Page 64 of Agrippa

– And from whom did these orders come?

– Augustus.

The answer was reported to have produced a gasp of shock among the spectators.

Furious, Augustus tore the transcript into pieces and threw it on the fire.

– This is a conspiracy, pure and simple, organised by the Senate to discredit me. They want a battle? They shall have one. Let us go to Rome and put an end to it.

We left the villa at sunset with a detachment of cavalry and entered the city in darkness so that no one should see his arrival.

We went straight to his house, where Livia was dining with Tiberius and Drusus. She was startled by our arrival, and plainly alarmed by her husband’s enraged demeanour. When she asked what he intended to do, he responded bitterly.

– What does one do with a poisonous snake? One cuts off its head!

I found myself back in my old position, as the organiser of his security. I stayed overnight in his house, summoned a detachment of his Praetorian Guard from their barracks, and the next morning we set off on foot for the tribunal in the Forum where the trial was being held.

His appearance in the street caused a sensation. A procession formed at our rear as we walked down the hill, and I guess word of his approach must have spread ahead of us, because by the time we erupted into the crowded Forum, proceedings in the court had come to a halt and the jury were on their feet in alarm.

Augustus had no right to speak. He had not been summoned as a witness. But that did not deter him. He strode towards the tribunal.

I had only a vague memory of Murena from years before. He was a big man, and clearly not without fighting spirit. He was standing between Primus and his fellow defence advocate, Caepio. He tugged on Primus’s toga to pull him back into his seat, tilted his chin in defiance and pointed an accusing finger at Augustus.

– By what authority do you disrupt this court?

– By the authority of the people!

There was a wave of applause from the mass of spectators, broken by a few jeers.

Augustus clambered up onto the platform, put his hands on his hips and glowered down at Primus.

– You are a liar, Marcus Primus! Repeat to my face that I ordered you to make war!

Primus quailed, stammered.

– You did not order me in person, but through your nephew Marcellus.

– I gave no such order. I know nothing about it. It’s simply a lie you’ve concocted to save your neck, encouraged by men whose only desire is to cause me damage.

He turned to the senators in the jury.

– It is not Primus alone who is on trial in this court, gentlemen, but my good name. His defence is part of a plot to destroy the settlement that has brought peace to our Republic. Find the wretch guilty and put an end to this malicious nonsense – and to him!

With a final glare at Murena and Caepio and the hapless Primus, he jumped down into the Forum, made his way along the passage that had been cleared for him by his guards and returned home.

The jury was due to deliver its verdict by the end of the day. We sat and waited for the result. Augustus was confident his dramatic appeal would ensure Primus was found guilty. And indeed, he was. But when the details of the jury’s secret ballot were brought to him, he discovered that the margin was much narrower than he had expected. I forget the tally exactly – forty to thirty, or thereabouts. Almost half had listened to his passionate denial and decided he was lying.

It was the first time in his life that his popularity had been tested in an unrigged ballot. It shook him profoundly. Like many a politician who has been on the receiving end of a poor result, he blamed not himself but the voters.

– I have been far too gentle with these people! I have let them have their Senate and their magistracies and their governorships – and how have they rewarded me? With disloyalty! It is time to remind them where the real power lies.

That evening, I dined with him and Livia.

He had become very cold, and had reverted to the Caesar of earlier days – cruel, vindictive, determined to exact his vengeance on the men who had dared challenge him.

He was convinced this was only the start of their mischief. He toyed with his food and asked me what, if I were Murena and Caepio, I would do next. How would I set about trying to destroy him?

I thought it over for a while, and replied that the days when his enemies could raise an army to make war on him were long gone. He had far too many legions at his disposal, in Italy and overseas. His powers as tribune for life meant he could call a public assembly and appeal over the Senate’s heads to the people. Their only realistic option would be to assassinate him.