O shouted at his sister and queen to flee via another door, whilst he tried to hold the obvious rebels at bay. However, I initially refused until her brother and husband told her that she had to ensure the welfare of their unborn child.

Having seen I grab a gown and escape, the unarmed and naked O, risen from his bed, then confronted S and his brother’s supporters, who made no immediate attempt to chase after the queen because their first priority was her husband. "Seize him," the pharaoh’s revolting, in both senses of that word, brother then ordered of his fellow rebels.

Despite trying his best to avoid seizure, O was soon in the firm grip of S’s men. The two brothers then confronted each other, virtually face-to-face.

"Why?" asked the still naked O, who perceptively appreciated S’s murderous intent. "Because," the rebel brother answered, whilst dropping his sword in favour of withdrawing a sharp knife from a scabbard, "I’ll be a much better king!"

S then grabbed hold of his brother’s manly hirsute genitals, squeezing them agonisingly hard so that O winced in pain, although sudden excruciating breathlessness prevented him from either protesting or screaming. In a symbolic act, common to the age and indicative of a person’s intention to eliminate a captive’s entire family, the rebel leader then began to use his blade to slice off the pharaoh’s sexual organs.

O now did find enough breath to scream loudly in acute agony, whilst S’s knife slowly and remorselessly deprived him of his manhood. The pharaoh also discovered sufficient energy to try to escape the manual restrictions by which his brother’s men held him. Unfortunately, their grip proved too resilient and so his sibling was able to complete his very bloody work.

The agonised and appalled O then saw his own severed sexual organs dangled by the cockhead by his own sibling before his horrified eyes. "You know what this means," the smiling S subsequently correctly suggested, "for your wife and unborn child must also now die. In fact, I can tell you, brother, that I’ll soon have I’s unborn foetus in my hands!"

The still smiling S then committed both regicide and fratricide by fatally stabbing his brother in the heart.

(This, Ancient Aegyptia, shortly afterwards)

‘He lives not long who battles with the immortals, nor do his children prattle about his knees when he has come back from battle and the dread fray.’

- Homer (‘Iliad’)

"What shall we do with the king’s body?" one of S’s men asked of the red-headed rebel leader, who had been frustrated in his desire to see his escaped sister, I, also killed but had nevertheless effectively seized power. The people would be forced to accept the situation by the armed might of his supporters.

"Dispose of my brother’s remains secretly," S answered to the man’s question. O’s regal body was subsequently sacrilegiously buried in a sealed wooden casket in a quiet spot on the banks of the Nile.

(This, Ancient Aegyptia, a few days later)

‘It was built against the will of the immortal gods, and so it did not last for long.’

- Homer (‘Iliad’)

S was now in firm control of the kingdom of northern, or ‘lower’, Aegyptia, although he had so far found no trace of his escaped sister, I. The new usurper pharaoh was also troubled by the earlier than normal flooding of the Nile, which usually occurred in autumn not late summer. He did not know whether the portents associated with this year’s gift of the gods foreboded good or ill for his rule.

S was unable to consult his priestly parents, Geb and Nut, about the matter because they had been so appalled by his fratricide and usurping of power that they wanted nothing to do with him. His other sister, Nephthys, was equally horrified but her surviving brother nevertheless compelled her to marry him in order to strengthen his dynastic position.

(Byblos, Nile Delta, Ancient Aegyptia, a week later)

‘The glorious gifts of the gods are not to be cast aside.’

- Homer (‘Iliad’)

I hid in a modest wooden home in Byblos. This tiny riverside community in the Nile delta was full of loyal supporters of the legitimate royal line. The village was close to the town of Busiris, north of the current capital of the embryonic kingdom of Lower Aegyptia, This.

Because of its later renaming to ‘Perhebit’, the village would eventually be confused in subsequent legend with a much more important community called ‘Byblos’ on the Syrian coast, which was a major port. Consequently, the smaller settlement in the Nile Delta would lose its proper association with a later happening involving O’s body, whilst retaining a linkage with I.

It was in this secluded and peaceful setting that I gave birth to a glorious gift from the gods in the form of a healthy baby son, posthumous offspring of O, whom she named ‘Djer’ but I shall call ‘H’, after his later renaming in sacred legend. The nature of the boy’s birth later caused some false rumours to spread that his mother had been magically impregnated by her late husband’s severed genitalia.

(Byblos, Nile Delta, Ancient Aegyptia, another week later)

‘Slow but sure moves the might of the gods.’

- Euripides (‘Bacchae’)

"Majesty," the very excited faithful male servant named T, who had been O’s wise vizier, announced to I, "a miracle has occurred!" The queen was currently cradling H in her arms, whilst under the personal protection of one of her late husband’s most loyal military officers, Wepwawet. The baby had previously been suckled by his young and pretty wet nurse, Hathor.

"The late king’s body," T continued, "has been found in a wooden casket in Byblos, resting against a riverside tree, having apparently been left there by the retreating flood-water after floating down the Nile." "The gods must have caused this miracle!" I commented in response.

