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NERO
By Pueros Chapter X – Exposures (Temple of Cybele, Rome, in September of the 5th year of the reign of the Emperor Claudius [AD 46]) ‘It is better not to live at all than to live disgraced.’ - Sophocles Axenius continued to pray for a thunderbolt to strike him from the face of the Earth as he was guided disgracefully naked down the front steps of the temple of Cybele towards the large busy square below. Some of Axenius’ worst fears about the length and torment of his current degrading journey, to the brothel that was to become both the young slave’s new home and place of work, also swiftly began to be proved correct. The 16 year-old eunuch’s new owner paused when he came across an acquaintance shortly after entering the crowded paved plaza. Axenius, beautiful face besmirched by a continuous blush of deep shame and damp eyes trying to restrain tears, had only been led a hundred paces across the square when the brothel-keeper espied and shouted at one of his former regular customers. It was a rich patron, who had once spent much time and money in his establishments. The chained young slave, bare body exposed to full view, was too disturbed to take much notice of the identity of the man the duo now approached. The 16 year-old’s mind was diverted instead by suffering acute distress at the various types of stares and loud commentary that the public display of his nude gelded body attracted from many passers-by. Axenius stood out from the throng of people traversing or standing to gossip or sell goods, sometimes themselves or others, in the square. This was not only because of his naked beauty or gelded genitalia but also because of his relatively tall blonde blue-eyed attributes. Most Romans are dark featured and, perhaps incongruously for such mighty conquerors, generally small in stature. Even I, who grew to be shorter than most of my own race, perhaps because of my castration, reached a height superior to that of most Latin males. The worst ribaldry Axenius suffered came from some boys who were belatedly on their way home from school and who had decided to follow the naked young eunuch for a little fun. Amongst their number were 11 year-old Silius Italicus and 7 year-old Marcus Annaeus Lucanus, as well as 14 year-old Marcus Salvius Otho. The latter was the only one of the annoying bunch who hid an erection under his clothing at the sight of the delectable 16 year-old nude. (Eastern Britannia, same time) ‘Children are the anchors that hold a mother to life.’ - Sophocles Beautiful red-haired 20 year-old Boudicca, wife of the much older King Prasutagus of the Iceni, was about to give birth to another child. Her first, a pretty 2 year-old daughter, was being cared for elsewhere whilst her mother was enduring the end of her second confinement. King Prasutagus was obviously hoping this time for a son and heir but had decided to try to display as little disappointment as possible if the baby was another girl. After all, his Queen was still very young and should be capable of having many more children. The Iceni royal village was located north of the main local Roman military encampment, which was quickly becoming the Romanized city of Camulodunum. The latter rapidly growing community was actually located in the lands of the neighbouring Catuvellauni tribe, a people I knew well. Rome’s usual practice in newly acquired territory was to seek reconciliation, promoting the idea that both sides could benefit in some way from the arrangement, which would also avoid unnecessary costly fighting. The main reason for this was that the Romans, despite their military might, could never hope to control so vast an Empire without co-operation from the rulers of the areas conquered. Such peaceful subjugation allowed the Romans to concentrate military resources on territories where trouble was likely or where the next conquest was to be targeted. The lands of allied kings, or ‘reges socii’, were nevertheless considered to be part of the Empire, with the client princes continuing to rule only under the overall supervision of the conquerors, to whom taxes and other tributes were payable. However, the arrangement allowed for continuity and the maintenance of honour on both sides. King Prasutagus had been one of the first chieftains of Britannia, still almost forty years away from being confirmed by the Romans to be an island, to make peaceful accommodation with the invaders, not that this would ultimately do his family or his tribe much good. (The square in front of the temple of Cybele, Rome, same time) ‘It is no great wonder if, in long process of time, while fortune takes her course hither and thither, numerous coincidences should spontaneously occur. If the number and variety of subjects to be wrought upon be infinite, it is all the more easy for fortune, with such an abundance of material, to effect this similarity of results.’ - Plutarch “Greetings, Palaemon,” Axenius’ new owner declared, in an ingratiatingly friendly manner to the former valued high-spending customer whom he would very much like to attract back to his brothels, “I haven’t seen you in a long time. I’ve heard that you don’t need my establishments anymore because you’re continuously being invited out to dinner by the very rich and famous!” Palaemon did not particularly want a reunion with a reminder of his even more disreputable past, particularly in such a publicly exposed location. However, his original intent, to respond politely before scurrying away to the domus where he had been invited to dinner, was discouraged by sudden sight of the delectable young naked slave being led by the obsequious brothel-keeper. This delightful vision not only caused a strong penile reaction but also encouraged him to engage the owner in conversation. “Who’s this,” asked Palaemon whilst eyeing the nude Axenius more closely, “another recruit for one of your houses of ill-repute?” The brothel-keeper recognized immediately his former patron’s clear interest in his latest acquisition and did not want to lose the opportunity of attracting the man back as a customer. “Yours for nothing,” the young slave’s new owner announced, “if you care to visit the ‘House of Cybele’!” He was not, of course, referring to the temple from which the 16 year-old had just been taken but to the bawdy establishment to which the new youthful prostitute was destined. (Eastern Britannia, same time) ‘Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori.’ (‘It is a sweet and seemly thing to die for one’s country’) - Horace (‘Odes’, III.ii.13) Caratacus and the pitiful remnants of his army were in a desperate plight. They were highly exposed to enemy attack, being forced to flee across an open plain to reach their objective, and knew that the pursuing Romans, superior in both numbers and proficiency in battle, were not far behind. Roman expertise at making war and therefore achieving conquest, not only here in Britannia but also over much of the known world, was due to several reasons, both tactical and logistical. The former consisted of sound battlefield practices, such as the formations and manoeuvres adopted, backed up by generally excellent professional commanders and stringent discipline, as well as the armour and weaponry utilized. The willingness of legionnaires to obey orders unquestioningly, and fight to the death if necessary, was encouraged by the fact that the alternatives could be very nasty. Punishments for disobedience or incompetence could be very severe, with floggings common, and cowardice was often rewarded by death. If such weakness was displayed by a group of men, it could be subject to decimation, whereby one tenth of their number were selected by lot to be beaten to death by the others. The short stabbing sword used by the legionnaires was also a key factor in Roman tactical dominance. Whilst many of their opponents flailed spectacularly but nevertheless wildly with their longer weapons in efforts to kill the enemy with heroic blows, their aim would be terminated prematurely by a thrust of the smaller, more discreet, but still highly effective and deadly Latin blade into their own guts. The key position in the Roman army was the full-time professional centurion, incongruously normally in charge of eighty not the one hundred legionnaires his title might suggest. He was usually someone promoted from the ranks by virtue of proven bravery in battle and an aptitude to control men in one way or another, with brutality breeding fear considered to be as good a qualification as any for the job. It was therefore not unknown for such an officer to be murdered by his own soldiers. Nevertheless, wars were actually not that frequent and most soldiers simply performed not particularly onerous garrison duties around Rome’s vast Empire. Existence for the men was usually much more comfortable, and more regularly and better paid, than if they had been poor city or countryside dwellers. They could also expect generous financial or land settlements when they completed their 25 years’ service. Their quality of life was additionally assisted by the fact that, under the Emperors, they were allowed to marry. Along with the aforementioned peaceful diplomatic subjugation