The Hadrian Enigma - A Forbidden History (39 page)

Antinous spun on his booted heel towards its source. A man in a fulsome cape which covered a Roman toga and who wore an obscuring party mask across his face was confronting him from the shrine’s solitary entrance. Two other men in masks stood nearby.

‘
You show disrespect for your betters, foreigner,’ the figure announced menacingly.

‘
No, you are mistaken, good sir,’ Antinous responded. ‘I am very respectful of this sanctuary, sir. I admire and celebrate the Caesars, despite being of Greek origin.’

The figure at the doorway moved forward and lifted the mask from his face. Antinous realized immediately it was Lucius Ceionius Commodus, the
Roman Favorite
who had departed the Theater Of Dionysus earlier the same day in a fit of temperamental pique.

‘
Despite being Greek? You speak with a forked tongue, foreigner. Take him, citizens!’

Without pause the two men leapt forward and grasped Antinous by the arms and head. They held him firmly against the cold stone of the altar.

‘
So what have we here, then? An alien youth of no consequence, with a face painted like a Kerameikos harlot, loitering-with-intent in Rome’s sacred house of remembrance of the Divine Caesars. What are you, boy, a slave whore from the sewers of Kerameikos? Do you seek to ply your gutter trade in this holy place?’ the Roman with fine pale skin and glitter-scattered hair demanded. The other two men sniggered from behind their masks.

‘
No, sir, you know who I am. You surely recognize me? I am a guest of Caesar at the Great Dionysia. I am freeborn Antinous of Bithynia, son of Telemachus of Claudiopolis of the equestrian class,’ he called as he writhed beneath the firm grip of the masked men.

Commodus smiled disdainfully at the struggling figure before him. He reached to the side of one of his aide’s capes and drew a Roman
gladius
short-sword from its scabbard. Its buffed iron shone beneath the lamps’ glow. Its finely ground tip and blade edges gleamed piercingly.

‘
Foreigners should know their place in the world, whoreboy. They should not step beyond the limits of their class,’ Commodus arraigned at his captive. ‘They are menials. They are inferiors. They are rural vulgarities intruding into the world of fine manners and well bred values. Their impudence and gall is deserving of correction, foreigner. They enter into realms beyond their understanding and so deserves stern retribution. Their bodies require a visible reminder of their sortie into domains beyond their understanding. Their flesh calls for a permanent memento of their folly.’

Commodus raised the sword and waved its honed blade in too-close proximity to Antinous’s frame and face. Antinous tugged his head back abruptly from the hovering razor.

‘
You are a transparent opportunist who aspires to enter into the society of great Caesar, is that not so? I have heard of you whispered in Court gossip. You’re the newest contender for the role of
catamite
to Caesar, true? You’re a toyboy, a wastrel offering your body and anus to the passing amusement of the
Princeps
. The presence of such menials in this sacred place is a profanity deserving of immediate penalty,’ the
patrician
sneered.

‘
Turn the harlot around!’ Commodus instructed his companions.

Taking Antinous by the scruff of his mane and locking his arms, they forcibly revolved him and pinioned his jaw to the altar’s bleached stone. Commodus reached with the sword’s tip and delicately lifted the hem of his
tunic to expose the young man’s securely clothed rump beneath. Antinous struggled fruitlessly under his oppressors’ crushing weights.

‘
It’s whispered, hustler, that you’ve been positioned at Court for Caesar’s delectation by covert forces aiming to shift the balance of politics of the
Imperium
in some treasonous faction’s favor. They say you’re a stratagem or gameplan for deviously cornering Caesar’s influence?

Who is your
patron,
whore? Who set you up? Tell me! Do you represent the long arm of Senate discontents reaching far into Asia? Do the Legates at Ephesus or Antioch use you for persuasive ways to shore-up their claim to the succession someday? Or have the tentacles of that monstrous creature at Rome, Praetorian Prefect Turbo, set you up to spy? Perhaps it’s merely Vibia Sabina herself has recruited you to punish her husband in some witty, wily feminine way? Which?!”

