Claudia Acte

My visits to the Emperor became more numerous in number as the Queen continued to be out on various business occasions. I thought she had just wanted to be far from Nero. His insanity had grown over the past month. Now that I was with him, he tried hiding everything. He hid behind a mask of joyfulness in music and arts, but that only made it more obvious that he was with a slave. Octavia knew. Seneca knew. Burrus knew. The people of Rome knew.

Demetri was not happy about me visiting the Emperor so often, but I never told him about my what my visits entailed. His heart would be destroyed. I assumed he must have known, but I didn’t want to tell him. Nothing should take away from what we have. But what did we have? We are slaves! Our simple relationship was trying to fit into a complex world; the complex world of slavery. Nevertheless, we were still there for each other. We were all we had.

I thought through all of this as I walked up again to his chambers after being summoned. I came to the door as Octavia left. I kept my head down, but I could feel her eyes burning fire at me. I was ashamed that I couldn’t do anything about my situation. I was a slave. I had no choice.

I walked through the huge wooden doors into Nero’s innermost chambers.

“Claudia,” his voice said, “my sweet, sweet Claudia.” He came across the room to kiss me.

“Majesty,” I answered with another kiss. I was good at playing along. I needed to if I wanted to stay alive. One wrong move and I could be gone. I didn’t want to take that chance.

“Come and eat with me,” he said as his arm opened in welcome to his garden where he usually ate. We walked over and lay before a huge feast on his couches. The feast was far too big for two people. It seemed like it would feed at least twenty.

As we ate we talked simply, but the conversation took a quick turn when he said, “Have you heard of my fabled brother?”

That caught me off guard, “Yes,” I answered unconsciously, “how have you heard of him?”

“I had a dream last night that he was gloriously triumphant over me. Did my mother ever talk about him?” That was a loaded question. I couldn’t answer truthfully! Agrippina would be killed! But if I lied and Nero found out, I might be killed!

“I have never heard her talk about him,” I answered, “but I can go to Seneca to find out.”

“Go and find Seneca. You must go find my brother, so that I can kill him. I am the only one who can kill him. We are possessed with a curse.”

“A curse?” I asked in astonishment.

“Two shall be born, but only one must live with him mother. They will be the same in likeness, but opposite in temperament. Their only enemy will be age and each other. This must be done, because they were born from above.” I was confused. Completely and utterly confused.

“How do you know this?”

“My dream. Janus came to me and warned me.” His insanity had taken a whole new level. I knew his brother was alive and well, but I didn’t think that Nero would have a “god” come to him with an insane prophecy. This was absurd!

“What do you want me to do?”

He didn’t look up from his food, “You must go and find him before he comes to Rome. I will come and kill him once you find him.” I looked up at the sky and noticed it was just past noon. I got up from my couch. I had eaten enough. He stood as well.

“What if I refuse?” I asked. He walked closer to me and smiled.

“You won’t.”

“I can’t refuse?” I asked with a smile. This was the first time I had smiled since I had been there.

“I like it when you smile. It makes you glow more,” he looked down at my hand and lightly took it.

“If anything goes outside my plans,” his grip became tighter and pain soared through my hands, “then I will harm your precious Demetri.” I gasped subconsciously.

“Oh, yes,” he said as he dropped my hand, “I know about your precious Demetri.”

“I do as you command,” I said and walked away from him.

“I will see you soon, my dear Claudia,” he said. My fury inside of me almost exploded. I closed the giant doors behind me and rested my back on them. I had to slow my breathing.

I walked into my room in the slave house where Demetri also stayed during the night. I stood in the door. Demetri sat the edge of the bed with his face in his palms.

            “Demetri,” I said softly.

            He jumped from the bed and came over to me as he wrapped his arms around me. I started crying.

            “Shhhh,” he said as he stroked the back of my head, “it’s going to be okay.”

            “He knows about us,” I said hugging him tighter. “He threatened to hurt you if I didn’t do what he said. I told him I would do anything to keep you safe. I should have resisted.”

            “How could you? We have no choice.”

