"Reporting as instructed, sir!"
Urbicus saluted the group of four. His Alexandrian Praetorian troop was approaching the riverside jetty giving access to The Alexandros. Suetonius, Clarus, Surisca, and Strabon were proceeding along the same pier.
"You requested my report by the highest sun, sir," he announced with a fumbling stammer. He seemed ill-prepared to meet the four.
"Greetings Centurion!" Clarus responded crisply. "Make your report."
"Hail Caesar! I and my men have searched for the river craft painted blue bearing the Eye of Horus and without sail markings, just as the fishermen who discovered the deceased described to us yesterday.
We have located such a vessel secured in slips by the river at an inlet close by the Temple of Amun near the Imperial Encampment. I am told on authority it is the only such boat on the river here. The temple is less than a stadion north of our protected stockade, surrounded by palm trees. You'd never know it was there it's so well concealed."
"Have you been able to establish whether this vessel was sailing the river at dawn on the day of Antinous's death, and who its sailor or sailors may have been?" Suetonius queried.
"This was difficult, sirs, as our enquiry would have raised suspicion among the chief priests of the temple. But yes, we apprehended a worker-priest attached to the temple who was performing manual work in the vicinity of the docked vessel. We persuaded the man to join our company so we could question him in private," the officer announced in crisply-articulated soldier-speak.
"Question him? You mean you abducted the fellow, put him to the sword, pressured him, and probably threatened him to some degree?" Suetonius asked genially, if apprehensively.
"Indeed this might be so, Special Inspector," the Praetorian confirmed with no hint of irony. "The fellow resisted and claimed he knew of no such voyage. But he was eventually amenable to persuasion and revealed what we wished to know."
"Amenable? So what was revealed?" Suetonius queried. He was alarmed at the Guard's impetuosity in dealing with a workman, priest, or slave under some other institution's protection.
"He told us the master of the Temple, a priest of Amun named Panchrates or Pachrates of Memphis, had been sailing the river at the appointed time in this vessel accompanied by an acolyte," Urbicus concluded. The Praetorian officer fell silent, displaying visible satisfaction.
"Pachrates?!" both Clarus and Suetonius exclaimed. "But why? What was he doing on the river at that time, Centurion?"
"Well," the Praetorian offered as an information coup-de-grace, "the slave told us he'd heard gossip how Panchrates had ritually sacrificed the youth Antinous in a magical rite to invoke health, and was delivering the corpse upstream to be discovered in the river at dawn. Perhaps this is why the youth's left wrist had been slashed when he was found by the fishermen, and why he was attired in his formal parade armors."
The group of four was astonished. At last a breakthrough!.
"But why would the priest Pachrates slay the Bithynian? What profit is there in this to an Egyptian priest? Especially a Bithynian who was Caesar's Favorite?" Clarus demanded. He was entering his legalist's temper of cui bono?
Urbicus replied carefully.
"The temple slave did not know these things, my lords, he was a lowly laborer, but he'd heard it said it was to allay Pharaoh's concerns about correcting the low flooding of the Nile," the Praetorian stated. "It was a public gesture for this year's Festival of Isis."
"Where is this slave informant now, Urbicus?" Suetonius demanded. "We must keep him isolated and protected until we can authenticate this story. These are sensitive claims you make, and this workman is our only witness to such charges."
"This is not possible, sir," Urbicus offered with a lowered voice. "The slave expired under our exactions. We may have overdone the persuasion a little, sir. He bled liberally under the duress. So we tossed his carcass into the river to appear to be a drowning accident too. It seems Osiris will have two claimants to resurrection this Isia." Urbicus was engaging in droll Praetorian wit.
"Separately, Special Inspector," he continued, "we've been searching for your interviewees Lysias of Bithynia and the freedwoman Thais of Cyrene. They too have gone missing, despite your demands they attend your interview today. We searched for them last night at their tents. They could not be found anywhere.
