Chapter 8

Titus Flavius Aaron, v Idus Augustas DCCCLI A.U.C., (August 9, 98 AD) Roma

The divine emperor Caesar Lucius Augustus had seen fit to appoint me Praefectus Frumentarium, with the responsibility of transforming the frumentarii from an organization primarily devoted to wheat collections to an intelligence apparatus that would alert the emperor of plots or disturbances anywhere in the empire. I had been selected at least partially for my Jewish heritage. My first task would be to identify and round up the followers of Chrestus, for which the ability to speak Aramaic would be an asset.

My deputy in this task was David ben-Isaac, one of the emperor’s catamites who had assisted me in resisting the Usurpation of Nerva. The emperor had lent him to my service, both for intelligence and pleasure. This was a boon, as my wife had recently fallen pregnant and was no longer available to me. I gave the boy a vigorous fucking each night, he assisted me with my correspondence to the various frumentarii in the provinces during the day, and we went to the synagogue every Sabbath. The rabbis did not know, or pretended not to know, that I had sacrificed to the emperor and been granted an exemption from the Jewish tax, but I had yet to experience any sign that Yahweh minded.

After months of fruitless attendance, we were finally rewarded when a pair of ruffians interrupted the service, shouting about Chrestus. The congregation fell upon them, manhandling them out of the building. David and I, inconspicuous in civilian clothing, followed them, with a rather less inconspicuous troop of vigils following some distance behind.

We were not surprised when they led us to the house of Servius Laellius Lucullus, father of the empress. His wife, the empress’s stepmother Attia (and the empress insisted that she was her stepmother, not her real mother, who had been unceremoniously divorced and replaced with Attia, who was only five years older than Severina), had been conspicuous on the list of those who failed to sacrifice to Emperor Lucius by the initial deadline. She had hurried to make the sacrifice after the execution of Flavius Clemens and Flavia Domitilla demonstrated that rank was no protection for those who failed to honor the divinity, but her name had kept coming up from our informants.

We had the house quietly surrounded and ordered the porter to bring us to Attia. Upon seeing us, she affixed us with a disingenuous smile. “Titus Flavius Aaron, to what do I owe the honor of your presence?”

“To the illicit harboring of the Chrestoi who just disturbed the peace.”

“Why that’s preposterous. Everybody knows I have made the required sacrifice to the emperor.”

“I have the house surrounded with vigils. If you do not cooperate, I will order them to search it.”

“But the emperor...”

“Has given me direct and explicit permission to do so. You weren’t quite quick enough to make the sacrifice, and besides, the empress would like nothing more than to see you thrown off a cliff. Nevertheless, the emperor does not want to see any scandal connected with his wife, so we are prepared to offer you a deal. Inform and we will allow you to live. In fact, I believe the emperor plans to arrange a second marriage for you, with the prefect of Brittania.”