            “I should have at least tried.” I loosened my grip and sat on our bed. I folded my hands and looked down with my eyes closed. I let my tears fall onto my cold fingers. Nero wanted me to be broken and attached to him. He truly wanted my sweet Demetri to be out of his way.

            “I’ll be right back,” he said as he cupped his hands on the side of my face, kissed my forehead, and ran out of the room. The vision of Nero’s face as he mentioned Demetri frightened me. Why would he have chosen me? There were plenty of prettier slaves than me! Was it because I had Demetri as a liability? I couldn’t shake his horrific smile out of my head. The way he touched me was so authoritative and lustful.

            I didn’t want to be beckoned again.

            Demetri came back into the room holding my three favorite things: red grapes, lightly cooked quail, and warm goat’s milk. I couldn’t help but smile when he placed the tray on my lap and sat next me like an excited child.

            “You’re too good to me,” I said wiping a tear away.

            He kissed my cheek, “I just know how to cheer you up.”

I tired to forget my whole experience with Nero, but when Vibius asked me about it, the vision of his eyes and his face reappeared in my head. He understood immediately when I told him I didn’t want to talk about it.

            When I went to Agrippina’s chambers, the queen immediately handed me a letter to take to Seneca. I put on my cloak and hurried over to his office. When I found Seneca, he was surprised to see me.

            “Agrippina sent me to give you this,” I said as I handed him the letter. He started to read the letter. His expression became confused as his eyes rolled down the page. He lifted his head to look up at me and then back down at his letter.

            “She wanted me to wait here for your answer,” I said.

            “Well, naturally.”

            “What concerns you then?”

            “She wants you to be my slave now.” What? Was this because of Nero?

            “Why would that be? If that is a fair question to ask.”

            “She is worried that Nero has been keeping you in hopes to get closer to his mother. He has always feared that his mother is conspiring against him. He is suspicious of everyone. She wants you out of the palace and with me.”

            Without thinking I said, “Nero knows about his brother.” Panic struck across Seneca’s face.

            “What?! How does he know?”

            “I don’t know. All I know is that I have to go find him.”

            “Nero is sending you on this chase?”

            “Yes, sir.”

            Seneca shook his head.

“You can find him in Fetum Spei. If you take the Cassia Via, you will be there in three days time. You will enter the city just before the two roads intersect. Go into the city and find a man named Antony Facio Julius. He owns Milo, and he will point you in the right direction.

“Thank you, sir,” I said with a bow, and I turned to leave.

“Wait, Claudia,” he said, “don’t you need an answer for Agrippina’s letter?”

I stopped and turned back to him, “Yes, sir.”

“Tell her no, but that I will take it into consideration.”

“I will return the message,” I said with another bow, and I left. I should have told him about Demetri, but he didn’t need to know. No one else should know.

History: Nero's Rise to Power

Every four weeks I will post a snippet of history to fully explain why certain things happen in the plot of "Weakness". This week is about Nero's early life a rise to power. 

Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus was the last member of the Julio-Claudian line to rule Rome. His family was exiled, but Emperor Claudius allowed their return into the imperial family. Claudia married Agrippina (uncle and niece) to seal his repentance, thus allowing Lucius to become part of the imperial family again. His name was changed to Nero Claudius Drusus Germanicus once he was adopted by Emperor Claudius and named Britannicus's guardian. Nero was also betrothed to Claudius's daughter, Octavia, which helped Nero take prominence over Claudius's son, Britannicus. 

As Nero grew older, Agrippina, his mother, began to become restless. She wanted to see her son become the Emperor of Rome. She began to place people into positions of power. In 54AD, Claudius was poisoned by Agrippina; this led to her complete seizure of power with the help of Nero's tutor, Seneca, and Praetorian Prefect Afranius Burrus. 

Nero became emperor at the age of seventeen. With the help of Burrus, Seneca and his mother, Nero's first five years as emperor were peaceful and fair. He ended capital punishment, secret trials and gave the Senate more independence along with reducing direct taxation. But once his mother began to become irritating and Seneca and Burrus were egging on his violent, drunken rampages, Nero's dark side was soon to become revealed. 