However, we did find the mutilated corpse of their senior steward, a Judaean freedman from Bithynia. He'd been decapitated in a similar manner to the fisherman from Besa. But we couldn't locate either the offenders or the two young people in the vicinity."
It was Suetonius's turn to feel discomfort at these revelations.
"You didn't mention this incident earlier this morning when you delivered the head of the fisherman Ani to our breakfast table?" he enquired. "Nor mention another decapitation. Had you forgotten such a grisly discovery?"
Urbicus shuffled momentarily with unease but did not lose his verbal stride.
"No, my lord, I had not forgotten. It was simply that the fisherman Ani's murder and return of his head to his family, as well as the search for the river craft, had a higher priority in your instruction. Were we being negligent, sir?" the officer offered with an air of impervious innocence.
Suetonius was now beginning to feel even greater discomfort. Looking to Clarus for confirmation, the biographer was coming to appreciate how the death of the Bithynian youth seemed to provoke increasingly violent, yet inexplicable, responses from unknown forces.
He recollected the lad's drowning had induced two beheadings, one death by over-zealous torture, three disappearances, plus a glut of conspiracy theories to complicate the basic search for a motive. As the hours towards the appointment with Hadrian raced by, the number of issues multiplied, not declined. A further query arose in his mind.
"Tell me Centurion, how did you manage to find us here at The Alexandros jetty?"
Urbicus expressed surprise at the question. He hesitated before responding.
"Why, my lord," he uttered with obvious sincerity, "we had been searching for your party in the vicinity of Senator Arrian's chambers to make our report, but then spied you and your colleagues at this river landing from a distance. It was accidental. But having reported, we request we receive your further instructions."
The guardsman from Alexandria was collectedly cool in his response. Suetonius wondered if he was perhaps too cool, and his eyes turned to Surisca for a shared opinion. Clarus interrupted.
"Yes, Praetorian," Clarus declaimed, "this is our instruction. We must urgently locate the two friends of Antinous, Lysias and the girl Thais, before anyone else apprehends them and does them harm. Continue your search for the couple. Assign further troops to the search if necessary through Tribune Macedo. Do whatever is necessary to secure their safety! Certainly let there be no accidents with the couple, we don't wish to lose further sources of testimony."
"It will be done, sir," Urbicus confirmed. He snapped to attention as his troop swept their helmets to their heads in unison, saluted in military style, and marched off.
"Strabon, did you record the past few minute's conversation?" Suetonius enquired.
"Indeed I have, Special Inspector," the scribe responded.
"Good. Keep those tablets close in a safe place. Something is amiss here, gentlemen," Suetonius confided insecurely, "and I'm not at all sure what it is. Any thoughts, anybody?"
He cast his eyes over his trio of companions. Surisca cautiously raised a finger.
"Speak, my dear," the biographer prompted. Surisca spoke hesitantly.
"Master, forgive my impertinence, but when the centurion and his soldiers were approaching I had the definite feeling it was not My Masters they were coming to visit. To my eye, it was this jetty to the barque they were approaching," she offered, "not the enjoyment of your company."
"To this jetty?" Clarus enquired with a hint of exasperation. "Meaning what especially, woman?"
"I sensed, sir, they were at this wharf to travel to where you yourselves are travelling, not to report to your lordships, as they claim. They were on their way to that mighty vessel offshore."
"I felt the same, my lords," Strabon added to Surisca's comments. "I sensed they were surprised to come across us at this place. The centurion had not really expected to meet us here."
"You mean they were on their way to visit the Prefect Governor aboard The Alexandros, not talk with us as they claimed?" Clarus rationalized.
"Except, my good Clarus," Suetonius intruded, "the centurion pointedly told us it was our company he was seeking, not the governor's. We have another contradiction to contend with. Yet instead of such mere speculation, my friends, let's pay the good governor a visit ourselves to find out."
The main deck of The Alexandros was an open area shaded under a filmy canopy emblazoned with the Alexandrine starburst. It provided space for entertainments, feasts, ceremonies, or juridical occasions.
