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the stone benches when the hangings were swept aside. Into the tablinium stepped a tall, slim noble slightly older than Serenus. He wore a simple woolen robe. His nose was sharp, his eyes intelligent, his cheeks lean, his mouth determined. Outside in the atrium I glimpsed a pretty, silver-haired matron wearing a stola as simple in cut and hue as the man s garment. The new arrival gestured to the woman. His voice had the rich qualities of a schooled orator s. Before we talk privately, Serenus, my wife Paulina wishes to inquire after your health. Tell Paulina greetings and also that I ll live, Serenus answered wryly. The tall man turned toward the hangings. His wife, having heard, smiled and glided away. The hangings dropped. Serenus added, It isn t this gash that frets me. It s the circumstance which produced it. Our young charge grows more reckless every day. He oh, permit me to present this stranger. I don t even know his name, but he helped me through the streets. My name is Cassius, sirs, I said. To the tall man I added, Ave! Ave, he replied, smiling at the greeting of the streets. With a clap he dismissed the slaves, who had finished binding Serenus wound. He settled down to a bench opposite his friend. He poured sweet wine into silver goblets, like a servant rather than a master. He even handed me one. His eyes were tolerant and amused. Take it, good Cassius. You ve earned it. In case you haven t guessed, Serenus said to me, this is the celebrated L. Annaeus Seneca. The celebrated failure, Seneca replied somberly. In matters of Imperial counsel anyway. Cassius, whatever you hear in this chamber shall go no further. Don t worry, Serenus put in. He won t go running to Nero. He hit him in the face. Seneca sighed. The gods preserve us. On what pretext? I didn t know who he was, I said lamely. But he was abusing an old man. Would you have struck had you known his identity? asked Seneca. I thought it over, remembering Acte. I believe so. The famous philosopher nodded. Such courage is admirable, though misguided. The Emperor is a dangerous foe. He is circuitous in his hatred. However, Rome could do with a trifle more courage of the kind you displayed. Especially in the Senate. I tell you, Serenus blurted hotly, the Emperor s cruelties will ruin us all! Already the rumors of his antics are the talk of Rome. What if he accidentally murders some poor wretch and we can t hush it up? Slowly Seneca stroked his chin with a bony finger. Worse, Serenus, what if he kills us? Then there would be none to check his excesses. Only yesterday, on the Palatine, Nero was ranting about wanting the status and veneration of a god. When I suggested that deification was reserved for rulers already departed, he took it as a threat, not a comment, the way I intended. He shrieked at me like a spoiled brat. Frankly, I often wish Claudius had been a little firmer in his dislike of the Stoic philosophy. Had he been, I might never have been recalled from exile to tutor Nero, and today I d be living the kind of life I enjoy, not mixing my hands in politics, at best a dirty business. Well, tell me. What happened, and where? Serenus hitched himself nearer the wine. He poured another generous draught, downed it and said, Sulla s. One more drink and a healthier color returned to his cheeks. We have gone there five nights in a row. The Emperor is so enamored of that little whore, I have no choice but to fawn over her and play her lover to divert public suspicion from him. Otherwise his mother Agrippina and his wife Octavia would be stirring up more trouble than they are already. What a fine role for a man my age! Forced to giggle and joke over a prostitute! Although, he added, his features gentling, other things aside, she s pretty enough, and Page 23 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html has a pleasant temper. From a tray Seneca broke sections of a loaf of bread and ate two. Then he extended the tray to me. I took a piece, knowing again the miracle of being rich. For this was not the cheap, coarsepanis sordidus of the streets, but the sweet and yeasty siligineus, which I had never tasted. Perhaps you wonder, Cassisus, the philosopher said, why we speak so frankly about the Emperor. It s not my position to say. I can only guess it s because you sympathize with his weaknesses. Seneca laughed. And it s clear from your tone you don t. Neither do we. Personally, I would much prefer to live the retired life I mentioned, writing plays and tending to my foreign estates, than capering on the Palatine. By my lights, life is a bad lot at best. It s made bearable only by study and contemplation in solitude. On the other hand, Serenus and I both feel someone must attempt to curb the Emperor s peculiar tastes and temper. We and his other chief adviser, the Prefect of the Praetorian Guard, Sextus Afranius Burrus, deplore his unbridled emotions, his egotism. But we bow and scrape to him because we re fully aware of what the people s lot would be if Nero ruled unchecked. So don t think too harshly of Serenus for the company he keeps. We are, so to speak, watchdogs over a very rowdy and savage animal. How long we ll be allowed to remain watchdogs, no one can say. Inwardly I felt contempt for the selflessness of these two men. How was it possible to make one s way in Rome while worrying about the welfare of the masses? I said nothing, however. Serenus grumbled, Personally, I don t intend to remain the butt of jokes in the Forum much longer. Nor serve as a screen for that mad boy s passion for Acte. Acte! I blurted the word, my palms suddenly cold. Seneca scrutinized me. Yes. The young prostitute we mentioned. Do you know her? She s the one I went to Sulla s to visit. Foolishly, it turned out. Thus far you ve said precious little about yourself, Cassius, Serenus broke in. Are you a freedman? I was. I decided to risk the truth. I am auctorati, from the Bestiarii School. When this had penetrated, Serenus complained, Oh, splendid. We have a fugitive on our hands. How did this happen? the philosopher asked. Because of Acte, you ran away from the school? Only for one night. I meant to return. Now it s too late. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ] |