‘Sire, the Praetorians say we have to continue on foot.’
‘On f-f-foot?’
‘Yes, sire. We won’t be able to get the litters much further. It would be dangerous to try.’
‘But there are madmen out there!’ Agrippina protested. ‘Just drop the curtain and get us back to the palace. I order it.’
‘I regret to say that there is no choice in the matter, your imperial majesty. Either we move now or we will be stuck here, at their mercy.’
‘Where are the urban cohorts?’ demanded Agrippina. ‘They should be dealing with those scum. They’ll find us if we stay here.’
Narcissus shook his head. ‘They probably don’t even know what’s happening.’ He turned to the Emperor. ‘We have to continue on foot, sire. Now.’
Claudius turned to his wife. ‘The soldiers know best, my d-dear. Come, let’s not show any fear in front of the m-m-mob.’
Narcissus helped his Emperor out and then handed out Agrippina and the two boys. Claudius put a protective arm round his wife and faced Cato and Macro.
‘You two, guard the children.’
‘Yes, sire.’ Cato bowed his head and then gestured for Nero to join him. ‘Calidus, you take the smaller boy.’
Macro nodded. ‘Over here, young ‘un.’
Britannicus frowned. ‘That is not how you address me, soldier.’
‘It is right now.’ Macro gently took his shoulder and drew him behind his shield.
The decurion of the German bodyguards called to his men to form a cordon round the Emperor and then Narcissus cupped a hand and shouted towards the leading sections a short distance ahead. ‘Centurion! Centurion!’
Lurco heard the shout, glanced back and then ordered his men to hold their position before he made his way to the other party, hunched close into his shield.
‘We’re leaving the litters behind,’ Narcissus explained. ‘Gather
your men together and we’ll make our way across the Forum to the palace. It’s not too far now.’
Lurco shook his head desperately. ‘It would be safer to return to the camp. We have to escape. Before it’s too late.’
‘No, sir,’ Cato interrupted and pointed his sword back up the street. ‘Look!’
A hundred paces behind them another small crowd had gathered in the shadows between the tenement blocks and was already beginning to edge towards them.
‘Shit … shit,’ Lurco muttered, his lip beginning to tremble.
Cato made to say something, but Macro acted first. He thrust himself towards the centurion, sheathed his sword and grasped the officer’s shoulder. ‘Pull yourself together, sir,’ he said harshly. ‘Your Emperor’s life is in your hands. All of our lives are. Get the men together, shield to shield, and get them moving, or we’re fucked.’ He saw the dazed look in the officer’s face and shook him hard. ‘Sir!’
Lurco blinked, then his eyes flickered towards the imperial family and he swallowed. ‘Yes, of course. Right.’ He raised his head and called to Tigellinus. ‘Optio!’
‘Sir?’
‘Bring the rest of the century forward. Form up by the Germans!’
While the men guarding the Emperor’s advisers trotted towards them, Lurco turned to Macro and Cato. ‘You guard those children with your lives. Understand?’
‘Yes, sir.’ Macro nodded. ‘They’ll be safe with us.’
Once Pallas and Seneca had joined Claudius and his family, the soldiers closed up behind their shields, protecting the slaves as well, and Lurco gave the order for the makeshift formation to advance. The leading sections waited until the rest caught up and then they continued as one body. Meanwhile the crowd behind them had grown bold enough to come closer and hurl insults before following those up with the first stones and broken roof tiles drawn from a pile of rubble at the corner of one of the alleys. Cato and Macro held their shields up and bent forward to use their bodies to protect their charges. Cato had sheathed his sword and had his right hand on Nero’s shoulder so that they would keep in step. He felt the boy trembling beneath the folds of his toga.
‘It’s all right.’ Cato spoke in a comforting tone. ‘We’ll have you back in the palace as soon as we can.’
Nero didn’t reply for a moment and then Cato just caught his words. ‘I’m scared.’
‘My friend and I have been in far worse situations.’
Nero looked up at him. ‘But I haven’t.’