The barque's decoration was an elaborate fantasy of carved timbers inset with honey-hued porthole windows of thin alabaster. A riot of sculpted figures depicting the victories of Alexander over his enemies graced its exterior. Similar to its larger companion The Dionysus, the governor's barque was a visible demonstration of the opulence and power of Rome to her provincial Egyptian subjects.
The Prefect Governor was seated upon his chair-of-state on a rostrum under the midday glare diffused by the canopy. Flavius Titianus was attended by several staff, guards, a scribe at a lectern desk, and young pages. They were engaged in business when Titianus spied his visitors awaiting his attention. He rose from his seat and dismissed all his attendants except one.
"Come forward, gentlemen!" he called aloud to his visitors. "Make yourself known!"
Suetonius, Clarus, Strabon, and a hesitant Surisca approached the throne. Suetonius coaxed the Syri to follow close behind him despite her non-status as a non-person.
"Greetings, Prefect Governor," Clarus responded. "We salute you. Hail Caesar!"
"Senator Clarus and Suetonius Tranquillus, all hail!" was the reply.
Titianus was in his early forties, short of stature, thickset, and of sturdy farmer stock in the classic Roman soldierly way. He exuded the prim but efficient air of a practical man who gets things done. Titianus had the emperor's complete confidence in his management of the Empire's most important province, Egypt. The African colonies are Rome's bread basket.
Titianus has the obligation of ensuring an inexhaustible supply of grain to Rome. He must also secure from pirates the Red Sea trade with Nabataea, Arabia Felix, India and the farther mysterious Orient. A further priority is to encourage the capture of wild animals from beyond the distant lands of Kush and Punt in the African hinterland for the Empire's blood-sports arenas. Overall, Hadrian's governor had forbidding responsibilities. Not least among these were the strict control of the various ethnic, class, and religious rivalries which repeatedly threatened to explode across his jurisdiction and jeopardize these chores.
"What brings you to my office, gentlemen? And without an appointment," Titianus asked in the abrupt manner of a military man. He gathered his toga's folds and re-seated himself upon his throne of office, waving to his visitors to take their seat in the elegant chairs arranged before him.
Clarus rose to address the governor.
"Prefect Governor, we come on Caesar's instruction. We have been commissioned by Caesar to investigate the recent death of the Companion of the Hunt, Antinous of Bithynia," Clarus announced grandly while holding the slender ivory-spined scroll high as his authority. "We are charged to complete our investigation by dawn tomorrow and report our findings to Caesar. We are here to enquire your views of the boy's death and seek any relevant information you or your officers may possess about the manner of his death."
Titianus sat immobile for a few moments contemplating this presentation. He stared at Clarus with an unwaveringly searching eye.
"Well, you'd better get underway, hadn't you? Tomorrow's dawn is about eighteen hours away. Ask of me what you will, gentlemen. I will respond appropriately," he stated flatly.
"We're to take notation of your views and testimony, my lord. Our scribe is to record our interviews for Caesar's information, and so requires a preceding statement of your titles and honors, Prefect Governor."
Titianus rested back in his high chair as a tired, impatient expression cast across his features. It was evident the governor was not especially interested in this intrusion upon his day's chores, and the sooner it was over the better. He began sharply.
"I do not announce my titles to my inferiors, Senator Septicius Clarus, I have a secretary for that purpose. He'll give you the details. Let's get on with it."
Titianus waved to the secretary to perform. The Greek took the hint and proclaimed loudly to Strabon..
"Scribe, take note. This is the testimony of His Excellency Titus Flavius Titianus, Caesar's appointed Prefect Governor of the Imperial province of Upper and Lower Egypt. His Excellency has served Great Caesar in Roman Asia, Gaul, and Rome itself since the time of his succession. He is married to a wife resident at Rome, and has four children by her."
Titianus waved impatiently to his secretary to cease and leave-out out the long list of titles and honors which usually followed. He waited impatiently for an interview question.
