Soldier of Rome: The Last Campaign (The Artorian Chronicles) (4 page)

“Will I ever return?”

“That,” Hansi said, “is for the emperor to decide. You will find that Rome is the gate of kings.”

________

Chapter Endnote
s:

1 – River Itchen in Hampshire, England
, near what is now Southampton

2 – River Hamble

Chapter II: Demon’s Dagger

The Imperial Palace, Rome

14 January
, 41 A.D.

***

“It is time,” Cassius said quietly
as the group of conspirators crept down the stairs into the well-lit underground passage beneath the imperial palace. Outside they could hear the sounds of the cheering throngs that were attending the latest in a series of games put on by the emperor, Gaius Caligula. As a member of the Praetorian Guard, it would cause no alarm that Cassius was armed. However, the other members of the conspiracy had to keep their weapons hidden beneath the folds of their togas. As such, they carried short daggers instead of soldiers’ gladii.

Cassius Chaerea was a highly decorated former soldier who had served Rome since his days as a young tribune during the reign of Augustus. He was best known for having saved the lives of over a hundred legionaries during the disastrous ambush in Teutoburger Wald, Germania, more than thirty years earlier.
He had further distinguished himself during the campaigns of retribution under Germanicus Caesar; his commanding general once telling the Emperor Tiberius that Cassius was, perhaps, the bravest man he had ever met. It was this reputation that later led to his transfer from the legions to the Praetorian Guard, where he established himself as one of their more respected leaders.

In recent years he had
risen through the ranks as a senior officer within the Praetorians; an unusual posting, given his secret loathing of the imperial family. Though he served Augustus faithfully during his early days as a soldier, he never forgave the emperor for appointing the dreadful Quintilius Varus as commander of the Rhine Army, for it was he who led the Seventeenth, Eighteenth, and Nineteenth Legions to their destruction in Teutoburger Wald. Cassius also believed that any retribution should have been dealt swiftly, not six years later, and only then after the death of Augustus. And while he had respected Tiberius as a soldier, as he was one of Rome’s greatest commanders who could rightly boast that he’d never been beaten in battle, as emperor, Cassius found him wanting. Ironically, Tiberius himself would have been one of the first to agree with this!

In
an interesting twist of fate, he had helped uncover a conspiracy against Tiberius, which was wrought by Cassius’ own commanding officer, Lucius Aelius Sejanus. He gave a sinister grin, knowing that he had saved one emperor, only to assassinate his successor ten years later.

The men walked quickly down the passage, their sandals echoing on the cobblestones. The praetorian tribune, along with several of his accomplices from the senate and a few guardsmen who were complicit in the plot, walked quickly along the corridor that ran beneath the busy streets between the palace and the circus. Far from being a dank, uninviting tunnel, it was spacious, lit with numerous torches, and served as a means of numerous patricians and other important persons to avoid the stifling crowds.

“Why
, Senator Marcus!” a voice said enthusiastically to one of Cassius’ companions.

Despite being the emperor’s personal
pathway, it was by no means secret. In fact, it was commonly used by senators, magistrates, and members of the imperial household when coming and going from the palace. The man who greeted them was a senator, whose name Cassius could not recall at the moment. He furrowed his brow when he saw the sweaty complexion of his friend, despite it being a cool January day.

“By Juno, are you feeling alright?” he asked.

“Yes, f…fine,” Marcus said quickly. His left arm was clutched close around his middle, giving the appearance that he was having stomach pains when, in fact, he was concealing a gladius beneath the broad purple stripe of his toga.

“The good senator has been feeling a bit off,” Cassius spoke up, “but this has not prevented him from coming to pay his respects to the emperor.
Gaius Caligula awaits our pleasure and, as you know, he does not like to be kept waiting.”

“But of course,” the inquisitive senator said before bidding farewell to Marcus.

