In the Shadow of the Wall (30 page)

“One day my father will find out what she’s really like,” the young girl said to Brude as she brought him a drink, after he and Lucius had finished a hard workout which had brought gushing praise from the boy’s step-mother. Brude had looked at Vipsania questioningly but she would say no more so he did not pursue the matter. Family squabbles were best avoided.

Cleon decided that Brude should learn to read and write, so he set out to teach him. Brude was delighted when he could start to make out what the various signs and engravings on statues and buildings actually meant, not to mention the graffiti scrawled on walls. He mastered the basics quickly and Cleon soon had him reading Virgil’s great work, the Aeneid. This was harder going but Brude’s mastery of the skill improved, as did his Latin vocabulary. He was forever asking Cleon what a particular word meant and Cleon always explained patiently and with good humour. It took Brude nearly four months to finish the book but Cleon was impressed. “For a beginner, that was quick and you understood it well. If only you could read Greek, then you’d be able to read Homer.”

“You could teach me,” suggested Brude enthusiastically. Cleon laughed, saying he would see, which meant that he would. Greek was the second official language of the empire anyway and was often heard, even in
Rome
. At first Brude thought he would never master the tongue for the alphabet the Greeks used was entirely different from that of the Romans, but he was determined to try so he spent hours each day learning the sounds and the grammar. In many ways the language was similar to Latin in its structure and the more he learned the more Cleon urged him on. “It will take you a few years to learn it all,” Cleon told him, but when they were together, they often spoke in Greek to help Brude learn and he picked it up quickly. “You have a better ear for languages than most Romans I’ve taught,” Cleon told him. Brude was delighted at the praise but Cleon then grinned and said, “Of course, you should learn it more quickly because you are a lot older than the boys I usually teach.” His eyes twinkled with good humour as he spoke.

Brude laughed. “Maybe I should teach you my native tongue,” he suggested.

“What on earth for?” Cleon said in mock horror. “I have no intention of ever going anywhere near your homeland with its mists and rain and savage tribes. It’s bad enough putting up with the Romans, who are at least partially civilised.”

Brude had to admit that he enjoyed life in
Rome
, at least in the circles
Aquila
moved in. Visits to the baths were virtually a daily occurrence and
Aquila
usually took Lucius, Cleon and Brude along with him, as well as several slaves. Brude learned that there were nearly two hundred bathhouses in the city, ranging from the small ones, like the one Curtius had first taken him to, up to enormous complexes with huge pools, glass windows, libraries, gardens and spaces for playing ball or exercising. Brude never tired of visiting the baths but he quickly found that they were more than just places where every Roman could mingle in apparent equality.
Aquila
usually had several clients with him, men who worked for him or whose interests he looked after. They were obliged to him for assistance, either through him mentioning them to other friends, who might need something done, or through donations of cash to support them. In turn, these clients were expected to support
Aquila
when he asked them to.
Aquila
’s house was always busy as his clients paid him daily visits, meeting every morning in one of the rooms off his atrium to discuss business. Trimalchio, as one of
Aquila
’s former slaves, was, technically, his client but Brude noticed that the two men rarely met. When they did, there was a coolness from
Aquila
, which Trimalchio seemed oblivious to, but which was all too obvious to everyone else.
Aquila
was always polite, of course, but never friendly towards his erstwhile slave.

The complex web of patronage worked the other way as well, for
Aquila
himself had a wealthy patron, a senator named Gaius Ampulius Varro. Sometimes
Aquila
would meet with Varro at the baths, leaving Cleon and Brude to their own devices. “
Rome
is built on patronage,” Cleon told Brude one day as they relaxed in the hot steam of the Neronian baths. “It’s not just about how rich you are. It’s about who you know. Of course, if you back the wrong man, it can all go horribly wrong for you if he falls from favour, but
Aquila
wants Lucius to get a good, safe posting in the army and he’s keeping in with Varro because he thinks he can put in a good word with those who are close to the emperor.”

The other great benefit of living in the home of a wealthy man was that food was never a problem.
Aquila
dined with friends most evenings, either at his own house or at the homes of other knights. As a member of his family, Brude was naturally invited. Brude was surprised that Aquila played up his noble lineage, referring to his father as a tribal chieftain, but Cleon explained afterwards that Aquila was concerned that having a gladiator in the house, even a retired one, was not really socially acceptable. “Gladiators are like prostitutes or actors,” Cleon explained. “They sell themselves for the entertainment of others. Not at all what polite Romans do.”

“It’s not as , if ad a choice,” Brude protested.

“I know that. So does
Aquila
, but it’s still better if he plays that down and emphasises the fact that you are descended from kings.”

“I never said my father was a king!” said Brude. “Anyway, I’ve told you that we reckon descent through our mothers, not our fathers.”

“A detail which will offend most Romans so is best kept quiet,” Cleon warned him. “The truth has very little to do with how you are presented to others in
Rome
. You should know that by now. Who is ever going to know about your strange barbarian customs unless you tell them? There are plenty of people in
Rome
who go around pretending to be of higher social rank than they really are, even if it is just to get better seats at the theatre. Anyway, Appius Claudius Longinus was invited along this evening and he wouldn’t say too much about social niceties. His wife used to be his slave until he freed her so he could marry her.”