"What is your understanding of the nature of the death of the youth Antinous?" Suetonius asked.
Titianus shifted peevishly on his throne.
"Special Inspector, all I can surmise is that the lad fell overboard after a drunken revel, or suchlike. I have no idea what may have transpired with the fellow," he offered brusquely.
"Do you possess any knowledge about the young man's movements on the day of his death, the first day of the Festival of Isis, or what company he may have kept?"
"No, I do not.".
"We have received the impression he may have had at least one sexual assignation on the day of his death with a person or persons unknown. Are you aware of his activities on that day which may interest us, or know of such persons?" the biographer queried.
"Gentlemen, I am the governor of this province. I do not bother myself with the sexual exploits or peccadilloes of my subjects, let alone passing tourists to this land. These are not affairs of substance to me. Let's move on," Titianus concluded dismissively.
Suetonius was not deterred.
"We have been told, my lord, how you and your companion, the lady Anna Perenna, had shared some time with the Bithynian in recent times?" the Special Inspector continued. "Perhaps you possess observations of the character of the deceased which might reflect upon our investigations and provide insight into his death?"
Titianus responded warily.
"Firstly, my involvement with Caesar's Favorite has been transient and nominal; I do not share the society of Companions of the Hunt or Caesar's intimates unless the Imperial couple is attending or there's a State significance.
Secondly, the Lady Anna Perenna is no business of your enquiry, gentlemen. This woman is my client and my companion who is under my protection, that's all. She possesses no value to your endeavors. May we please wind up this fishing expedition for scandals, I have other business to attend."
Suetonius decided he needed a change of tack to engage the governor's greater interest and explore certain areas of enquiry.
"My lord, is it possible that Antinous of Bithynia shared private time with your ward and companion?" Suetonius asked with just the barest hint of provocation.
Clarus looked to his Special Inspector in cool dismay; he could not recall such a possibility being aired in any testimony provided thus far. Titianus was startled by the question. It had an unsubtle implication.
"Special Inspector Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus, the affairs of those under the protection of my household are no concern to you. My good lady, the priestess Anna Perenna, is within the oversight of myself and my staff at all times," he stated with clear precision. "My ward and companion has met the youth Antinous on only a handful of occasions, each occasion being in my own company or in the company of those I appoint to protect her.
I assure you, the lady has had little opportunity to enjoy the pleasant society of young men like Antinous in private, if this is your suggestion. I suggest you reconsider your line of questioning."
"Who do you appoint to protect the lady, my lord Governor?" Suetonius probed further.
"This too is no matter of yours, Tranquillus. I appoint reliable officers of my Guard to such duties. In fact, the Lady Perenna has a permanent bodyguard corps assigned to her protection under a senior officer of indisputable regard," the governor proclaimed.
"Who is this officer, my lord Governor?" the Special Inspector queried.
"Why, the officer in charge of her security corps is an Alexandrian centurion I hold in high esteem who shows great promise for the future. He is an achievement-oriented leader of men, an unusual quality in recruits from the African colonies, and he takes initiative well," Titianus explained.
"What is his name?" Suetonius searched further.
"Centurion Quintus Urbicus of Numidia. He's been with my Alexandrian Praetorians for two years now," the governor stated.
The team of four emitted a faint sigh of recognition.
"Are you aware, my lord Governor, that Centurion Quintus Urbicus has been assigned to support our investigations into the death of Antinous?" Clarus interjected.
"No, I am not, Senator. But such things are possible for a short period without my direct attention. My staff is very efficient. When was he assigned?" Titianus queried.
"I would have thought you might be across such an assignment?" Suetonius commented. "He was assigned yesterday on Tribune Macedo's orders. Are you also aware that Quintus Urbicus was one of those nearby to haul the Bithynian's body from the river's water when two Egyptian fishermen discovered the drowned youth at dawn yesterday?"