The other conspirators also let out sighs of relief. Cassius was the only one who appeared calm and focused. But then, what did he expect of men who’d had a soft living in Rome and never had to draw a blade in anger? Still, he knew they were resolved in their conviction to free Rome from the tyrant. He did not need them to be skilled with their weapons like legionaries, just willing to stab one man who had wronged them all grievously. One of the senator’s had had his wife invited by Caligula to attend a special banquet at the palace, only to have it become a depraved orgy, where the poor woman was subjected to malicious sexual cruelty by the emperor, as well as many of the drunken guests. Even a number of slaves of both sexes had had their way with her. In her shame and despair, she killed herself after confessing to her husband what had happened. The senator vowed to avenge her, consequences to himself be damned.

This was but one of many such incidences, and the
four years of Gaius Caligula’s reign as Caesar had been a twisted paradox. Despite being the son of the legendary general, Germanicus Caesar, those closest to him saw none of his father’s noble qualities. Like many, Cassius wondered if he was the son of Germanicus at all. His sexual promiscuity with both young boys and girls may have raised a few eyebrows; however, it was the incestuous relations that he had flaunted with three of his sisters that caused the most revulsion amongst the nobility. His cruelty towards women was profound. His first wife had died giving birth to a stillborn child, and many speculated that this had ruined the young man. His second wife was only his consort for six days, after being forced to divorce her first husband. Caligula promptly became bored with her and later had her banished on rumor that she’d returned to her first husband. His third wife had also been forced to divorce her husband, a former consul named Regulus, who also accompanied Cassius this day.

“Today I avenge my wife,”
the first senator said coldly, clutching his weapon beneath the folds of his toga.

“And I, mine,”
Regulus said quietly.

After being forced to divorce him in order to marry the emperor, Caligula subsequently divorced her six months later, forbidding her from sleeping with or associating with any other men.

“Today we avenge
Rome
,” Cassius added as soon as they passed a group of entertainers who were heading back up the passage towards the palace. Even though their mission may have been a matter of patriotism for their nation, it had also become a matter of personal survival for the men.

Caligula was emotionally unstable, prone to fits of rage where he would
sometimes order the immediate execution of those who displeased him. Such actions had surpassed the bounds of legality and common decency, yet there were none in the senate or the patrician class who would dare oppose him. Indeed, two of the senators who accompanied Cassius had only been spared execution by the intervention of Caligula’s current wife, Caesonia, as well as his uncle, Claudius. Declaring himself a living deity, he demanded to be worshipped as a god. In a strange turn of events, he staged a number of legions for a supposed invasion of the isle of Britannia, only to order the soldiers to unleash their javelins into the waters and to ‘attack the sea’ in order to suppress his divine rival, Neptune. This had been fortuitous for the legions, as the emperor had neglected the very basics of logistical support needed to conduct an invasion, and had they crossed the channel they would have eventually met with disaster once their supplies ran out.

And yet, d
espite his erratic behavior, the squandering of most of the vast imperial treasury that his predecessor, Tiberius, had left, Caligula was loved by many of Rome’s common people. It meant little to the plebeians if their emperor cut down a few patricians or cavorted with their wives, and whatever happened with the legions on the frontier was a different world that few gave any mind to. Caligula gave them the proverbial
bread and circuses
, making the people forget Rome’s pending bankruptcy with a plethora of games and endless festivals, the irony being that such costly celebrations were only hastening pending demise. It was as if the annual holiday of Saturnalia had become a daily event throughout much of the year.

As Cassius and his conspirators continued down the tunnel, they saw a number of senators and other magistrates, who were gathered with the emperor. Caligula was addressing a troupe of young male dancers who were scheduled to entertain him later at the palace. Also with him was his uncle, Claudius, who quietly excused himself as the squad of praetorians and senators approached. He gave a friendly nod and smile to Cassius, who he had always viewed as a friend. He also shot knowing glances to Marcus and Regulus. Whether he knew what was about to happen, no one would ever say.