Cleon was always full of such gossip. But whatever others may have thought in private, Brude was generally accepted and partook in all of
Aquila
’s leisurely pursuits. He enjoyed the theatre, where the actors, despised though they were in social circles, were usually funny and entertaining in a very crude way. He also enjoyed the circus where
Aquila
often went to see the chariot racing.
Aquila
was a devotee of the Whites, so naturally Brude had to cheer for them as well. He admired the skill of the drivers who steered their flimsy vehicles round the tight curves at the ends of the long elliptical course and galloped along the straights at incredible speed. It was exhilarating to watch and he loved being part of the crowd, listening to the shouts and the banter. If the Whites had a good day it also meant that
Aquila
would tend to be generous with bonuses to his freedmen and put on a more lavish spread at meal time.

The evening meals were nothing like the ostentatious affairs that Trimalchio had overseen. They never ended in orgies, but were quiet affairs where the men discussed politics or business, or listened to a reading from the works of Virgil, Horace or some other famous poet, while the women sat patiently, only speaking if they were spoken to.

One evening
Aquila
was invited to dine with the senator Varro, along with Lucius, Cleon and Brude. The freedmen sat at the foot of the long table but Brude was close enough to overhear much of the conversation from the top end. There were two or three senators present and Brude soon gathered they were discussing more than just their usual complaints about the debasement of the silver coins the emperor was minting. This evening they were talking about the death of Plautianus, the Praetorian prefect, which had caused a stir amongst the senatorial class in
Rome
. As commander of the Praetorian Guard, Plautianus had been close to the emperor. His daughter was even married to the emperor’s elder son, Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, universally known as Caracalla because of his habit of wearing a Gaulish style cloak over his tunic. From what Brude could hear, as he was straining his ears to catch the conversation, Caracalla had summoned Plautianus to the palace, accused him of plotting against the emperor and had him killed on the spot without trial
or even giving Plautianus any chance to refute the allegations. The senators were anxious because Caracalla, who was destined to be the next emperor, was already showing signs of having a temper combined with a vicious streak, not attributes that senators looked for in an emperor. Life could become precarious with such a man in charge. The emperor’s younger son, Geta, was clearly more popular with the senators although Brude noticed that nobody actually said anything about Caracalla that could be interpreted as detrimental or derogatory. There was, though, an unspoken fear, which was plain to see. Brude recalled Curtius telling him about Pollio’s death in the arena, which Caracalla had ordered, pandering to the crowd’s blood lust. He was glad that, as a simple freedman, he would never be in a position to be close to the imperial family. Proximity to power seemed a dangerous luxury.

Things soon died down though. The emperor and his sons went off to the east, to fight the Parthians and bring more glory, wealth and slaves to
Rome
, leaving life in the city to continue as it had done for centuries. Aquila ran his business affairs with Cleon’s help, while Brude trained Lucius and spent most of his spare time reading, learning Greek, wandering the streets or visiting the baths where he often paid the extra coin required by the proprietors to have sex with the female slaves. All things considered, it was an easy life and, although the memories of Broch Tava and Mairead never quite left him, he could understand why so many people who came to
Rome
, whether as free men or slaves who later gained their freedom, decided to stay in the city rather than return to their homelands. He told himself that he would go home one day but realised that he had already spent two years in
Aquila
’s home and he did not want to leave.

He confided his worries to Cleon who clucked his tongue thoughtfully. “Well if you think this woman of yours is still waiting for you, you could always go and bring her back here,” he suggested after a few moments’ consideration.

Brude had to admit that it was doubtful Mairead would be unmarried after all these years. “She probably thinks I’m dead,” he conceded glumly.

“If I was a religious man,” Cleon said, “I’d suggest going to an augur to seek a prophecy but, in truth, I doubt that would do any good.”

“You don’t believe in the gods?” Brude was surprised. The Romans were generally scrupulous in their attention to the gods. Every home had its own household gods and there was a daily ritual of pouring libations and offering prayers to them, in addition to the public prayers and sacrifices at the major temples, which many people attended. Brude realised that Cleon, though he observed the rituals, never discussed the gods nor gave any offerings. For his own part he had stopped offering any prayers to the gods of the Pritani because they seemed to have deserted him. He suspected they had no power so far from his home. For the Pritani, virtually every river and woodland had its own local god, and he was surprised the Romans had so few. But he knew from bitter experience that the Roman deities rarely answered the prayers of gladiators who were wounded or killed, no matter how generous their offerings were. Josephus had been sure his god, who he claimed was the only true god, had been looking after him, but even he had failed the little man in the end. Brude did not know which gods Cleon worshipped but he suspected it was not the pantheon of the Romans.

“I am a follower of Epicurus,” Cleon told him when he asked.

“Who?”

“A very famous philosopher who lived a long time ago. His credo is the pursuit of happiness.”