"No, of that too I am not aware. Yet such coincidences do happen, gentlemen. Someone had to find the body eventually. Urbicus's assignment to you will be quite legitimate. He's an effective officer, and his command of the local customs and tongues is probably useful to you, yes?" Titianus rationalized.
"Indeed. Prior to his assignment to us yesterday, what would Centurion Urbicus and his troops have been doing in the vicinity of the drowned youth by the riverside at earliest dawn?" the Special Inspector raised speculatively. At last Titianus appeared to be showing greater interest in the group's enquiries.
"I have absolutely no idea, Suetonius. You should be asking Urbicus, not me. The previous night I attended a formal banquet at Hadrian's apartments celebrating The Isia. Caesar has reason to honor the festival this year. There were many at the banquet, including new guests to Caesar's tour, but it didn't include the youth Antinous as I recall," the governor reminisced. "Hadrian's candidate for possible adoption as his son, Senator Lucius Ceionius Commodus, was the guest of honor. It seems the adoption will be proceeding sometime soon, despite great resistance to it in some quarters. It puts Lucius on the path to nailing the succession, they say, should Caesar pass away suddenly, perish the thought.
Also, I'm told there's bad blood between him and Antinous, so perhaps the Bithynian lad diplomatically stayed away? But by dawn I was still fast asleep on my banquet couch. Too much roast pork and Falernian, I'd say, plus other amusements."
"Did the Lady Anna Perenna celebrate with you too?" Suetonius probed.
"No, it was a men-only affair of course," Titianus explained. "Besides My Lady has her own rites to address. The three days of the death and resurrection of Osiris are sacred to her cult too. The influence of Isis is ubiquitous across the Empire these days. The two cults are very similar, I'm told.
My companion, the priestess, has enclosed herself for the first three days of The Isia. I doubt I shall see her until the official mourning period is over and the feasting begins."
"My lord, what did you mean Caesar has reason to honor the occasion?" the biographer continued his queries.
Titianus moved forward in his throne as though to share a confidence. He spoke low.
"I suppose, gentlemen, you are sufficiently senior to receive the following news, if you promise me absolute confidentiality. Caesar and I have spent months preparing our announcement of the foundation of a new metropolis in Middle Egypt. It's been a secret, if such elaborate plans can ever be kept secret.
At last I've persuaded Hadrian how central Egypt needs an influx of Roman and Greek settlers to act as a barrier against future incursions by rebels, invaders, or a local uprising. The old cities of Memphis, Hermopolis, and Thebes are stocked mainly with indigenous Egyptians because the previous Ptolemy regime allowed the Hellene population to be nominal outside Alexandria.
But these Egyptians are not a fighting people, as we rudely learned fifteen years ago when the Jewish community rose across Africa against Trajan under their pretender-messiah king, Lucuas. These rebels destroyed many of our temples and killed huge numbers until Turbo finally put them down.
So now we need sturdy, discharged legionnaires to colonize the area and repopulate it with families of new blood. Roman and Greek blood, that is, in a new city. They are to be a buffer here so insurrection will not succeed again. We will allocate substantial gifts of land, seed, and money at this place to make it happen, despite so many others across the Empire making claims to Rome's priorities.
The new city will require a huge investment of manpower and moneys. Caesar will persuade the Senate to appropriate the necessary wealth and arms, and Rome's leading financiers will support its construction. But at the end of the day it will require the new settlers to be cohesively unified for the plan to provide its defensive bulwark. Cohesion is essential."
"What will the city be called?" Clarus asked.
"In Caesar's honor and to encourage cohesion, I have recommended Hadrianopolis," the governor declared. "This might be why Caesar is so engrossed. It will carry his name into history."
Suetonius was prompted to remember a detail which troubled him the previous evening at the priest Kenamun's riverside embalming pavilion.