Commodus was warming to his subject.

‘
It seems our foreign prostitute deserves his posterior’s flesh to be incised with a memento of his intransigence to help loosen his tongue, to take as a keepsake of this night to remember for evermore?’

Commodus waved the iron blade’s tip ever closer to the young man’s hindquarters.

‘
Clear the slut’s tail!’ he commanded one of the masked men, who stripped the cloths from Antinous’s hips. His slender pelvis and dimpled butt was exposed to view.

‘
I have done you no harm, my lord!’ Antinous called aloud. ‘I am no prostitute or spy. On Apollo’s honor I’ve committed no offence I know of! You assault an innocent freeborn subject, sir!’

‘
Yet you possess a whore’s pretensions! Your true offence is in your very existence,’ he continued. ‘It’s your existence that requires concrete conclusion. You take liberties with the honor and favor of the
Imperium.
You deserve the ultimate penalty. You merit being cast to wild dogs or large cats in the arena. I as a representative of The Senate am empowered to act as magistrate upon such offence, and pass judgment --- ‘

Commodus idly circumscribed the
gladius
blade in the direction of the lad’s exposed rump, aiming erratically as though preparing to strike.

‘
Not if you wish to commit violent assault and sacrilege yourself, Commodus
!’ a new voice called from the temple entrance. ‘Drop that weapon and release the boy! You have no jurisdiction here, Roman senator or not!’

Commodus and the two masked men spun around to see at the door Herodes Atticus, Lysias, and three guardsmen of the City Militia with pikes poised for instant action.

‘
This is a consecrated temple of the Imperial Cult within the sacred precinct of the Acropolis,’ Herodes declared. ‘Neither weapons nor sacrilege are permitted in this precinct. This freeborn youth has done you no harm. He has committed no offence. As a commander of the City Militia and a councilor of Achaea, I charge you with public disorder and breaking the peace, Lucius Ceionius Commodus. You have assaulted a special guest of the emperor who is under civic protection. You wield a weapon where weapons are forbidden. You dishonor the memory of the several Caesars about you in this holy place. And you insult the councils, laws, and hospitality of the city of Athens. At least one of these violations will be a capital offence!’ Herodes snapped. ‘So drop the sword now!’

Commodus responded haughtily in kind.

‘
I am a citizen and senator of Rome. Do not speak injudiciously in my presence, Greek!’ the
patrician
declaimed with lofty derision.

Herodes and his team moved forward with the long
pilum
shafts reaching close to the caped trio.

‘
You forget I too am a citizen and senator of Rome, Commodus,’ Herodes responded calmly, ‘endowed personally by Caesar, not acquired by purchase. As a commander of the Athens Militia I posses the jurisdiction to take punitive action wherever necessary.

If you harm Caesar’s guest one whit I will fulfill my duty to a matching degree. This sacred place is under the rule of the law of Athens, not travelers from Rome! Release the young man unharmed, discard your weapon, or suffer lethal force. I will spill the blood of any coward who attacks an unarmed man without reason!’

The three militia guardsmen had maneuvered their long blades within reach of the assailants. The trio of Romans wavered.

Commodus signaled to his companions to unhand Antinous. He was about to flamboyantly tumble his blade to the paving stones with smirking bravado when he suddenly spun around. With lightning speed his sword flashed out at Antinous, its blade whispering close by his face. A slim hairline incision two inches in length opened across Antinous’s cheek. It welled scarlet.

Lysias raced to his friend’s assistance as Antinous lurched away from his persecutors to greater safety, grasping his loincloths about him as he moved.

Herodes grabbed a spear from one of his militia companions to resoundingly whack its metal-studded hardwood shaft across Commodus’s back. The impact knocked the
gladius
from his hand and brought him tumbling against the altar block with a sharp cry. He clawed at his spine and fell to the flagstones in an ignominious flurry of toga wools and dust.

Now three glinting spear points were hovering menacingly within inches of the senator’s face. The smirking bravado had vanished.

Herodes raised the sword from the flagstones and waved it languidly in the direction of the Roman.