of many of those conquered, it was Rome’s logistical ability to input vast numbers of men into a war quickly that enabled the city to win and retain its Empire. It was the only state that could lose tens of thousands of soldiers in a day, as it did against Hannibal’s Carthaginian armies, and still pump even larger volumes of fully trained soldiers into the conflict by the next morning, with the help of the marvellous roads they had constructed. The ability to recruit and maintain many legions was assisted by two key factors. First was the existence of slaves in huge numbers, which freed manpower for the armies. Second was the practice of absorbing conquered peoples into the Empire in such a way that they were subsequently happy to try to defend it by providing auxiliary forces. The temptations for them to do so included benefiting from the extension of the superior Roman way of life, plus the prospect of citizenship for foreign mercenaries completing military service. The award of this grant was denoted by the issue of two thin inscribed bronze plaques, bound together and known as a 'diploma', literally ‘a doubling’. As Caratacus and his men fled their pursuers, they thought little about why the Romans had proven far superior to themselves in battle. They were instead more intent on securing their escape to carry on elsewhere their resistance against the invaders of their homeland , with their leader praying to his gods that the cover of darkness would descend soon to save them. (The square in front of the temple of Cybele, Rome, same time) ‘There is in the worst of fortune the best of chances for a happy change.’ - Euripides Palaemon had been considering the purchase of a new personal slave for a long time, because he had decided that his current servant, who was presently accompanying him, deserved his freedom for loyal, devoted and proficient service. However, he knew that he had to follow the maxim he had recently preached to his latest pupil and obtain a replacement whose life he would better. The teacher therefore enquired as to Axenius’ circumstances, and the brothel-keeper was happy to answer truthfully, thinking that he would secure the return of an old client in return. In the event, the return obtained by the man was his quickest-ever large profit. Palaemon had appreciated the distress clearly displayed on Axenius’ beautiful face, which he recognized from somewhere, and, having discovered the youth’s background, instantly decided to purchase, partly encouraged, it has to be said, by his maintained hidden erection and realization as to where he had seen the lovely visage previously. The teacher would normally have haggled over the price but, with the 16 year-old obviously suffering from his public exposure and the associated insulting comments and gestures from those around, he instead considerately just offered a sum he knew the current owner could not refuse. Axenius had been too humiliated and distracted by his surroundings, especially the nearby schoolboys who were hurling both verbal abuse and little stones at him, to pay much regard to his new owner’s conversation with the silvery-haired acquaintance. However, he began to pay attention when the brothel-keeper started to free him from his demeaning chains. Meanwhile, Palaemon’s servant produced a knife that he kept in case his master needed protection. The amazed Axenius wondered what was happening as he was freed and some of the extraneous material on the silvery-haired man’s substantial toga began to be separated from the rest of the garment by his servant’s sharp blade. However, the young eunuch was soon to discover the reason for the ruination of Palaemon’s attire when he was told to use his suddenly freed hands to cover his shame and then follow another new owner. The 16 year-old now finally recognized who this was from gaining a better view of the man he had served, in all senses of the phrase, when he had been one of Caius Silius’ slaves. Meanwhile, the rapid change in circumstances for the young nude encouraged a certain group of schoolboys to skulk away from the scene in disappointment at the premature end to their fun.
Axenius was happy that his loins were now covered but remained anxious about his destiny. He worried that he might just be swapping one type of sexual service for another. That night and very unusually, Palaemon sent his normal slave to the domus of his proposed dinner host on his own. There, the soon-to-be freedman expressed his master’s regrets that he would be unable to accept the invitation to dine. The teacher instead had undisclosed professional work to perform.