"My lord, last night we met a citizen of Greek blood from the Fayum Oasis who is a painter of portraits for funerals. He is a sculptor too. His name is Cronon, and he told us he'd been invited to this encampment many weeks ago," Suetonius posed, "well prior to the Bithynian's drowning. Would such a tradesman be summoned to attend your announcement?"
"Indeed," the governor affirmed, "my staff has assembled many, many artisans for Caesar's announcement, to discuss the planning of the new city. They've been sheltered at a camp site outside the nearby village and told not to talk of it."
"Then it's plausible after all that Cronon could have been invited to this camp by the Priest of Amun, Pachrates from Memphis, well prior to The Isia and Antinous's death?"
"Yes, that's possible," the Governor acknowledged.
Suetonius and Clarus now had reason to accept Kenamun's protestations on the previous evening. Titianus continued.
"But the priest Pachrates is an ambitious fellow, my friends. His like are very cunning. And he's found favor in Hadrian's eyes.
Pachrates understands the peculiarities of the Roman, Greek, and the Egyptian views of life, and so offers advice on how to implement our plans among each community. I'm told the dead youth was especially impressed by Pachrates' magical arts," Titianus confirmed. "So the wizard's input and contacts have been welcomed by Caesar. But for my money that priest is too clever by half. He's not a man to trust."
"We've been told Pachrates is known to commit murder for his magic," Suetonius proposed daringly.
The Governor fell silent for some moments. He drew himself back into his chair.
"He's been authorized by my office on rare occasions to utilize condemned criminals destined for a fate in the arena in his magical performances. But I'm not aware of any claim of the murder of innocents. The man is devious, but so are most in the East. It's in the air here," Titianus offered.
"Was Antinous out of favor with Caesar, my lord?" Suetonius asked, shifting tack. Titianus was cautious for a few moments. The four sensed the question had entered sensitive territory.
"There appears to have been some form of fallout some weeks ago at Alexandria when the Western Favorite joined the tour. As you know, Commodus was popular with Caesar some years ago. But I've not discerned a dispute between Hadrian and Antinous about the matter. Yet the lad had his own issues to contend with," the governor submitted.
"What are those, my lord Governor?"
"Well, to start with, after five years attachment to Hadrian he's now no longer a meirakion young man anymore. He's too old now for a role as Caesar's consort. It's too open to scandal, even here in the East where such things are widely tolerated," the governor speculated. "Note I separate the man Hadrian from the role of Caesar. The man is entitled; an emperor is not.
I was with them both at the time when Caesar expressed this view pointedly to the lad. It was at The Soma in Alexandria only a month or so ago."
"What was this occasion, my lord?" Suetonius enquired as all ears pricked up.
"Hadrian and several of his retinue, including Antinous, visited The Soma on two or three occasions. The Soma, Alexander the Great's tomb, is a pivotal institution at Alexandria. It's the city's raison d'etre, from a spiritual point of view. Not only do tourists from across the Empire visit and pay homage to the ancient hero, his tomb unifies the contending communities of the city into a single ethos, otherwise they'd be at each other's throats interminably.
All great cities have a key icon giving them their meaning; like a tomb or temple or hard-fought citadel. It's no accident the regime of the Ptolemies guaranteed the security of The Soma for over three hundred years," Titianus expounded. "Well, a member of Hadrian's retinue suggested the mausoleum and Alexander be moved to the new city. The notion was to provide a logical focus for creating the new Hadrianopolis, correlating the heroic virtues of Caesar and Alexander under one rubric.
It's a good idea, though I'd never allow Alexander's corpse to leave Alexandria. Yet it would encourage tourism to the new city and attract immigrants drawn to the Roman way of life. Hadrianopolis will need such a draw-card in this godforsaken place, otherwise it will become another dead city lost beneath Egyptian sands. There are dozens already."
"But how did this effect Hadrian's attitude to Antinous?" the biographer asked.