‘Then look on this as a chance to be brave. It is a good thing to learn while you are young.’
Nero nodded uncertainly and took a deep breath to calm his nerves as they picked their way forward. Around them the Germans began to call out a battle chant in their harsh tongue and rapped the guards of their swords against the inside of their shields. Cato straightened up for a moment and saw that there were no more than fifty paces to go before the street gave out on to the open space in front of the Temple of Minerva, on the edge of the Forum.
‘Not far before we’re in the open, lads,’ Macro called out encouragingly.
There was a shout from above and an instant later a roof tile exploded on the ground beside Macro. Britannicus let out a startled cry as a shard gashed his hand. Macro drew the boy in closer and called out a warning.
‘Some of the bastards are in the buildings. Keep your heads covered!’
More tiles came down from above and risking a quick look Cato glimpsed a figure lean out of a window, take aim and hurl a tile on to the head of one of the Germans. It struck him on the helmet, driving his head away at an angle, and he pitched over to the side. At once two of his comrades sheathed their swords and picked him up under the arms and dragged him along with the formation. With missiles clattering in from all directions, the soldiers instinctively increased their pace and those at the front began to pull away as they sought to get away from the danger from above.
‘Not so fast there!’ Tigellinus yelled. ‘Stay together, damn you!’
He pushed his way to the front, brushing by Centurion Lurco, and used the flat of his sword to smack the shields of those who were moving too fast. ‘No man goes by me! I set the pace and you follow!’
By the time they reached the end of the street, another two men had been struck down among the defenceless slaves huddled together at the rear of the party. One was dead and lay stretched out in the street. The other’s foot had been smashed and he limped along, falling out of formation and desperately struggling to keep up. Then the crowd caught up with him and they showed him no pity, even though he was simply a slave and quite blameless. His screams cut through the air and chilled Cato’s blood before they were mercifully cut off and the mob surged forward once again.
As the party reached the precinct of the temple, the full scale of the riot was apparent for the first time. Several stalls in the Forum close to the senate house were ablaze and the breeze swirled the flames and smoke so that the fire writhed like a wild animal chained to a stake. The avenue leading into the Forum was littered with bodies, many still living, and their piteous cries filled the air. Cato noticed some wore the uniform of the urban cohorts. Many more market stalls had been smashed to pieces and only scattered remnants indicated the trade of the stall’s owner. A handful of ragged beggars and street children were looting the bodies for whatever valuables they could find. At the sight of the clusters of men who preceded the imperial party, most of the looters hurried into the safety of the Subura’s alleys.
As soon as they were out in the open, the optio picked up the pace and the rioters moved out of their way, keeping a wary distance from the soldiers and their swords. Ahead, in the heart of the Forum, the din of the rioters was much louder, amplified and echoing off the temples and palaces that surrounded the Forum. Cato saw that Nero was terrified by the sights and sounds that surrounded him, yet they still had to cross the Forum and gain the entrance to the palace, assuming the mob had not broken through the gates and sacked the complex. With luck there would be some elements of the urban cohorts on hand who would rally to the Emperor and his bodyguards and escort them to safety.
The avenue narrowed between the Markets of Caesar and the Temple of Janus, and then there was a short stretch of colonnade before the main Forum.
‘Not far now!’ the optio called out to the others. ‘Stay together and keep your eyes open.’
The walls on either side closed in and the last of the rioters who had tormented them fell back and only a few more missiles were thrown. After the harsh battering of shields and armour, the scraping thud of the soldiers’ nailed boots suddenly seemed very loud. Cato was aware of the heavy breathing of the German bodyguards and the Emperor was muttering something incomprehensible as he limped along beside his wife, his weak legs making him look like a wet spider dragging himself from a puddle.
The attack came just as they reached the end of the colonnade.
With a roar, men streamed out from between the towering stone columns and threw themselves at the soldiers. Unlike the other rioters, these men were armed with a mix of spears, axes, swords, clubs and daggers, and well prepared for a fight. They drove into the shield cordon from both sides, trying to rip away the shields and strike at the soldiers. Cato pulled Nero closer in to his shield.
