where law and order is concerned. He has made speeches on the steps of the basilica for years, urging that the state should reintroduce the sack for parricides.’

She gaped at me. ‘Not really? Not the dreaded sack?’

‘The whole thing,’ I said, remorselessly. ‘Thrashing the father-killer to within an inch of death, and then sewing him, bleeding, into a leather bag together with a bunch of frantic animals — a live dog, monkey, snake and rooster, I believe it is — and then throwing the whole lot into the sea to drown. The condemned man has a variety of painful ways to die. Honorius says the very threat of it helps to prevent the crime.’

She was so startled she almost let the dinner burn. ‘Well, people say these things in public life, I suppose.’

‘He carries the same principles into his household too. You’ve heard the rumours about his eldest daughter, I am sure. How, when he went to visit her and her new husband, a month or two ago, he found a strange man hiding in her room and killed the pair of them. He claimed the ancestral right of a paterfamilias to avenge his family’s honour in that way — and the local courts declared that he was justified.’

There was a silence, then she said suddenly, ‘Where was this then?’

‘Aqua Sulis — so the gossips say.’

‘That’s miles and miles away, so it’s more than likely an exaggerated account. These stories have a habit of growing in the telling, as you know.’

‘But the fact that it was told at all gives you a vivid indication of the man,’ I said. ‘He is an old-fashioned paterfamilias who runs his household like a military camp, and insists on doing things the strict, old-fashioned way. Can you imagine him being pleased to have me as a guest?’

‘Why are they having a private marriage, then? I must say I’m surprised. From what you say, I would have expected him to want the old traditions. The whole thing — from temple rites and sacrifices to symbolic cakes. Though, I suppose that conferratio is only for aristocracy of the highest ranks — doesn’t it require the High Priest of Jupiter in Rome to officiate in person, and that sort of thing?’

I grinned. ‘But that is exactly why he would have wanted it. And his mother too. She’s worse than he is, so I heard them say when I was laying that pavement in the house. She would have loved all that. But of course it couldn’t really be made to happen here, and anyway it’s almost unheard of nowadays. Honorius did not even have one for himself, when he remarried a year or two ago — nor did that other daughter that I told you of. Anyway, under the old system the father lost his power — and Honorius wouldn’t want to lose the right to have her dowry back if by any chance the marriage failed. He is too fond of money for anything like that.’

‘So you see,’ Gwellia said, triumphantly, ‘he isn’t such a stickler for convention as you say. And if Marcus has told him to invite you, he can hardly refuse — in fact he’ll have to make a special fuss of you. So eat your dinner while it’s hot and let me have those clothes. And you can go to the barber’s shop tomorrow for an hour, and have your chin scraped and your nose hairs plucked. At least we can have you looking halfway decent for the day.’

‘I still don’t want to go at all,’ I said. ‘But I suppose I’d better do it, if the invitation comes.’

And so I did. But if I had been a rune-reader and known what lay in store, I might even have disobeyed my patron and declined to go.