"Well, Hadrian is an avid admirer of Alexander, as too is Antinous. We agreed Egypt needs the sort of public spectacles the Ptolemy Greeks once provided to give the various communities a sense of being unified. You know, grand public gardens, magnificent temples, spectacular tombs, rites like The Ptolemaia festival, plus the hippodrome's races and games, and so on. At Alexandria all these attractions were held together by that single cadaver whose shadow we discern through the alabaster of his sarcophagus," the Prefect explained. "Otherwise it becomes Roman against Greek, Greek against Jew, Jew against Christian, free against slave, rich against poor, and all of them against the Egyptian natives.
Instead, Antinous inventively suggested how a Caesareum honoring the Caesars at the new city of Hadrianopolis, not Alexander's coveted body, would better fulfill the role. But he added it be accompanied by generous Imperial bequests, games, statues, commemorative coins, and cultic events, all with their emphasis on Hadrian as Caesar as the focus.
Hadrian was encouraged by the idea, it took his fancy, and the group applauded the lad's enthusiasms. But then Caesar shifted the conversation into a darker terrain. He took this cheerful opportunity to tell the young man loudly before us how their continuing relationship must cease. He put it very plainly to him. He said how a Caesar who befits the values of a Caesareum at Hadrianopolis must display public probity in all things, including his consorts.
He explained how worshipers at a Caesareum must know their Caesar is worthy of their adoration. Such a Caesar must relinquish any relationship with a partner who is no longer beardless. He terminated the relationship then and there before our eyes. Antinous was stunned by the announcement and quite visibly distressed."
Titianus paused to recollect the day. The four listened patiently.
"I'm sure the lad wasn't concerned about his future prospects because I've reason to know how he'd accumulated wealth far beyond a youth's needs, and was considered a prime candidate for posts in the cavalry or administration corps," the Governor expanded. "No, his concern seemed otherwise. Some have insinuated to me Hadrian had become uncomfortable about aspects of their relationship, though no one tells me what they are. Even my spies and paid informers don't know.
Meanwhile, it was evident Antinous was slipping into a state of disquiet. I didn't know the lad especially well, but I could see he was troubled by his predicament."
"What do you think that predicament was, my lord?" Suetonius asked. Titianus thoughtfully considered his response for a moment.
"Well one explanation, the simplest explanation I'd say, is Antinous was in love with Hadrian and reluctant to let go," he stated flatly. "It's that simple. He didn't wish to be parted from his lover. People can be like that, you know."
"Love?!" Clarus interjected, beginning to hear the language of a cinaedus. "Love! A young man barely beyond an ephebe's age loves a man now in his fifties? That is bizarre, Prefect Governor. What is such a pitiable love?"
"Yes, my good senator, Love. That sad, tragic affliction of Aphrodite or her son Eros. It happens to many of us, you know? It's unpredictable," the Governor confirmed. "Haven't you felt Aphrodite's call at some time in your life, Septicius Clarus, 'the stream of longing' with someone, somewhere, somehow?"
Clarus sat in resolute silence.
"Another interpretation even more controversial. It is our Caesar is in love with the lad," the Governor continued, "and Antinous was conscious of this reality and the necessary impending conclusion. This too offers an explanation, though I wouldn't promote it too loudly if I was you. And you might leave that comment out of your transcript, scribe."
The Governor smiled thinly at his guests.
"My assessment of Antinous was that he too had become aware of this conundrum and was drawn to seeking a resolution on behalf of his erastes, Hadrian," he continued. "Despite his widely-perceived role as merely a pretty face in a well-hung body, Antinous struck me as having greater depth. 'It's what you do in life which matters, not merely how you look', I heard him say onetime. That's not bad.
His search for a resolution to his erastes' dilemma was his ambitious, youthful, hero's quest. Perhaps he saw himself following in the footsteps of a Ulysses or Jason or Achilles, or even Alexander? But I doubt he found his resolutions before events overtook him, whatever they were."
"Is it possible, my lord Governor, you would have informer's reports of the young Bithynian's exploits outside his relationship with Caesar? Surely your contacts at Court have followed the lad's activities and made his alliances known to you?" Suetonius enquired.