Sources:
http://www.roman-empire.net/emperors/nero-index.html
http://www.roman-colosseum.info/roman-emperors/nero.htm

http://www.thenagain.info/webchron/mediterranean/nero.html

Claudia Acte

Six weeks earlier…

“Claudia,” a familiar voice said to me through my sleep, “It’s time to get up.” My eyes blinked open to see Demetri sitting at the edge of my bed. His face lit up once he saw my heavy eyelids open. He smiled at me, and I smiled back.

            “Agrippina will be expecting her breakfast soon,” he added.

            “Of course,” I answered as I sat up. I kissed him on the cheek and got ready for my duties. Demetri went out to check on the other slaves to be sure that they were up and working as I went off to the already busy kitchen that was filled with cooks preparing food for political officials and slaves alike. I walked over to where I did everyday to the station where Grumio was working. I put the queen’s tray down as he slid the first of three plates over to me.

            “Good morning,” he greeted me with a smile.

            “Good morning, Grumio,” I answered pleasantly, “busy morning?”

            “Isn’t it always?” He slid me another plate. “How is she?”

            “Agrippina?”

            “Yes.” I adjusted the plates on the tray and waited for the last one.

            “She’s been more nervous lately,” I answered quietly.

            “I would be too if Nero was my son,” he commented as he handed me the last plate. “Wait,” he continued. He turned his back and searched a shelf for something. He held a cup in his hand. Once he found the special tonic, he poured a little bit into the cup and then put water in it.

            “Give her this,” he said, “this will ease some of her nerves.”

            “Thank you,” I said. He winked at me as I turned away. Right before I left, Publius ran up to me gasping for breath and holding a letter.

            “Get this to Agrippina,” he said.

            “Who is it from?” I asked. He looked again at the letter as if he forgot and shrugged.

            “No seal,” he said.

            I smiled, “This should be interesting.” I told him to put it on my tray and I continued on my way to Agrippina’s chambers.

I walked in and set her tray in her dining area. She was lying on her favorite couch in front of the table.

            “Good morning,” I said bowing and stepping away from the table.

            “Good morning, my sweet Claudia,” she answered. She lifted the paper off the tray and looked at it questioningly.

            “Who is it from?” she asked.

            “Publius didn’t know,” I answered, “and there is no seal.” She picked up the letter while she was eating and flipped the letter over and back as she surveyed the outside. She set it down and finished her breakfast.

            Once she was finished she stood up and took the letter. As her eyes moved from left to right, her expression turned to panic. She shoved the letter into me.

            “Burn this,” she said, “now,” she continued with a very stern edge in her voice. I took the letter and walked over to the fire as I quickly gazed down and saw three words: HE IS ALIVE. I threw the paper into the fire and watched it be consumed by the flames. I turned back to the door to see the queen with her cloak on as she held mine out for me.

            “We need to go see Seneca.”

            “Yes ma’am,” I answered as I took the cloak and followed close behind her down the hallway. I was almost running behind her with how swiftly her feet were moving.

            We came up to the Senate House and went directly to Seneca’s room. I shut the door behind me once we were in the room.

            “I got a letter today,” she said bluntly. He looked up from his papers on his desk and stood up.

            “What do you mean?” he asked all of a sudden concerned.

            “They have found him.”

            “How?” he asked coming around the desk with all of his eyes on her.

            “He is a gladiator for Antony Facio Julius in Fetum Speī, a city three days north of Rome.”

            “How did he escape from Waleri?”

            “My cousin is dense,” she said throwing her arms up, “I can’t believe I gave him Milo in the first place!”

            “Did Waleri ever let him fight?” Seneca asked.

            “No.”

            “Well, you said he was a gladiator. He will soon die in the arena without good training.”

            “He has been a gladiator for over three months. If he was going to die, he would have died already!”

            “Agrippina, there’s no need to throw this out of proportion.” He lifted his hand to consol her.

            She slapped his hand away, “My overreaction is completely necessary! Don’t you realize that the people of Rome are going to realize something is going on when they realize the exact twin of Nero is a rising gladiator-”

            “In a distant province,” Seneca said interrupting her. Agrippina didn’t answer.

