Page 57 of Agrippa

– At the moment it is good. That might change.

I refused to leave with my men until I had his letter of resignation.

The following day, a broken man, he left Rome and retired to his estate in the country, where he died soon afterwards, it was said by suicide.

Politics! As I say – a filthy business.

For the fourth year in a row, Augustus missed the opening session of the Senate.

Piso presided in his place.

He was nearly sixty, one of the few patricians remaining who had been elected under the old Republic, before Caesar crossed the Rubicon. He treated me with an elaborate politeness that somehow managed at the same time to convey his distaste for everything I represented. But Livia had judged him shrewdly. He had no ambition except to restore his family’s status by adding their name once more to the roll of consuls. He would give us no trouble.

As soon as Piso had delivered his inaugural speech, the Senate passed a motion at his instigation, pledging their loyalty to Augustus and wishing him a swift recovery. It then adjourned, and the dozen leading magistrates, who now included Marcellus as aedile, walked solemnly up the Palatine Hill to Augustus’s palatial home.

He had been washed and dressed for the occasion, and propped on a golden couch in the enormous tablinum, where it was his custom to receive official visitors.

Livia welcomed the delegation and showed us to the chairs that had been arranged in front of the couch. With a demure bow – ‘Gentlemen, I shall leave you to your deliberations’ – she withdrew to the atrium, where she was able to listen to the proceedings out of sight.

Piso rose and read out the Senate’s loyal greetings, then sat.

A silence followed.

Augustus cleared his throat. His voice was quiet. We had to lean forward in our chairs to hear it. But it was firm, and clear, and must have cost him some effort.

– Conscript Fathers, I thank you for your kind words. My body is weak, but it pleases me to see the health of the Republic is still strong. It is the greatest comfort to me in my affliction to know that whatever happens, it will continue to flourish in your safe hands.

He gestured to one of his secretaries, who stepped up beside him holding a pile of document cases.

– To you, my noble colleague Calpurnius Piso, in case the worst should happen, I confide these official records, which list the legions under my command, their strength and locations, and the revenues of the provinces over which I have authority. Let there be no secrets between us.

The secretary handed the documents to Piso.

– For my part, I shall return to my duties as soon as my health permits. Until that time, I hereby transfer all the powers that you have granted me to the holder of my signet ring. I give it to the man I know will best safeguard the interests of the Republic.

He paused, and worked the ring off his finger, then held it aloft. Slowly he surveyed the room. His gaze lingered on Marcellus.

– That man is Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa.

Even in the depths of his sickness, he retained his instinct for drama.

He had also retained his cunning.

As I walked away with his ring on my finger, I turned over in my mind what had just happened. He had still not actually named me as his successor, merely as his surrogate for as long as he was ill. If he should die, the future would depend upon what was written in his will, and that no one knew – not even Livia, or so she told me. It was lodged with the Vestal Virgins, under lock and key.

Of course, I had grown yet further in importance. I could measure that over the following days by the number of senior politicians who suddenly started thronging my house every morning, hoping for my good opinion, and by the bodyguard that was now attached to me, and by the deference I was shown whenever I entered the Senate.

But it was not power I had so much as the potential for it. Everything depended on the frail figure lying in his bed on the Palatine Hill. The respect I received was conditional. Beneath the flattery, I could sense their resentment at having to defer to a man of plebeian birth. Maecenas was jealous of me, and bitter about my removal of his brother-in-law as consul. And just as I had feared, I soon found myself in conflict with Marcellus.

As aedile, he was now responsible for all Rome’s public works. His first act was to dismiss my old chief engineer, Lucius Auctus, from his office as curator of the city’s aqueducts. Auctus came to me in great distress. I told him to ignore the ignorant young upstart and return to his duties.

Soon afterwards, Marcellus turned up at my house demanding to know by what right I had overruled him.

I showed him Augustus’s signet ring.

– This gives me the right. From now on, I advise you to keep your nose out of affairs you know nothing about.

– You are impertinent, Agrippa, beyond your proper station, and unworthy of my sister. Everyone knows of your ambition. My uncle in his sickness may not be able to see through you, but I can.