‘
We are done here, Senator Lucius Ceionius Commodus. You have exhausted your credit in this city,’ the Athenian declared as the
patrician
stumbled painfully to his feet.

‘
You insult Rome, Greek!’ Commodus declaimed as he gathered his toga around him. ‘You will hear more of this! Make way for your betters, foreigners!’ He prepared to flounce out of the shrine.

Herodes stretched his arm in the Senator’s path across the door portal. Commodus was halted in mid-flight, the sword’s point now waving close to his face, not Antinous’s.

Herodes spoke quietly.

‘
This event tonight will be duly recorded by a magistrate of the City Watch, Senator, and its recording documents witnessed by those present. As a councilor of this city I will ensure the deposition remains secured in perpetuity. I will not take you into custody on this occasion; its embarrassments would disturb the tranquility of Caesar’s pleasures at our Dionysia.

But be rest assured, Commodus, the charges will remain alive on file. I doubt you or your pleasant companions will be welcome to Athens at any future time because my father, the Prefect of the Free Ports of the East, will object to such troublemakers receiving passage. We are law abiding in this city. You are not welcome here. I suggest you depart Athens promptly and return to Italy, or else these charges will be enacted upon you within twenty-four hours. They will be to your eternal dishonor in the eyes of all Athenians, especially including Great Caesar.’

Commodus smirked thinly and swept grandly away with a pained stumble as he clutched at his back. He sneered at Antinous as he passed through the door into the night beyond.

Lysias was attending to Antinous’s wound while the injured youth fumbled with adjusting his attire. Herodes closely inspected the sliver of red flesh across his cheek.

‘
The wound is superficial but it needs proper attention, Antinous,’ Herodes observed. ‘It pains me this should happen to you in such an exalted place. We will withdraw immediately to my villa nearby where my own physician can attend to the lesion. I will send a message to Caesar that you have been indisposed, and where to locate you later if he should desire.’

Antinous took his two friends by the forearms and looked into their eyes.

‘
Why has this happened, Herodes? What have I done to deserve such an attack? I don’t even know this man Commodus!’ Antinous implored. Herodes responded immediately.

‘
Welcome to imperial politics, Antinous of Bithynia. Your journey into its shadows has just begun.’

“
So, Geta, you say Senator Commodus is a candidate for being a serious enemy to Antinous? You say he might even be involved in the death of the youth by some nefarious means?”

Clarus as usual was blunt.

Geta looked blankly to the four faces facing him as the river raced in a continuous rush in the background and morning insects buzzed around. The day’s warmth expanded rapidly.

“
At least, gentlemen, I can identify someone who might have reason to do Antinous harm. Have you achieved such yourselves?” Geta queried. Suetonius ignored the query.

“
So, what transpired after the Bithynian had been assaulted?” he asked. “How did Hadrian respond?”

Geta was specific in his recollections.

“
I will try to recall the events as I believe they occurred, gentlemen. I myself witnessed much of the action. It was a challenging situation. We who were close to Hadrian protected him from the reality of his former paramour’s waspish nature. Antinous too had resolved to avoid blame or retribution, which tells us something about the lad’s nature and generosity of spirit.”

Geta sipped his wine thoughtfully and returned to his testimony.

“
Who did this thing, Antinous?’ Caesar asked with concern. ‘Did Herodes kill him where he stood?’

Hadrian had lifted the dressing attached to the Bithynian’s cheek and peered at the wound beneath.

‘
No. They were merely drunken ruffians,’ Antinous said. ‘They were in high-spirits at the festival, I suppose,’ he explained.

‘
How many were they?’ Caesar continued.

‘
There were three of them, my lord, masked for the festival.’

‘
Where? In my enclosure, or in a public space? Did these assailants offend my hospitality?’ the emperor garbed in the Tyrian purple tunic asked threateningly. He was still crowned with a corona of woven grape vines. He fumbled at the
fibula
on his shoulder to release the cloak and drop it to the floor, and tossed the corona like a child’s quoit onto a chair’s upright.