            “What else did the letter say?” Seneca asked.

            “It said that Antony was planning on coming to Rome.”

            “When?”

            “Whenever he could get in one of our spectacles.”

            “You must let him come.”

            “That is a dangerous thing.”

            “Having him strut around his province is dangerous enough in itself! What if he came here and died within him approaching the gates? What if he never made it to Rome?”

            “We will discuss this after I talk to my son,” she turned towards the door.

            “The gods will favor you in this,” he said.

            “His father will favor him! His father hates me for what I did!”

            “What choice did you have? Janus did not give you another option.”

            She shook her head, “I had a choice, and I chose to watch my son grow up.” Silence.

            “Come, Claudia. It’s time for us to go,” and we left Seneca in silence.

As we walked back to the palace, Agrippina would nervously look back frequently to see if anyone was following us. My guess was that someone was and her looking back was making us look guilty of whatever she was talking about with Seneca. This wasn’t the first time she had brought me with her to see Seneca about Nero’s brother, Milo. In recent months she had been more paranoid as her cousin would send her letter after letter telling her that he could not find Milo. Now, he had supposedly found this mystery man and was tracking him. Hopefully, this would pass quickly, but I had a feeling it was only beginning.

            I wondered if Nero had heard anything about this. What would he say? What would he do? Would he try and kill him mother? That was the worst crime to commit in Rome that even the Emperor of Rome could not get away with.

            When we came up to the palace, we found Vibius, one of Nero’s slaves, waiting for us.

            “My lady,” he said with a bow, “Nero requests the presence of your slave.”

            “This one?” Agrippina asked pointing at me.

            “He requested her specifically.”

            She sighed, “I do as the emperor commands even if he is my son.” She waved for me to go with Vibius and then she went in the other direction to her room. I looked back to make sure that Agrippina could not hear me.

            “Vibius,” I asked him, “what does Nero want with me?”

            “I have no idea,” he said, “but I don’t think he has good intentions.” Did Nero want to kill me? I didn’t know. He had just started to become insane with power. What could I have done to anger him? I felt the blood rush away from my face.

            When we walked up to the door Vibius looked at me and gave me a reassuring nod.

            “Don’t come in until he tells you to.” I nodded back at him. He knocked on the door and I heard Nero’s voice calling him in. I felt butterflies in my stomach and a chill went down my spine at the sound of his voice. Vibius stepped into the room keeping the door slightly open behind him.

            “Emperor,” Vibius said once he was inside, “I have brought the slave you have requested.”

            “Good,” Nero’s horrific voice said, “send her in.” I walked into his room and looked around at all of the lavish things that were on display. I bowed to him.

            “Your majesty,” I said and stood up.

            “Vibius,” Nero said, “leave us.” He bowed and left the room, shutting the door behind him.

            “I had heard that my mother had acquired a beautiful slave, but I wanted to see for myself. What is your name?”

            “My name is Claudia,” I said as I kept my head down so that I didn’t have to look at him. His words seemed to crawl into my ears like leeches that slowly wanted to watch me die at the slow sucking of my blood.

            “Why are you so tense?” he asked as he walked closer to me. He ran his fingertips softly up my arm and onto my chin as he lifted my face so that he could clearly see my face.

            “You are, indeed, beautiful,” he said as he rubbed his thumb on my cheek.

            “Thank you,” I said entranced by his eyes. They were sickly red, evil. They frightened me. I tried to look away, but I couldn’t.

            “You are more beautiful than the rumors described.” A smile drifted to his face. What rumors? I stared back into his dark eyes again. His hand trailed up my jaw line and into my hair as he loosened my bun and let my loose hair fall to my shoulders. I stared back into his dark eyes again. He fluffed my hair and stared back into my eyes. I broke our gaze and looked down at the ground.

            “Do I make you nervous?” he asked.

            I looked back up at him and went with my instinct answer, “Yes.”

            His smile grew, “Good.” His hands trailed down my back, and he began kissing me.