‘Stay with me.’ He spoke into Nero’s ear. ‘Whatever happens!’
He looked round and saw that the attackers were concentrating on the front and rear of the column, where the Praetorians were positioned. As yet the Germans had not been engaged and they crouched expectantly, round shields up and their longer swords held at the ready. Then Cato saw a stream of men running from the shadows inside the temple. These were armed with swords and at their head was the now familiar face of Cestius. His expression was fixed in determined hostility as he leaped down into the narrow avenue and made directly for the Emperor and his family. Cestius’s men formed a narrow wedge on either side as they plunged in among the Germans. Cato saw Cestius duck a clumsy sword cut and clamp his hand round the bodyguard’s windpipe and crush it in one quick move. He thrust the gasping man aside and looked round quickly until he saw the two boys. Macro was closer and turned to face the threat, still trying his best to protect Britannicus.
With a savage roar Cestius rushed forward, knocking aside another German. Macro’s sword came up and thrust out. At the last instant Cestius parried it aside with a ringing clash of blades and smashed into Macro and knocked him flat on his back. Britannicus
stood alone and defenceless but Cestius spared the boy only a brief glance before sweeping him aside and charging on towards Cato, his teeth bared.
There was no time to think and Cato went down on one knee, angling his shield as he pushed Nero to the ground. A look of surprise flashed across Cestius’s face the instant before he tripped and fell heavily across the shield, flattening those beneath. Cato felt the hot rush of expelled breath from the other man’s lungs. He pushed into the shield, straining with all his might, and Cestius rolled to one side, coming up on his knees, sword raised. His spare hand grabbed at the edge of the shield and he ripped it away to reveal Nero dazed and winded. The giant’s eyes filled with triumphant zeal as the point of his sword descended.
‘No!’ Cato shouted, throwing his body over the boy. The sleeve of his tunic caught the tip of the oncoming blade and there was a sound of ripping material and then a burning streak across his right bicep.
‘Bastard!’ Cestius snarled, drawing back his arm. Then he glanced up and saw Macro looming before him an instant before the boss of Macro’s shield struck him square in the face. Cestius fell back with a groan, his sword clattering to one side. He trembled for an instant and then lay still, his breath rasping.
‘Lad, are you all right?’ Macro called anxiously as he crouched beside Cato. He saw the rent in the tunic and the bright scarlet spreading across the exposed flesh of Cato’s arm and shoulder.
‘Nero?’ Cato turn to look for his charge and saw the boy struggling up into a sitting position, unharmed. The wave of relief lasted only a moment before the burning agony from his wound struck Cato.
‘Cestius is down!’ a voice cried out nearby. ‘Cestius is down! Fall back!’
As quickly as the men had attacked, they broke off, retreating from the soldiers before turning and running back into the colonnade, the sound of their boots echoing off the temple walls. Macro helped Cato to his feet. The swift attack had been deadly enough. Several of the Praetorians and Germans had been struck down, as well as a similar number of the attackers. The Emperor
was swallowing nervously and Agrippina’s eyes were wide with terror, but neither they nor their children had been harmed.
‘Pick up the wounded!’ Tigellinus ordered. ‘Close up!’ He looked round for his centurion and saw Lurco rising up from the street with a sheepish expression. ‘We should move on, sir. Quickly, in case those men come back.’
‘Yes.’ Lurco nodded. ‘Of course.’ The centurion cleared his throat. ‘The Sixth Century will advance!’
Once again the column re-formed its shield wall round the freshly wounded, the surviving slaves and civilians and moved out into the Forum. Macro picked up Cato’s sword and replaced it in his friend’s scabbard and then pulled the torn tunic aside to examine the wound. ‘You’re bleeding badly but it looks like a flesh wound. Painful, but you’ll recover.’
‘Since when were you a bloody surgeon?’ Cato replied through clenched teeth as he adjusted his grip on the shield and held it up to protect Nero again. Then he quickly turned back to Macro. ‘Cestius?’