Germanicus

29

He came round the following afternoon. I was taking a nap out in the garden when Critias showed him through.

'Hey, Taurus!' I said when he'd prodded me awake. 'We said tomorrow.'

'Count yourself lucky I came at all.' The guy looked jaundiced as hell. 'I'm standing Junia up for this.'

'That the girl in red you were talking to last night?' I indicated a chair and sent Critias off for the wine.

'Yeah.' He sat down. 'So you owe me one, pal. A big one. Okay?'

Perilla came through from the direction of the kitchens. 'Corvinus,' she said, 'Meton and Lysias are quarrelling again over the best way to truss a chicken. Honestly, this has to stop.'

Taurus's eyes had lit up when he saw her. I knew the signs. 'Whistle and I'll kill you,' I said. 'Perilla, this is Statilius Taurus. He broke my wrist when we were kids. He also gets his days mixed.'

'Really?' Perilla smiled at him and sat down on the bench beside the box hedge. 'Pleased to meet you, Taurus. I was sorry to have missed you at the governor's party.'

'I'm sorry about that too,' he said. Personally, I wasn't. The guy was leering, and that was bad news.

Critias came back out with the wine and Perilla's fruit juice. I was gradually getting him trained; another month and there'd be no time lag at all. 'So,' I said as he poured for us. 'What caused the change of plan?'

Taurus drank. 'The bastard's sending me back to Cyrrhus.'

'Who? Celer?'

'Celer's got no jurisdiction over me. The order's personal, from the governor.'

'Lamia?'

'Yeah. Lamia. I should've been gone already. Would've been if he'd got official hold of me straight off, but I was round at Junia's so the messenger missed me. I'm keeping a step ahead.'

'Did he give a reason?'

'Urgent dispatches.' He finished the cup and reached for the jug that Critias had left in its cooler. 'Though if they're urgent enough to lose me three days' leave I'll eat my helmet.'

Right, and I'd pass my plate and help him do it. Syria may have more legions than anywhere else east of Pannonia, but they're cold war troops and you can't say they're overworked; over here even the Eagles are laid back, and words like 'urgent' aren't in the manual. Our little confab at the party had evidently been noticed.

'Does the governor often act so arbitrarily?' That was Perilla.

'No, Lamia's okay.' Taurus pulled a few grapes from the bunch Critias had brought with the wine. 'Sejanus's cousin or not, he's straight.'

'What happened to Saturninus, by the way?' I drank my own wine. 'The temporary governor?'

Taurus shrugged. 'Went back to Rome. Or maybe he was transferred someplace else.'

'In disgrace?'

'No, he did all right. He kept Piso out, anyway.' Taurus was beginning to look suspicious. 'Hey, Corvinus, this isn't like you. What's all this about? You suddenly gone political or something?'

I'd known Taurus for years; like I'd told Perilla, the guy had broken my wrist when we were kids in an argument over an apple. What I hadn't told her was that we'd shared the same girl, off and on as it were, for two years. So we knew each other pretty well, and much too well for lies. Besides, I needed a friend. Like Vitellius had said, Antioch wasn't my city. It may not have been Taurus's either, technically, but he was the best I'd get. Added to which I trusted him.

'Okay, pal,' I said. 'Pin your ugly ears back and I'll tell you a story.

'Piso was still guilty,' he said when I'd finished. 'Sure he was. Guilty as hell.'

'Jupiter!' I leaned back in my chair and put my hands over my eyes. 'Taurus, you bastard, you just have not been listening, have you? He could've been guilty, granted, but if he was then it still leaves too much unexplained. Maybe he and Plancina did murder Germanicus, but it could just as easily have been half a dozen other people, for half a dozen other reasons any one of which is just as good.'

'Perhaps it wasn't even murder at all,' Perilla put in quietly. 'Germanicus may have died of a fever. You see, Taurus, we simply do not know. All we know is that the authorities here are trying to cover something up, and that something is connected with Piso's treason and Germanicus's time in Syria. We thought perhaps that you might be able to help.'