(The villa of Caius Silius, later) ‘After their first experience of daylight, children have all their limbs swaddled, a severer bondage than that of any domestic animal….there he lies crying with his hands and feet bound, the creature who is going to govern the rest.” - Pliny the Elder Crispina’s labour was long and painful but, under the supervision of both a doctor and midwife, a little baby girl was born, a little on the light side but otherwise perfect in form. However, the child’s father, on his eventual exhausted nighttime return from the Imperial palace, was unhappy with both his young wife and new offspring. Caius Silius wanted a son and heir, not another daughter to add to the pair he already possessed. To him, female children were an expensive inconvenience, useful only for cementing familial alliances on marriage. However, this was not now the reason why he declined to acknowledge his latest offspring. Messalina had outlined an interesting plan not only to secure her own future but also to advance Caius Silius to the summit of power. It might take a year or two for the groundwork to be laid to enable the manoeuvre to be carried out in confidence but my ambitious master liked the Empress’ proposal. However, for him to be a key part of the plot, his 15 year-old wife needed to be removed from the scene. Caius Silius returned from the Imperial palace wanting a divorce, not necessarily immediately but as soon as decorum permitted. However, the arrival of a new child was an embarrassing complication because he would seem to be a cad if he terminated a marriage to a new mother. It was very important for him to be considered an upstanding example of Roman nobility if he was to achieve his personal aims. The first victim of my master’s conspiracy with Messalina was therefore his own baby daughter. It was probable that if the child had been a much-wanted son, Caius Silius would have demurred from the action he now pursued. However, he had little conscience about the course he took with a daughter. In Roman society, the father, or ‘paterfamilias’, has enormous power, or ‘pater potestas’, over the rest of the family. In divorce, the man always retains legal custody of the children. He also has the inalienable right until death to arrange marriages for his offspring and to punish them as he sees fit, including extremes such as whipping, imprisonment, sale into slavery and execution. He additionally has control over who is accepted into his family in the first place. When a baby is born, it is customary for the father to lift him or her up into the air in his arms to acknowledge that he has taken responsibility for the child. However, much to Crispina’s consternation, Caius Silius did not perform this ritual when he eventually visited her in the marital bedchamber, where she had given birth and now held the new arrival lovingly in her arms. Instead, my master looked at his latest daughter, already tightly swaddled, and frowned. “She is both grotesquely ugly and sickly,” Cauis Silius lied, using the common wrinkles present on a newborn baby’s face and the fact that the child was under normal weight as evidence of his assertion. “I shall not recognize her,” he continued to his young wife’s ever-mounting horror, “as it would be kinder for her not to live!” My master then left the bedchamber without further comment, totally ignoring Crispina’s frantic screamed entreaties. The tearful girl’s shrieks became even louder and more desperate when the major domo arrived shortly afterwards to extract the baby forcibly from her mother’s arms. Crispina, weak after giving birth, was no match for the man’s determined strength and he was soon exiting the room with the child in his possession, leaving his mistress behind, babbling loudly in incoherent distress. The major domo, accustomed to carrying out many appallingly cruel commissions on behalf of Caius Silius, then went about his business without conscience. As he sat next to the slave driving one of their master’s horse-drawn wagons, he began to remove the baby’s swaddling. By the time the two men reached their destination, a lonely country hillside just outside the huge conurbation that was Rome, the newborn was naked and her crying had diminished in line with the increase in the blueness of her complexion on this cool autumnal night. The hillside was nicely quiet and woody, an ideal location for the terrible act the major domo was about to perpetrate. In fact, the locale was so perfect for the purpose that many others had used the scene for the same reasons for centuries. As the major domo lay the naked baby girl in a small moonlit clearing halfway up the hill and turned to retrace his steps towards the wagon and the rich urban villa of the child’s father, he appreciated that his master’s latest offspring would not have much longer to live. She would now quickly succumb to exposure to the chilly elements, if not a hungry wolf on the prowl. It is very common for Rome’s poor to dispose in this awful manner of unwanted newborns, especially females or sickly males, often to avoid the financial burden of another mouth to feed. I recall hearing about a letter from a man named Hilarion to his wife, Alis. It read “If you have the baby before I return, if it is a boy, let it live; if it is a girl, expose it.” It would of course be considered dreadful for such a rich man as Caius Silius to dispose of a baby in this