In fact, the reason for the apparently miraculous appearance of O’s body in Byblos was much more mundane. The hurried secret burial at night in a shallow grave of the wooden casket, in which the assassinated pharaoh’s emasculated remains had been placed, had proved insufficient to prevent resurfacing when the Nile’s unexpectedly early floodwaters had begun to erode the carelessly applied covering soil. The coffin had then simply floated with the strong river current until being marooned.

The term ‘miraculous’ could, however, perhaps be applied to the coincidence of the marooning of the casket on the riverside close to where I and the new-born H were hiding, and to the well preserved state of the naked and emasculated body within the sealed coffin. Some people later suggested that these miracles had resulted from the widowed queen’s sorcery.

Even the severed genitalia, placed on O’s chest, showed little sign of decay. However, I appreciated that this situation would not continue to last much longer in the heat of late summer.

(Buto, Nile Delta, Ancient Aegyptia, next day)

‘Even God cannot change the past.’

- Agathon

Buto, not far from Byblos, was located on a coastal lagoon of the northern Nile delta. The town was the centre of the ancient cult of the snake goddess, Wadjet, to whom the cobra was sacred. Such creatures were considered beneficial because of their useful eating of rats and other vermin.

I sadly brought the body of her brother and husband, O, to Buto so that the priests of Wadjet, who were renowned for their skills in mummification, could treat his corpse with the respect that was surely due to the first king of Lower Aegyptia. The queen’s reception at the temple of the snake goddess was warm and her wish for the performance of the relevant preservation rites on the remains of the pharaoh quickly met, a situation that was aided by two factors.

First, the priesthood had all benefited from the highly respected deceased pharaoh’s wise rule. Second, the high priest, A, who personally supervised the mummification, was also both the queen’s stepson and nephew, being the product of an adulterous and incestuous affair years previously between O and Nephthys, which had long been forgiven by I.

Unfortunately, S had his supporters in Buto too and the new pharaoh soon heard about events in the delta town.

(Buto, Nile Delta, Ancient Aegyptia, a week later)

‘Whom the gods would destroy, they first make mad.’

- Euripides

I and H just about managed to escape again from the murderous clutches of S and his large group of armed supporters. However, the late O’s mummified body was not so lucky.

S feared that the preserved body of his brother, which might be considered symbolic of the legitimate royal line, might become a focus of reverence and even worship, thereby undermining his own credibility on the throne. The new pharaoh therefore personally hacked the corpse into pieces, although, of course, he did not have to sever the genitals. He then ordered his own nephew and new stepson, A, and his priests to scatter the various parts secretly throughout Lower Aegyptia.

(Byblos, Nile Delta, Ancient Aegyptia, 12 years later)

 ‘Prayer indeed is good but, while calling on the gods, a man should himself lend a hand.’

- Hippocrates (‘Regimen’)

S had relocated his capital from the town of This to Memphis in order to stamp his own personality on the monarchy. He had also never given up his search for the fugitive I and H, offering large rewards for their capture alive or dead, an action that now seemed on the brink of being fruitful.

"Wake up, son," I now pleaded with H, whilst shaking the somnolent boy’s shoulders in the glow from a single night oil lamp and the moonlight flowing in from a nearby window. The very pretty 12 year-old, previously sound asleep in his bed in his room in his mother’s rather modest but nevertheless pleasant residence, opened his sensuous brown eyes in response.

"What’s wrong, mother," the waking H then asked of I. The clever boy, who possessed a fashionable long twist of hair in a single lock on an otherwise close-shaven scalp, knew that something was very amiss. The 12 year-old was never disturbed in the middle of the night by anyone in this way.

"We must flee," I announced, "as someone finally appears to have betrayed our hiding place to S. He and his men are searching every house in the village and will surely murder you if he finds you, as you now represent his only rival for the throne!"

"But fleeing would be cowardly," an amazingly unafraid and courageous H replied to his mother’s entreaty, as he rose from his bed, "and I should instead go to fight the murderer of my father." The 12 year-old boy, who slept naked, then went to a chest in which he kept his weaponry, which was that of a part-time military cadet.

Despite their desperate circumstances, I could not now help but smile at the sight of her son’s beautiful and brave nude form advancing to collect his weapons. However, she also realised that she could not relish the vision for long, as outside sounds suggested that S and his men were close.

"Son," I declared, whilst also praying in her mind for salvation for her child and herself from S, "your duty, bestowed by the gods, is not to your pride but to your people. Their welfare requires you not to waste your life in bold but useless combat but to live to revenge your father’s assassination in a better way by someday retaking the throne from your evil and unworthy uncle."

As soon as I said these words, H recognised that the woman was absolutely right in her assertion. The boy therefore collected clothing instead of weapons and, having speedily dressed and fetched his pet hawk, clambered with his mother out of the window of his ground-floor bedroom, just as the door burst open. The latter occurrence revealed men armed with swords and intent on further regicide, as the 12 year-old was their rightful pharaoh.