Antony

Ferocious burning pain soared through my veins as my body trembled subconsciously, unable to free itself from the tar that smothered my bare skin. My eyes fluttered opened as I lifted my head to see the emperor pacing in front of my grounded stake.

            “Tisk, tisk,” he said, “what a shame that you brought this fate to him.” I looked past Nero and saw my dark, curly headed gladiator being consumed by flames.

            “If only your success and wealth hadn’t let you turn blind with ambition and dreams,” he continued, “maybe this wouldn’t have happened to him.” My mind was confused. Why did the emperor want kill this gladiator?

            “And to think,” he scoffed as he walked closer to my pyre, “that anyone had the chance to steal my power away from me! You have only confirmed my suspicions of your naivety and carelessness.” He stepped back and waved the sword as if he were preparing to fight.

            “The true power of my father is what separates me from my brother. I am the true side him! The only side that matters! The only side the Roman people care about and ever will care about.” I looked down at him to see the red vengeance that filled his ruthless gaze.

            “They will call me the greatest emperor that ever lived! The only one that set Rome into its rightful place! But why should you care? You will end up like him in a few short moments.” He snapped his fingers, and Benedict walked up next to him with a flaming torch in his hands. A sinister smile spread across his face as he handed the torch to Nero.

            “Don’t worry, Master. Your fate will meet you soon enough,” he said, and Nero threw the torch at the foot of my pyre. I watched flames burst at my feet and begin to consume me.

I gasped as I sat up in my bed. I felt sweat drip off my face. I rose up and dabbed my face with a cool towel. I changed my tunic and started to walk down to the barracks. It was still dark outside, so I knew Benedict would still be asleep.

            What would Nero want with this slave? He was just a slave; nothing special. I found him nearly dead three months ago. Why would he be so different now? He had proved himself to becoming one of my most prized fighters, but he was still just a gladiator. He could die tomorrow at the games or this morning in his cell. I knew where he would be. He would be in the same cell as Marius. The two of them had recently started fighting together and became widely known as the “Gemini”.

            Once I made it down to the barracks, I unlocked his cell and pulled him out of his cot. He fell to the floor in shock.

            “Stand up,” I commanded him. He stood up and said nothing.

            “Who are you?” I said.

            “I am part of the Gemini,” he answered. I looked over at Marius who was aroused by the early morning excitement. I stared at Marius for a second. Marius quickly stood up as well.

            “Do you know why I am here?” I asked Marius.

            “Because of the vision you had last night,” he answered unwavering.

            “How do you know of this?”

            “I had the same vision.”

            I turned to the curly headed one, “And you? I suppose you had the same vision as well.”

            He held his head high, “I did. The last thing I remember was Nero saying, ‘The true power of my father separates me from my brother.’” I tried to read his face, but there was nothing to show. He stood there expressionless.

            “Are you suggesting that I am Nero’s brother?” I asked, appalled by his inquisition.

            “I am suggesting that I am his brother.” I looked at him in disbelief, until I saw his eyes. Nero and him had the same look in their eyes of pride and vengeance, only Nero’s were red and his were soft green. The different between their struggles for power were immense.

            “What is your name?” I asked him.

            He held up his arm to show the light burn mark on his wrist with the name MILO.

“This was the name that was given to me, but I never knew my mother or my father. There is no way for me to be sure.” I threw his arm back down.

“I have never seen anything like this! How am I supposed to believe that you didn’t just burn that on yourself?”

“You can believe anything you want, sir.”

“I did not come in here to hear what you thought of me!”

“Then why did you come in here?” I stopped for a second to collect my temper.

“I believe that dreams come to us for a reason, don’t you?” Milo didn’t answer. I turned to Marius, and he didn’t respond either. Nevertheless, I continued, “ From the vision we all had, I can see that there is something miraculous that is going to unfold, so much that the Emperor of Rome will feel threatened.”

“He should feel that way!” Marius said as his voice rose, “Someone finally has the opportunity to take his power away from him!”

“How can he?” I challenged Marius.

“His brother is standing before you! Don’t you think he is enough to make Nero feel threatened?”