way for any excuse other than an ill or deformed child’s ultimate welfare. As a consequence, it was later publicly disclosed that his daughter’s sad exposure had indeed been for the latter reason, my master receiving much sympathy in return from people who had no cause to disbelieve the sorrowful news. He subsequently smiled at the thought that his latest offspring’s demise had not only removed a potential encumbrance to his lofty ambitions but also, through universal compassion for the tragedy, actually increased his standing. Many women die in childbirth and, in the immediate aftermath of what had just happened, Crispina wished that she could too. However, that fate did not befall her. She would live instead to gain a terrible revenge that would have a major impact on all in Caius Silius’ household, not least myself. (Eastern Britannia, same time) ‘The Britons themselves submit to the levy, the tribute and the other charges of Empire with cheerful readiness provided there is no abuse. That they bitterly resent, for they are broken in to obedience, not to slavery.’ - Tacitus Boudicca had also produced a daughter, her second. However, she would not later be seeking vengeance on her husband for rejection of their latest offspring, for King Prasutagus exhibited genuine delight in the birth, despite his disappointment that he still had no son. The Queen would instead extract later terrible retribution on many thousands of Romans for what some of them subsequently did both to her daughters and herself. (Domus of Aulus Vitellius, Rome, same time) ‘The good or ill of a man lies within his own will.’ - Epictetus Aulus Vitellius had been surprised but unconcerned to learn of Palaemon’s late withdrawal from his dinner party. The very obnoxious and obsequious lecher was too intent on enjoying the orgy he had organized to be bothered. It was being held for equally licentious cronies in celebration of his recent betrothal to Junia Calvina, great great granddaughter of the Emperor Augustus and brother of Lucius Junius Silanus, himself earmarked for wedlock to 7 year-old Octavia, offspring of the latest Princeps. The prospects of Aulus Vitellius for the future, already good because of his, and his father’s, fawning attention to Claudius, were therefore improving even more by such enhanced familial alliances. However, no one could suspect at the time that the current host’s fortunes would actually be boosted further by an act of infamous betrayal that would expose his prospective wife and brother-in-law not only to accusations of appalling behaviour but also to the wrath of the Emperor. (Domus of Palaemon, Rome, same time) ‘Appearances are often deceiving.’ - Aesop (‘The Wolf in Sheep's Clothing’) Axenius’ concerns about his new master’s carnal desire for him proved correct. However, in keeping with his philosophy, Palaemon would only invite his new blonde blue-eyed 16 year-old slave to his bed when he was sure the young eunuch truly wanted to be there. Palaemon’s undisclosed professional work turned out to be introducing, with great patience, understanding and respect, his latest junior slave to the not unpleasant or particularly taxing role he was to perform. In return, Axenius slowly began to love the man. (Port of Alexandria, Roman Imperial Province of Aegyptia) ‘Ex Africa semper aliquid novi.’ (‘There is always something new out of Africa.’) - Pliny the Elder (‘Natural History’, VIII.17) Dawn was beginning to reach one of Rome’s newest provinces, one that was too important for a patrician, and therefore potential rival for the purple, to be granted the governorship, which was accordingly granted only to equestrians. Not far from where Alexander the Great rested, in his splendid transparent sarcophagus, in the capital of the breadbasket of the Empire, ships were being loaded in the harbour, close to the huge lighthouse known as the ‘Pharos’. Most of the ships were filled with wheat, destined to feed voracious hungry Roman mouths. However, on this particular early morning, the hold of one vessel was being filled with human cargo, which had already traveled very long distances to reach this point, including almost the full length of the river Nile. In fact, the black youths and boys had come from lands beyond the north African deserts and were now destined for slavery in the capital of the known supposedly civilized world, although some actually came from very sophisticated and much more benevolent kingdoms. One of their number was a handsome youth who was the same age as Axenius, which perhaps was appropriate because, although no one knew it yet, not least himself, he was destined to be the young Germanian’s replacement in the ‘House of Cybele’. Unfortunately for the black boy, currently genitally whole and despite his totally contrasting features compared to his fellow 16 year-old, the establishment to which I am referring is the brothel not the temple. There, the owner now thought that it might attract custom to have a feminized male prostitute who had no visible genitalia whatsoever. (Eastern Britannia, same time) ‘This is what extremely grieves us, that a man who never fought Should contrive our fees to pilfer, on who for his native land Never to this day had oar, or lance, or blister in his hand.’ - Aristophanes (‘Wasps’) Meanwhile, at diametrically the opposite side of the Empire, the gods had answered Caratacus’ prayers. Darkness had fallen before the chasing Romans could overtake the fleeing Britannians, who represented some of those who had declined to accept the invaders’ conquest of their lands. The men and their leader were therefore no longer exposed to enemy retribution and had safely reached the dense forests that would now protect them better than any other type of shield. They intended to use the thick cover of the multitudinous trees to escape towards the west, where they proposed to regroup and hopefully ally with the as yet unconquered distant mountain tribes, such as the Silures. One of the ironies of the Roman invasion of Britannia was that it served no true purpose other than to cement Claudius’ claim to the purple. The island actually posed no danger to the Empire, just a challenge. The natives not only presented no threat but also maintained reasonably friendly and lucrative trading relationships with the Romans. However, Claudius had assumed the Principate with just the support of the Praetorians. Unlike his Imperial predecessors, Augustus and Tiberius, he had acquired no military glory, having been firmly kept out of army affairs. Even Gaius Caligula had originally been beloved by the legions, if only for his boyhood antics amongst them, when he earned his agnomen, which literally means ‘Little Boots’. The provincial legions, having no better immediate choice for the purple, watched and waited to see how Claudius performed in his unexpected new role. The new Emperor was therefore eager to prove himself worthy of being their commander-in-chief in order to consolidate his position by emulating his late brother, Germanicus, who was considered to have been a great military hero. The keenness of the new wearer of the purple was fortified by the shock of the early treacherous conspiracies of his Principate. Many in the upper classes were hostile to Claudius’ accession, believing one of their number would be a better Emperor than such a buffoon. Meanwhile, the plebeians of Rome were apathetic about who was Princeps, as long as ‘bread and circuses’ continued to be provided. However, it would not take much to incur their potentially fatal wrath, which the new incumbent knew would be less likely if they feared the holder of the purple for his military prowess. Claudius chose Britannia opportunistically as the scene for his demonstration of military capability. Verica, the king of a southern tribe particularly deferential to the Romans, had been forced to flee the island by others more independent-minded, not least Caratacus. The displaced prince urged the Emperor to intervene, thereby providing the Princeps with an excellent pretence for his invasion. In the event, despite his claims to be the true architect of subsequent victory, Claudius only spent sixteen days in Britannia, and that time well after the army leaders had secured the southeast of the island. However, he arrived in style to impress the locals, his procession including a few elephants, and took the precaution of taking with him most of the senators who might be rivals for the purple so that they could ferment no trouble back in Rome whilst he was away. The Emperor later returned to his capital, to claim his triumph, as if he had been personally responsible for the successful military operations. Nevertheless, the ploy, in terms of his own position, worked as far as the army was concerned, for the military establishment remained quiescent for the remainder of his reign. I was therefore deprived of my family, homeland, liberty and balls because of Claudius’ need to consolidate his claim to the purple, and many others suffered far worse, including the not inconsequential number of Romans who died in the conquest of Britannia. Nevertheless, despite subsequently appreciating these facts, I could not help but like the Emperor, despite his imperfections, once I came to know him much better. His rescue of me from a potentially awful fate at Caius Silius’ recent banquet was not the only reason for this attitude, as my saga will later reveal. After originally losing pitch battles against the invaders, including those in which my father and brother had been killed, Caratacus had adopted guerilla tactics against the enemy. However, although these at first proved partially effective, the loss of support of other tribes, such as the neighbouring Iceni, who had made peace, had made the position of the remaining Catuvellauni fighters in their ancestral lands untenable. This was exacerbated by the fact that any tribal non-combatants who were captured were enslaved and sent to Rome as punishment for the continued resistance, which had already lasted over three years. I and my sadly now dead mother and sister were examples of the conquerors’ desire to crush the annoying people. You see, reader, I was aware of Caratacus of the Catuvellauni, although I had never seen him, because I owed him allegiance. He was, after all, my king, the son of the great Cunobelinus, his late father being known to some as Cymbeline.
I did not know it at the time but my loyalty to my king would eventually be challenged to the full, despite me currently being far away in Rome and ignorant of the fate in Britannia of both him and the remnants of my once-great tribe. It was a test that I accepted despite the fact that it exposed my life to mortal danger. (To be continued in chapter XI – ‘Coercions’)
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