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course,” Calvinus replied, standing and picking up Cassius’ sword.
“At least you’re not some quibbling fool who doesn’t know how to handle a weapon properly,” Cassius noted. He then leaned forward and bravely stuck his neck out for Calvinus, who nodded in reply.
“Gods be with you, Cassius Chaerea.”
The emperor had ordered that those executed for Caesonia’s murder should be decapitated rather than simply have their arteries cut. Cassius kept his blade sharp, and with his eyes wet with tears, Calvinus swung the weapon down in a hard blow that severed his friend’s spinal column, killing him instantly. It only took one subsequent slash to sever his head completely from his body. Calvinus dropped the gladius next to Cassius’ thrashing body . He then found his friend’s coin pouch and retrieved the single gold aureus. It bore the image of Augustus, and Calvinus wondered if Cassius had carried it with him since Teutoburger Wald. He took Cassius’ head and laid it on his chest, placed the coin in his mouth before leaving. He quickly left the cell, battling against his despair as guards entered the room to retrieve the corpse for disposal. Thus did the life of Cassius Chaerea, one time hero of the Roman Empire, end in contradiction of the slaying of a tyrant, tarnished by the murder of innocents.
Chapter IV : Vow of Honor
Ostia, Italia
April , 41 A.D.
***
Artorius returned to Ostia following the arrest of Cassius Chaerea. He had only been called to remain in Rome in case the city police, known as the vigiles, proved unable to maintain order and he would have to call in his own men. It had proven unnecessary, and with the senate quickly, though in some cases reluctantly, confirming Claudius as the new Emperor of the Roman Empire, order was quickly restored. The execution of Cassius Chaerea and the praetorians who had also murdered Caesonia and her daughter quickly quelled any public outcry for justice. Thankfully, the people also had a genuine affection for Claudius; a man who many felt had been neglected and never given his due by the rest of the imperial family throughout his long life.
Within his first three months in power, Claudius made good on his promise to work in cooperation with the senate, among which he still had a number of longtime friends. By necessity, he paid a bounty to the members of the Praetorian Guard, as well as an equal sum to every soldier within the legions. A substantial portion of this had come from his personal funds. Though some viewed it as the emperor attempting to buy the loyalty of the army, it was an understandable donative that ensured the legions would, in the very least, give ‘the brother of Germanicus’, as he was sometimes known, the respect his position warranted.
“As long as nothing untoward happens to him, I think Rome is at last in good hands,” Cursor noted as he and Artorius rode their horses along the road that split off from the Via Apia and led towards the docks in Ostia. The plebian tribune was taking a much-deserved holiday though , of all places, he chose the Isle of Capri, where the Emperor Tiberius had lived in self-imposed seclusion for years. His wife, Adela, was already there, awaiting his arrival.
“For me, it matters little who is emperor anymore,” Artorius noted. “I have my little assignment here that they created for me, where there is little to no actual work to do. To be honest, my greatest enemy is boredom.”
“Not quite the life of the legions,” Cursor observed.
“It’s no life, really,” Artorius grumbled. “Though I am but a commander of vigiles, I technically still hold a billet of centurion primus ordo. This means that since I have never been officially discharged from the legions, I cannot submit my petition to be elevated into the equites. And unless I’m an equite, I can never run for any sort of public office.”
“A series of technicalities meant to stifle you completely,” Cursor grumbled as he
“At least you’re not some quibbling fool who doesn’t know how to handle a weapon properly,” Cassius noted. He then leaned forward and bravely stuck his neck out for Calvinus, who nodded in reply.
“Gods be with you, Cassius Chaerea.”
The emperor had ordered that those executed for Caesonia’s murder should be decapitated rather than simply have their arteries cut. Cassius kept his blade sharp, and with his eyes wet with tears, Calvinus swung the weapon down in a hard blow that severed his friend’s spinal column, killing him instantly. It only took one subsequent slash to sever his head completely from his body. Calvinus dropped the gladius next to Cassius’ thrashing body . He then found his friend’s coin pouch and retrieved the single gold aureus. It bore the image of Augustus, and Calvinus wondered if Cassius had carried it with him since Teutoburger Wald. He took Cassius’ head and laid it on his chest, placed the coin in his mouth before leaving. He quickly left the cell, battling against his despair as guards entered the room to retrieve the corpse for disposal. Thus did the life of Cassius Chaerea, one time hero of the Roman Empire, end in contradiction of the slaying of a tyrant, tarnished by the murder of innocents.
Chapter IV : Vow of Honor
Ostia, Italia
April , 41 A.D.
***
Artorius returned to Ostia following the arrest of Cassius Chaerea. He had only been called to remain in Rome in case the city police, known as the vigiles, proved unable to maintain order and he would have to call in his own men. It had proven unnecessary, and with the senate quickly, though in some cases reluctantly, confirming Claudius as the new Emperor of the Roman Empire, order was quickly restored. The execution of Cassius Chaerea and the praetorians who had also murdered Caesonia and her daughter quickly quelled any public outcry for justice. Thankfully, the people also had a genuine affection for Claudius; a man who many felt had been neglected and never given his due by the rest of the imperial family throughout his long life.
Within his first three months in power, Claudius made good on his promise to work in cooperation with the senate, among which he still had a number of longtime friends. By necessity, he paid a bounty to the members of the Praetorian Guard, as well as an equal sum to every soldier within the legions. A substantial portion of this had come from his personal funds. Though some viewed it as the emperor attempting to buy the loyalty of the army, it was an understandable donative that ensured the legions would, in the very least, give ‘the brother of Germanicus’, as he was sometimes known, the respect his position warranted.
“As long as nothing untoward happens to him, I think Rome is at last in good hands,” Cursor noted as he and Artorius rode their horses along the road that split off from the Via Apia and led towards the docks in Ostia. The plebian tribune was taking a much-deserved holiday though , of all places, he chose the Isle of Capri, where the Emperor Tiberius had lived in self-imposed seclusion for years. His wife, Adela, was already there, awaiting his arrival.
“For me, it matters little who is emperor anymore,” Artorius noted. “I have my little assignment here that they created for me, where there is little to no actual work to do. To be honest, my greatest enemy is boredom.”
“Not quite the life of the legions,” Cursor observed.
“It’s no life, really,” Artorius grumbled. “Though I am but a commander of vigiles, I technically still hold a billet of centurion primus ordo. This means that since I have never been officially discharged from the legions, I cannot submit my petition to be elevated into the equites. And unless I’m an equite, I can never run for any sort of public office.”
“A series of technicalities meant to stifle you completely,” Cursor grumbled as he
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