Taurus was quiet for a long time. Then he said: 'Hey, Marcus.'

'Yeah?'

'You remember the time that girl in Fidenae tied her bra to the pig's tail?'

'Uh,' I glanced at Perilla. She was busy with the grapes, or pretending to be. 'Yeah. Yeah, I remember that.'

'You remember trying to explain to me why she did it?'

'Sure. It took me an hour and you still didn't understand.'

'Okay. So what do you want to know?'

I laughed. That was one of the things I liked about Taurus. Intellectually gifted he wasn't, but the guy knew his limitations and didn't worry too much where they left him short. Still, I was glad we'd gone through the motions. 'Fair enough,' I said. 'So let's start at the easy end with Piso's treason. What happened? Exactly?'

Taurus helped himself to more wine. 'It was straightforward enough. After the row with Germanicus Piso and Plancina boarded their yacht and took off for Greece.'

'Why did they do that?' Perilla put in. 'After all, for a governor to leave his province unauthorised is a culpable act in itself.'

'Let's not get bogged down, Perilla, okay? Taurus has enough problems.' I held out my own cup for Taurus to pour. 'Carry on, pal.'

'Piso got the news of the death on Cos. Marcus Piso wanted to go on to Rome and face the Wart but Celer suggested they go back to Syria.'

'Marcus Piso being the son?'

'Right. Anyway, Piso took Celer's advice and sent the guy down to Laodicea to bring over the Sixth Legion. Only Celer never reached them because their legate sent a cavalry troop to tell him he wasn't taking orders from anyone now but Saturninus.'

'I'm sorry, Taurus.' Perilla again. 'Germanicus appointed Saturninus before his death?'

'No. The top brass elected him as a temporary replacement.'

'But what about Vibius Marsus? He was Piso's deputy.'

I nodded; a fair point, because Marsus hadn't left Antioch when his boss did and so unlike Piso hadn't put himself outside the law. All things being equal, and barring a direct ruling to the contrary by someone with overriding authority, he'd be the natural caretaker. And there hadn't been anyone with overriding authority, because Germanicus was already dead.

'Marsus was in the running, sure,' Taurus said. 'But he backed down.'

'Uh-huh.' I took a swallow of wine. 'Leaving Germanicus's man in control. Politic. Or maybe he was just being realistic.'

'Yeah.' Taurus chewed on a grape and spat the pips into his palm. 'In the meantime Piso lands in Cilicia. He calls on the Asian client-kings for troops, grabs a crowd of raw squaddies on their way to Antioch and occupies a fortified town called Celenderis.'

I sat back. Jupiter! Talk about escalation! What we had here was a full-blown civil war! No wonder the senate had called for Piso's guts on a pole. 'So what was he trying to prove?' I said.

'I should say that was obvious.' Perilla sipped her fruit juice. 'Technically Piso was still the Syrian governor. That part of Cilicia was part of his province. He could argue, I suppose, that Saturninus's election was invalid, his armed resistance illegal and, since Germanicus was dead, that he himself was now Tiberius's sole accredited representative.'

'Even though he'd left the province illegally and possibly in disgrace?'

'But he hadn't been officially dismissed, Marcus.' Perilla turned to Taurus. 'Or had he?'

'No. Not that I know of.' Taurus was scowling into his wine. 'Anyway, it didn't matter in the end because the Cicilians caved in. Piso wanted to stay at Celenderis until Tiberius had given a ruling, but Saturninus packed him straight off to Rome.'

'And when he and Plancina arrived they did their Antony and Cleopatra act on a gilded barge down the Tiber.' I reached for the jug. 'It doesn't add up. Syria's an imperial province, under the emperor's direct jurisdiction. After a mess like that the Wart would've been fully within his rights to nail the bastard to the Speakers' Platform without stopping to scratch his boils, let alone consult the senate or bother about a murder charge. And Piso must've known it. So why was the guy so confident he'd get off?'

'Bravado?' Perilla said.

