Arranging a Snare for Maedicius III
or, The Fifth Move of the Civil War
The Fourth Move | The Civil War Index | The Sixth Move
‘Wait outside,’ Livicus ordered. His twelve lictors arrayed themselves either side of the double door leading to Aurus’s abode. The domus dominated the street, two stories with marble panelling put the other homes to shame, but few of the Regillesnsis’s neighbours could claim such a storied ancestry. The door featured a man’s profile carved on the left and a woman’s on the right, he guessed they were Aurus’s Regillensis’s forebears. He pulled on the rope hanging from the doorway and heard the bell ring inside.
Moments later the the man’s profile swung inwards and a slave greeted Livicus with a bow. ‘I will inform the dominus of your arrival. Please step inside,’ the dark haired slave said. He kept his gaze to the stone floor as Livicus stepped over the threshold. A mosaic of the rising sun and setting moon filled the vestibule floor. The slave hurried off into the atrium. A moment later Aurus appeared.
‘Consul, so good of you to join us,’ Aurus reached out and embraced Livicus’s arm with a firm grip.
‘No titles this eve, Aurus. We are not in the Diet,’ Livicus matched the patrician’s strength and smiled.
‘Please, come through,’ Aurus led Livicus into the atrium. Bronze masks dominated the west wall of the house, the death masks of Aurus’s family going back to the founding of Elysia. A cool breeze blew in through the opening the roof. On the eastern wall was a shrine, incense burned beneath the gaze of a boyish Lar, guardian of the household.
‘You know I have all of the Agrippa family death masks on my walls still. Two whole walls dedicated to that dead name,’ Livicus said.
‘Will your son add yours to it?’ Titia entered, her long palla draped over her right arm and covering her hair. A silver broach fastened the shawl to her stolla underneath.
Livicus smiled, ‘I am no Agrippa as much as my sons may tell me to take the name. For their own prestige rather than mine.’ In truth taking the name would mean diminishing his own standing, to claim descent from an ancient hero simply by purchasing his domus would be met with scorn from the patrician families. ‘Are we to dine so late?’ The trio entered into the dining room. Three long dining couches had been arrayed around a trio of low round tables each with lion paw feet. The bronze legs of the couches were long legged satyrs.
‘No. We are to drink though and for the sake of custom bread and oil will be served as to welcome you into my home,’ Aurus said. ‘Please, take a seat.’
Livicus sat first and reclined. Aurus followed, then Titia. ‘Always one for courtesy, too few of your sort around.’
Titia coughed, rearranged her pallas, then clicked her fingers. Two slaves appeared, one with wine, the other with bread and oil. With silver cups filled Aurus tore at his bread and dipped it in olive oil, ‘To good health.’
Titia imitated her husband. Livicus waited but saw Aurus would not eat without his joining and so he followed suit and the three ate together. The slaves made themselves scarce. ‘Shall you be joining our discussion?’ Livicus asked Titia.
‘Depends. So many of Aurus’s dealings are incredibly dull!’ She giggled. Sitting on the edge of her couch she kissed her husband on the cheek and made ready to leave, wine in hand.
‘I’m afraid this might be one of those dealings. It concerns Ovilava,’ Livicus said. The wine was sweet and strong, ‘Fine wine.’
Titia sat and stared at Livicus. ‘What would you want with Opiter?’
‘Ahh. Not so dull then. Your son, Opiter, is governor of Ovilava and the surrounding province. I hear he is doing a superb job of it, starting public works projects, founding towns by the dozen, expanding the mines in the east of the region, and beginning the construction of stone walls for the city. All magnificent,’ Livicus bit into a wedge of bread to allow the air to thicken. Chewing he thought of how to lead Aurus and Titia along. ‘There’s only one problem. Maedicius, our rebel emperor, will pass through Ovilava on his march south.’
‘How could you possibly know that?’ Aurus scowled. ‘The Most Venerable could go west first, through Siscia, and then south through Marsonia, before worming through the valleys to the port of Lyceus. Or he could go east—’
Livicus raised his hand, ‘No. That’s fanciful. He has no boats and Lyceus won’t have enough for him, and that relies on Gnaeus Larcius supporting Maedicius, which he will not. Even commandeering merchant ships wouldn’t be enough. Not to mention refitting them for war. No Elysia’s navy, ironically docked at the Kathykos cothon, our rebel emperor’s home town, would shatter any such force. Maedicius is hot-blooded and ill tempered but all the anger in the world wouldn’t make him that blind to military tactics. He will go through Ovilava and I need your assurance that Opiter will apprehend him. I can have a legion there in a month if necessary.’ Partinax is already headed that way, Livicus would force Opiter’s hand if the boy refused his father. A situation he would rather avoid.
‘Why not send an official Diet missive?’ Titia asked.
‘It would be poor form for me to be seen potentially setting father against son. We need unity and I believe securing your support in this will build that unity. If you ask Opiter to do this first then I can follow it up with official advice from the Diet to show he has full support. I understand what it is like out in the provinces, how the capital appears from so many miles away. A den of schemers and plots that are so knotted as to be unsolvable from a distance. We can help Opiter see the capital is of one mind on this. Maedicius has rebelled and must face justice.’
Aurus sipped from his silver cup engraved with the five ancient king’s of Elsyia. Little survived from early Elysian history, short and bloody as it was. Though Aurus could claim ancestry back all those centuries, and if myth was believed to one of the five kings themselves. Though the myth was never clear on which. ‘If I write to my son before the Diet then it will appear as a conspiracy. That I am acting outside the proper channels. I can write after you do, reinforcing the official advice of the Diet.’
Livicus turned to Titia, ‘I only want to restore order and uphold justice. Your son is a good man, a loyal man, with a lustrous career ahead of him. No doubt he will make it in his year like you did Aurus. He must know that he has the support of his father and mother in his decision.’
‘Maybe I am a little slow but I fail to see why you cannot give the official advice first?’ Titia said.
Titia Poplicola was not slow and Livicus was loathe to openly talk of the divide, ‘As you are both well aware the Diet is divided on the issue of our rebel emperor. Few support him outright, it is true, but many wish for a peaceful resolution, an impossibility in my view, or a return to a previous state of affairs, also impossible. For me to send such advice would require a simple majority but I fear the moving of a legion would rankle the more sensitive senators. If Aurus sent his letter first it would calm the fears of those senators,’ he turned to Aurus before Titia could offer a reply. ‘You once said that I do not know Maedicius but I do. He will go through Ovilava and your son can help end this civil war before it begins.’
Aurus sat upright, his lips pressed white and said, ‘Very well. The missives go together. I will speak in favour of your suggestion at tomorrow’s session. I will show my letter in the Diet, you show yours, let the senators read them if they wish. That will calm the nerves of the most agitated.’
Livicus made a show of considering it but his mind was already decided, ‘Very well. Let us pen the letters here and now.’ His host closed his eyes for a long while before calling for pen and ink.
The Fourth Move | The Civil War Index | The Sixth Move
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How strange, when a diet can overrule an Emperor
and divide an Empire while at war.
In Rome of old, Legates would lead their legions
into combat in place far, far
away. The Emperor would at home stay
and with his tongue, his enemies he would flay.