"Believe it or not, gentlemen, I have multiple reports and colorful tidbits about everyone attending Caesar, including yourselves may I say, but nil regarding Antinous. The young man's faithfulness to Caesar seems exemplary. I cannot recall a single informer's report or piece of choice gossip pertaining to the man which suggests otherwise," Titianus replied. "Only my ward, the Lady Anna Perenna, seemed to find the fellow of some concern."
"Why so, Governor?"
"My companion possesses many unusual gifts, gentlemen," he responded. "She sees and knows things others cannot discern. Or so she tells me. As the high priestess of her cult at Alexandria she engages in all manner of arcane activities and provides esoteric advice to members of the Court."
"How so? In what way?"
"Well, I don't subscribe to some of her claims myself," the Governor explained, "my relationship with my lady is based on other needs, I assure you. Yet she provides charms and talismans to assist in the love lives of our courtiers; she prepares love-potions, philters, tinctures in oil, and occult tisanes. She creates figurines for daemonic invocation to dispel undesirable influences; she can calculate the power of words through the science of geometria; and she's expert in addressing women's matters of a private nature. At least so I'm told by her herself.
In her calling as the Grandmother of Time it's said she's skilled in interpreting the will of the gods through the divination of entrails in the Etruscan manner. She interprets dreams, and most arcane of all, she is said to engage through trance as a medium of clairvoyance. At least so I am told. My companion is a woman of unusual capacities, gentlemen. Naturally, she is also a lively bed companion."
"Prefect Governor, perhaps your good lady friend will share her clairvoyance skills in telling us what may have happened to the dead youth?" the biographer enquired sweetly.
The governor cast a steely look over the biographer.
"Don't be fast with me, Special Inspector. I don't necessarily support each of my companion's claims to mystagogy. But if you wish to explore her faculties for yourself, then you should approach her personally.
Anna Perenna is an independent woman who possesses her own wealth and is not subject to my will."
Titianus fell moodily, angrily silent. Clarus took the opportunity to enquire about the night of the boy's death.
"Lord Prefect Governor, you said you slept the night in question at Caesar's marquee after the banquet. Did you share company in this?" he asked in his usual unsubtle manner.
"My good Senator Septicius Clarus, don't you trust the Governor of Egypt? Several of those at the celebration were sufficiently persuaded after the banquet to remain at our couches, excess wine or not," Titianus regaled. "Mine was the wine plus an Iberian serving-lass named Sotira. Others made other choices."
"Who else remained accompanied in this manner, or departed accompanied?" Suetonius pressed the questioning further.
"Why, I wasn't especially observant of what others were up to, Tranquillus. But that up-and-coming Tribune Macedo seemed to have his hooks into a pert young girl, a local of Egyptian descent I think, while the former Master of the Hunt Salvius Julianus, who is now an important legal advisor to Caesar, was accompanied by his usual equerry friend."
"What of Caesar himself and the guest-of-honor Commodus?" Clarus explored.
"Caesar retired alone, as has been his usual habit since this tour began. Commodus and he do not share a bed these days, to the knowledge of my agents," the spymaster knower-of-all confided. "Commodus retired late about the same time as Caesar's friend Arrian. Put whatever spin you wish upon that, my friends. But I had my Sotira to amuse me, so I was comfortable where I was."
"And where was Antinous, do you suppose?" Suetonius asked.
"Perhaps he was down in his cups drowning his misfortunes, if you forgive the bad pun," the stocky Roman contributed. "The last I saw of him was some days earlier when he was consulting with my companion, Anna Perenna, on matters of advice for the lovelorn. At least that's what I assume they were discussing.
Perhaps my lady was invoking some potion or magician's effigy with special powers for him to attract Caesar's attentions again? You'll have to ask her yourself, my friends. She knew the lad far better than I. She can be found on this very vessel at the stern cabin.
Go knock at her door, gentlemen. I must now bid you farewell."