“Nero doesn’t even know that I exist!” Milo interjected.

“How do you know?” I asked him, “Why is Nero’s brother a slave?” That quieted them down.

“Oh, no one knows the answer?” Still not a word. “Well,” I turned to Milo, “keep yourself alive tomorrow, and I will get you to Rome.”

I walked through the quiet hallways beneath my amphitheater. Benedict walked close behind me. All the swords were in place. All of the helmets were in place. All of the shields. Special weapons.

            “Everything is in place,” I commented.

            “Yes, sir,” Benedict said behind me.

            I put my hands behind my back and clasped my fingers together, “Will the Gemini be ready for today?”

            “Yes, sir,” Benedict answered.

            I laughed slightly, “Will their competitors be ready?”

            “As ready as they can be.” I smiled; their opponents were never ready. How can they be? I felt as though they had been blessed by the gods.

I stopped walking. Blessed by the gods. Blessed by a god…

“Are you alright, sir?” Benedict asked me.

I blinked back, “Yes,” I cleared my throat and made my voice seem more sure, “Yes. Let’s continue.”

That thought was absurd. If that was true why was Milo here? Why wouldn’t his godly parent, or parents, save him from his slavery? I made my final preparations for the day and went up to where I sat to watch the games.

 The thought that Milo was godly danced around in my head. It could be true.

I thought again about when I had first saw him. Three days with no food or water and a freak accident. This man was most likely from the gods; he would save us.

But only time would tell.

The sun was unrelenting, but the shade I sat under was refreshing as a soft wind blew onto my face. The wine I was drinking was sweet and the berries I was eating were fresh.

            Benedict was standing in front of the gate on the sandy floor below. I looked out at the seats as people hustled in to sit down.

            This was the way I made my living: drugging the people of my province with gladiator spectacles as they bet their livelihood on their favored champions.

            I waited for the sun to be at its highest point. I stood up as the sun grew close and walked to the edge of my balcony as I looked down at the five readying fighters.

            The crowd began to cheer viciously once they saw me. The five gladiators that stood below looked up at me; they knew they would be dead soon.

            I held up my hands as a welcome to the crowd. The crowd cheered louder once the horn was blown. Benedict pulled the chains to open the gate for two of the greatest gladiators I had ever seen.

            “Gemini! Gemini! Gemini!” The crowd chanted. They had truly made a name for themselves in such a short time.

            They stepped out of the gate side-by-side as they surveyed their competition that stood before them. The crowd grew quiet in anticipation.

            “Uh!” grunted one of the gladiators as he threw a spear at Milo. The spear flew, and there was a noise to be heard. As the spear grew nearer to where Milo was standing, he quickly side stepped, and the spear struck the ground right next to him. The crowd roared again as he picked it up and threw it at one of the men that was running towards him. The man fell back onto the sand. Milo jumped on him and stabbed him to make sure he would not resurrect himself.

            “Here!” Marius yelled at Milo. He quickly turned and saw his counterpart fighting one of the heavily armed gladiators. Milo quickly killed another advancing towards him on his right and then rejoined Marius. Milo slashed at heavily armed fighter and made the brute drop his weapon. The blonde ran his sword into his throat leaving him lifeless. Two left.

            I sat at the edge of my seat. That was the quickest I had ever seen veterans like the ones I put before them go down as quickly as they did. I was fascinated by the way they fought together. It was like nothing I had ever seen before. Fluid. Flawless. They were always one step ahead of their competitors. And what astounded me more was the fact that they knew each other’s fighting style so well.

            I watched them effortlessly kill the last two gladiators. The crowd began to chant again.

            “Gemini! Gemini! Gemini!”

            But they hardly regarded the crowd as they went back through the gate. I clapped for them as I stood up from my seat to get more to drink. I turned to leave as a woman came running into my balcony. She was gasping for breath.

            “Why are you here? This is off limits!” I said to her. She looked like a slave.

            “I’m sorry, sir,” she said collecting her words.

            “What do you need?” I asked her.

            “I am a slave in the Emperor’s household and he sent me here looking for that man that just fought.”