Let in the rest, Maximinus said.
Timesitheus followed Priscillianus to the opposite side from the sixteen Senators. This was too near Domitius for his liking. Timesitheus could feel the eyes of the Prefect of the Camp on him.
The others entered. Most, especially the Senators, tried not to push and shove, tried to preserve their dignitas. It was not easy. Too many men were trying to get in at once. Senators and equestrians, those holding commands and magistracies and those without, jumbled together. All wanted to get to the front, catch the eye of the new Emperor.
It had to be deliberate. Sanctus had been ab Admissionibus for years. Not a bad ploy, Timesitheus thought. Let them in at once, and have them demonstrate their own inferiority by scrabbling to get near you. Much more likely the hand of Flavius Vopiscus was at work than that of his putative ruler.
Sabinus Modestus struggled through the throng, grinning in a slack-jawed way. Timesitheus thought that, while his cousin might not be over-intelligent, at least he was good with his elbows and commendably loyal. Although, on second thoughts, it might be that Modestus had failed to realize the precarious nature of Timesitheus position.
Maximinus had sat serene apart from the scrum. Now, he got to his feet. His vast, powerful bulk dominated the space. There was a scabbard in his hand. With a practised, fluid motion, he drew his blade. While one or two of the other eminent Senators flinched a little, the bovine Claudius Venacus almost stumbled backwards.
Reversing the weapon, Maximinus held the hilt to Anullinus. As my Praetorian Prefect, take this sword. If I reign well, use it on my behalf. If I reign badly, turn it against me.
Anullinus took it, and the council applauded.
That either was brave or very foolish, Timesitheus thought. Had Maximinus not considered the fate of Alexander? Timesitheus was certain he would be in no such hurry to entrust his own survival to a judgement of his virtues carried out without advice by an ignorant, treacherous murderer like Anullinus.
Maximinus sat down, and indicated for Flavius Vopiscus to speak.
Timesitheus arranged his face. No trace of amusement, as he watched Vopiscus hand come up without volition and, through the folds of his toga, finger the amulet hidden at his breast.
A dispatch has arrived from Rome. The voice of Vopiscus was melodious, trained. The Conscript Fathers have passed a decree awarding Gaius Iulius Verus Maximinus all the powers held by previous Emperors. Their joy was unconfined. Their acclamations lasted for three and a half hours.
More applause.
Was it a bulla? Did Vopiscus still wear the little model of a phallus designed to keep him safe as a child? Or was it something else an Egyptian scarab, a piece of amber, a sculpted vulva?
Rome is secure and quiet. The incumbent Consuls Ordinarius have been told that their tenure will not be shortened. Of course, the virtues of certain men demand reward. Space must be found among the Suffect Consuls for Caius Catius Clemens, Marcus Clodius Pupienus Maximus and Lucius Flavius Honoratus, most likely others. But Honoratus himself has assured those already designated that their time in office will be little curtailed, and future preferment will be shown them.
Vopiscus hand still toyed with the hidden object. The Emperor Augustus had worn a seal-skin amulet. This could be something altogether different: a fingernail or some small, desiccated body part of a drowned man.
Our most gentle and unassuming Emperor Maximinus has no desire to deprive other men of their honours. In his magnanimity and modesty, he has decided not to hold a Consulship until next year. Then he will enter into office on the kalends of January with Marcus Pupienus Africanus as his colleague.
Maximinus himself interrupted. I do not want to forget the sons of the commanders of my youth here in the North. The following year, Lucius Marius Perpetuus will be one of the Consuls Ordinarius. And Pontius Proculus Pontianus the year after that.
Now that was ill-advised, Timesitheus thought. Although, these days, the role was almost entirely ceremonial, to be Consul, especially to be one of the two after which the year was named, was still the life ambition of many Senators. The nobiles regarded the office as a birthright, and others wanted to join them. To begin to allocate the position years in advance was sure to alienate a large number in the Curia.
Your piety does you credit, Caesar.
Was there something else in Vopiscus tone, something implying that the words of Maximinus said less commendable things about other aspects of the new Emperors character? Vopiscus was not to be under-rated. There was an asperity beneath the daemon-ridden exterior of the Senator.
Since the death of Ulpian, no one can claim greater eminence in the field of law than his pupil Herennius Modestinus. The greatest jurist of his generation must stand by the Emperor advising him as his a Libellis. The new Secretary for Petitions is on his way north. His previous post as Prefect of the Watch has been granted to Quintus Potens.
