Chapter 3

Imperator Titus Flavius Lucius Caesar Augustus

This procession was supposedly a triumph to mark my victory over the Dacians, but it had more of the character of a funeral. I had, after all, executed half the Senate the day before. Still, the common people at least seemed happy to see me.

The procession reached the Capitoline and I made the requisite sacrifices. I turned around and faced the crowd. I had decided to break with tradition and give a speech, on the topic of treason and its consequences. Gesturing to the nearby Tarpeian Rock, I listed the names of those who now lay at the bottom of it and contrasted their disloyalty to the city with the dedication of those legionaries who had died in the conquest of Dacia. That line drew a hearty cheer from the legions forming the procession, which while unexpected, nicely reinforced my point.

The next stage in the proceedings was a public feast. I reclined on a couch with Bernardus and Servius Laellius Lucullus, who had led the faction loyal to me in the Senate. Aaron lay next to us with Laellius’ daughter, Laeillia Severina, and an ambassador from Serica who had arrived in the city with impeccably poor timing the week before. I was toying with the idea of distributing some of the traitors’ property to Aaron and elevating him to the Senate. If my father had taught me one thing, it was to keep the republican pretensions of the Senate in check, and elevating a Jewish merchant to their midst would be an excellent way of reminding them who was in charge. On the other hand, keeping more of the property would ensure the stability of the imperial treasury, without having to raise further taxes. David stood at my feet, holding a platter of stuffed dormice, and the ambassador had a series of translators.

“How many senators were executed, all told?” I asked, to no one in particular. “Don’t translate this,” I added to the final link in the chain of translators.

“Four hundred and fifty,” Laellius responded.

“And how much is their property worth?”

“It will take months to tally it all up, but if I had to guess, I’d say a couple of billion sesterces.”

“Excellent, how much will I have to pay to get the rest of the Senate to declare me a divus?”

“At this point, they would do so in return for their lives.”

“Then they shall have them.”