Not content with the protection offered by the praetorians, Caligula had a personal bodyguard made up of Germanic warriors who were fiercely loyal to him. This in itself could be seen as a private joke to the young emperor, g
iven his extreme dislike of their people. He was prone to referring to things he disliked as ‘German’, as if it were a form of profanity. These particular guards wore hamata chain armor and carried oblong shields and long stabbing spears. They also rarely left Caligula’s side, yet so anxious had he been to address the group of entertainers, that he’d left them mostly behind as he’d exited the imperial box at the circus. This was fortuitous for Cassius, for the last thing he wanted was a brawl to ensue between these fearsome warriors and his outnumbered praetorians. Besides, they had further work to do once the hated tyrant was slain!

A few
German guards were lingering by the large double doors at the base of the steps that went up into the arena. As inconspicuously as possible, a pair of Cassius’ guardsmen skirted past the crowd and over to the doors. Each man stood at a door, hoping he could shut it fast enough once their commander gave the signal.

“Why
, Cassius, my dear little Venus!” Caligula said boisterously as the praetorian approached him. The term ‘Venus’ was one of many insults the emperor hurled at Cassius almost on a daily basis, and was in reference to a serious groin injury he’d suffered years before that sometimes caused his voice to crack. “To what do I owe this delicious pleasure? Come to see these fine young specimens perform? Well, sorry if any strike your fancy, for they are only for my amusement. Now what is it? I’m awfully busy right now!”

“The watchword, Caesar,” Cassius said, his left hand clutching the scabbard of his gladius that was strapped to his hip.
His knuckles were white from his hard grip, and his blood was surging through his veins, like it had always done before battle. There was no turning back.

“Hmm,” Caligula said in mock contemplation as he tapped his finger on his lips.
“Well, since we are celebrating my divinity today, let’s say
Jupiter
. He’s been rather fussy ever since I taught Neptune a rather harsh lesson.”

“I have one that’s better,” Cassius said coldly.
“Justice!”
His weapon flashed from its scabbard as the praetorians at the end of the corridor quickly pulled shut and braced the large double doors with a loud slam. Confused talk in German could be heard on the other side, and soon there was a loud pounding on the doors that echoed throughout the corridor.

“You dare draw your weapon in the presence of your emperor and god…” Caligula’s words were cut short as Cassius plunged his gladius into his groin, eliciting a high-pitched scream of agony.

The other guardsmen, along with Regulus, Marcus, and the others, drew their weapons and swarmed the emperor as shouts of fear and shock echoed from the gathered crowd. They stabbed the emperor repeatedly, his white and purple robes ripped and splashed with bright crimson. Marcus gritted his teeth as blood spurted onto the blade of his weapon as he thrust it into Caligula’s back. Regulus slashed his weapon between the shoulder and neck, driving him to his knees.

“No!”
Caligula shouted in terror and agony as large splotches of blood saturated his robes. “I’m a god, you cannot kill me!”

Blood gushed fro
m the fearful wounds as he continued to scream in pain, the dousing of his toga coming as a stark mockery of his imploring cries of his own divinity. It was as if Cassius and his men were deliberately striking where it would be most painful, yet not immediately fatal. Finally, as Caligula started to fall onto his face, Regulus grabbed him by his blood-soaked hair and slashed his gladius across his throat. The emperor’s eyes rolled into the back of his head as dark scarlet gushed from both the wound and out of his gaping mouth. All the while, the sounds of frantic pounding on the large doors grew ever louder as the cross brace began to break.

“We need to go,” one of the praetorians
said. “Those damned Germans outnumber us, and they will be in a rage when they see their beloved emperor.”

“At least this hated affair is now over,” Marcus said quietly, sweat forming on his brow.

“No,” Cassius said, shaking his head. “It is not done yet.” He spat on the emperor’s twitching corpse that lay face down in a pooling mass of blood. He turned to walk away, his eyes filled with murderous rage.

“Cassius!” the senator said, grabbing him by the shoulder of his armor.
His face was filled with dread as he sensed what Cassius intended. “We agreed, only Caligula was to die.”