'Fuck bravado. Even without the poisoning rap he was on a hiding to nothing.'

'But, Corvinus,' Perilla said gently, 'of course he was. Whether his death was suicide or not, Piso died because he committed treason.'

'Yeah, but…' I subsided into silence. None of this made sense. None of it.

'Very well,' Perilla said. 'So what about the earlier events, Taurus? The quarrel, especially?'

'Okay.' Taurus sat back in his chair. 'You know Germanicus did the grand tour on his way out?'

'Yes.' Perilla nodded. 'Stopping off with Drusus in Pannonia and then visiting the Greek-speaking provinces.'

'Right. While he was swanning around Asia Piso went straight to Antioch. He replaced a lot of Creticus's staff with his own men, Celer and Marsus included. And he got the squaddies on his side by easing up on discipline and extending their town privileges.'

'What about Creticus? Didn't he have a say in this?'

I sighed. 'He was the outgoing governor, Perilla. As the new man Piso was within his rights to make his own appointments. Of course Creticus didn't have a say. He wouldn't expect to.'

'Perhaps not. But I just wondered what his reaction was.'

'Syria was his last posting. He was on his way to retiral and a prime seat in the senate while his daughter was marrying Germanicus's eldest, so he'd have an in with the imperials. Why the hell should he stick his neck out about Piso?'

'I expect you're right.' Perilla lowered her eyes. Shit. I never trusted that lady when she went demure on me. It usually meant she thought I was completely wrong, and was working out the most devastating way of telling me. 'So. Piso took control of Syria. And then Germanicus arrived and the quarrel began.'

'Yeah.' Taurus scooped up a last handful of loose grapes. 'When Germanicus went to dicker with the Parthians over Armenia he gave Piso a direct order to join him with two Eagles. Piso ignored it.' I winced; some things you just don't do, and ignoring a direct order from the heir apparent comes pretty high on the list. 'Then of course Germanicus went off on his Egyptian tour. When he got back Piso had cancelled or ignored all his arrangements and the shit really hit the fan.'

'At which point Piso left Syria. Or was thrown out. And Germanicus popped his clogs. Or had them popped for him. End of story.' I lifted the jug, but it was empty. 'You want more wine, Taurus?'

'Sure.'

'Perilla? Another prune juice?'

'Pomegranate.'

'Whatever.'

'No thank you. I've had my quota for the day.'

Very wise; like I said, I wasn't sure about her and that stuff. Critias had disappeared, so I went inside with the empty jug to look for him.

I found the guy in the hallway. He was talking to an army tribune. They looked up as I came through.

'Valerius Corvinus?' the tribune said in a voice that was trying to be ten years older than its real age.

'Yeah, that's me.' For a minute I was worried, but the kid was on his own and he didn't look old enough to shave, let alone mean enough to cause trouble. Maybe I wasn't being deported quite yet. Or beaten up, if he came from Rufus. Unless there were a dozen squaddies with brickbats waiting outside.

The tribune cleared his throat. 'I'm sorry to disturb you, sir, but I wonder if you have Statilius Taurus with you.'

'I might have. So what, son?'

He went beetroot red under his helmet. 'Could I talk to him for a moment, sir, do you think?'

I hesitated, weighing the pros and cons of throwing the guy out on his squeaky-clean super-polite ear. The cons won hands down.

'Yeah, sure,' I said. 'He's in the garden. You want to follow me?'

'Should I bring out some more wine, lord?' Critias asked.

'Uh-uh.' I shook my head: Taurus's official orders had obviously caught up with him, and Junia was in for a major disappointment. 'Forget it. I think our guest's just leaving.'

I couldn't help feeling just a little smug as the tribune delivered his message. Sure, I was sorry to see Taurus go, especially since I'd been the one responsible for lousing up his trip to the big city, not to mention his plans for sweet Junia. But at least the home team had got off its backside for once and scored before the opposition moved the goalposts. That deserved a celebration, if anything did. So I collared Critias and got him to bring the wine anyway.