Like the tumblers and levers of a well-made lock, the pieces shifted together in Timesitheus mind. It had been neatly done. A Consulship for each of his sons, the younger as colleague of the new Emperor next year, had bought Pupienus, the Prefect of the City, and with him had come the six thousand men of the Urban Cohorts. The offer of the most important legal post in the empire had eased Herennius Modestinus out of Rome. His command of the seven thousand vigiles had been given to a man well linked to the new regime. Potens had been Prefect of the Parthian cavalry here with the field army. His brother-in-law was Decius, the governor of Hispania Tarraconensis. Decius was from a family which, time out of mind, had held wide estates across the Danubian lands. These stretched into Maximinus native Thrace, and Decius himself had been an early patron of the Thracian troopers career. With the vast majority of the Praetorians here on the Rhine, all the soldiers that mattered in the eternal city were in the hands of Maximinus men. Vopiscus might be riddled with superstition, but he and the urbane Honoratus had seized control of Rome with admirable skill.
Here in the North, we face a terrible war, Vopiscus continued. Everything must be done to ensure victory.
This was the moment. Timesitheus smelt the fetid breath of the rodent, felt its wet muzzle seeking his throat.
The governors of Moesia Superior and Pannonia Inferior, Titus Quartinus and Autronius Justus, have served dutifully. It is time they had a certain relaxation from their arduous labours. They have been summoned here to join the imperial court.
Timesitheus forced himself to breathe normally. Quartinus was tall, scholarly, ineffectual. The cultured Senator might have escaped lightly.
Their former provinces will be governed by Tacitus and Faltonius Nicomachus.
So that was where the two had gone. Advancement, not condemnation; the wheel was turning up for them. Tacitus, of course, was another northerner.
Quintus Valerius will be the acting governor of Raetia, and Ammonius of Noricum.
Two equestrians, one the commander of the Cataphract heavy cavalry, the other of an irregular unit of Britons. Both promoted above all expectation or likelihood. That answered the question of who the other two armed men in Alexanders tent had been. Gods below, what would come next? Timesitheus had to keep a brave face, keep his wits about him.
Our Emperor is minded to make no other changes for now among the governors of the North.
Hollow with relief Zeus Protector, he still had his offices Timesitheus was not going to let it show.
Commanders will be assigned to vacant units at the next meeting of the council.
The Armenian and Parthian mounted bowmen, the British infantry and the Cataphract horsemen; cousin Modestus might not make too bad a mess as Prefect of one of them. Timesitheus began wondering how he might bring it about. He had always recovered fast.
Vopiscus waved for a Senator with his hand up to speak.
While we fight on the Rhine, the province of Dacia holds the key to the Danube.
The intervention came from one of the standing council, but was unexpected. Smooth and oiled, Vulcatius Terentianus had made a career out of quietism. He had never been known to strike out against the current, never to utter his real opinions, certainly never to stake anything on the truth. Who had put him up to this?
With the armies of the provinces of the Pannonias and the Moesias stripped to provide detachments to the field army, Dacia becomes the bulwark which must hold the barbarians north of the river. The Sarmatians and the Goths will press hard. Other tribes will join them. It will demand much of the man who opposes them. Julius Licinianus is a man of proven ability and loyalty. But he was Consul many years ago. Dacia needs a younger man at the helm.
Vulcatius eyes flicked to Domitius. The Prefect of the Camp already had his hand up for permission to speak. It was given.
The wisdom of years of debating imperial counsel and of profound learning from the records of history inform the words of the noble Consular Vulcatius Terentianus. If I may endorse his proposal from my much lower but practical perspective.
Gods below, Domitius was an oily, repulsive little reptile. As if anyone could mistake the precious verbosity of this jumped-up member of the vile hoi polloi for the words of a man of culture.
And if you allow me the further temerity to proffer the names of two men: Licinius Valerian and Saturninus Fidus. Both combine long military experience with civil governance, the decisiveness of youth with the prudence of maturity.
And both are close with the Gordiani, father and son, who are governing Africa. Timesitheus wondered where the initiative lay; with the senatorial family, or this equestrians desire to ingratiate? This had to be stopped before it gathered momentum. Hand up, Timesitheus was stepping forward before he knew what he was going to say.
Vopiscus was pointing at him. They were all looking at him. The great, white face and great, grey eyes of the Emperor Maximinus were turned on him.