S had actually planned to murder H in the same symbolic manner as he had killed the boy’s father. The 12 year-old would have been emasculated before being slain.

A run through some riverside trees to a couple of horses, secreted with clever premonition in case of the need for such hurried escape, then precipitated the further successful flight of the 12 year-old true pharaoh and his mother.

H’s smooth young genitals would not be presented by his uncle before the boy’s lovely sensuous brown eyes, at least for now.

(Ancient Aegyptia, 6 years later)

‘The gods too are fond of a joke.’

- Aristotle

S’s cruel, corrupt and inefficient rule had proved increasingly unpopular and this situation eventually encouraged H to emerge from hiding on achieving manhood to declare his right to the throne. Many supporters of the legitimate royal line and opponents of the current pharaoh flocked to the cause of the very handsome 18 year-old, who had now lost his boyhood hairstyle.

A major battle for supremacy over Lower Aegyptia was then fought. During the vicious fighting, H’s handsome face sustained a wound that almost lost him an eye. However, the 18 year-old’s generalship, aided by sound advice from his late father’s old officer, Wepwawet, and vizier, T, proved superior to that of S and so his army emerged victorious.

S was captured but not then killed. "I don’t want to be a murderer," H had declared, "even of my father’s murderer. I instead want justice for all, including my uncle. I therefore propose to put my right to take the throne from him to the gods. Let them judge who is to rule Aegyptia!"

H was perhaps not being entirely altruistic in his proposal. The gods would, of course, speak through their chief priests, who happened to include his grandparents, Geb and Nut, and his step-brother and cousin, A, and who now hated S as much as the 18 year-old did, even though the usurper was to them respectively son and uncle.

The relevant divine court met in one of Memphis’ main temples. S was allowed to present his case for retaining his throne, which centred on his slanderous claim that he was the only rightful heir of O because H was not the son of the late king but an illegitimate child resulting from I’s affair in widowhood with someone else.

Given the unfriendly composition of the divine court, it is not surprising that S’s claims were dismissed in favour of H’s accession to the throne. The new young pharaoh was also told that, in his new role, he could decide what to do with his uncle as punishment for murdering O and usurping the crown.

H again chose not to execute S. The new 18 year-old king, the second legitimate pharaoh of Aegyptia, instead decided on what he considered an even worse penance for such a haughty man as his uncle.

In revenge for perpetrating the same on O, S was to be emasculated. He would then be allowed to live as a eunuch priest in a remote temple, ironically dedicated to the fertility god.

Meanwhile, I, with the help of A, re-gathered the mummified and scattered parts of O’s body for proper internment. H, who kept his capital at Memphis but built his tomb at Abydos, also had his own intact genitals regularly and productively pleasured by the still very attractive woman who was once his wet nurse, Hathor, because he married her before going on to become a great pharaoh.

(Imperial palace, Palatine Hill, Rome, about 3000 years later)

‘Many the transformations of the gods,

And many things they judge as we do not,

And what appeared was what not was fulfilled.

The god found a way through the unlikely,

And that was how this matter concluded.’

- Euripides (conclusion of a number of his tragedies)

Gaius stopped his narration, but not his stroking of my hair, and my intrigued mind returned to the present from apparently reliving his fascinating tale. "Well," I then asked, "who were these abbreviated personages and how do they relate to Paul’s version of the Jewish ‘Christian’ sect?"

Gaius, who knew that I was no expert on world religions, then patiently explained, "O was Osiris, I was Isis, S was Seth, H was Horus, T was Thoth and A was Anubis, who became key gods of the Aegyptian pantheon. Lesser deities include Geb, Nut, Nephthys, Wepwawet and Hathor."

"The boyhood hairstyle of Horus, who is now associated with hawks, is still sported by juvenile Aegyptian nobility today, as well as being named after him. Also eponymous is his eye, incorrectly supposed to have been lost in battle, which is reproduced in paint on the bow of boats from his homeland, as well as on protective amulets, and is additionally a unit of measure for grain. A full ‘eye’, which can be subdivided into halves, quarters, eighths, sixteenths, thirty-secondths and sixty-fourths, is equivalent to a barrel."

"You see," Gaius advised, "how true stories about real people can be so contorted over time that the personalities are eventually transformed into gods and associated with all sorts of divine and miraculous happenings. Their true lives are distorted and become silly religious dogma."

Gaius then concluded: "Paul of Tarsus appears to be attempting the same with the life of Jesus Christ!"

(Domus of Callistus, patrician quarter, Palatine Hill, Rome, same time)

‘One man’s wickedness may easily become all men’s curse.’

- Publius Syrus

Quiet had descended on the Emperor’s lavish palace on the Palatine Hill with the onset of evening. Having completed his duties for the day, Callistus decided that the time was safe to return to his nearby domus for a few hours in order to update himself about the operation of his large household. Claudius’ very important and rich freedman, responsible for petitions and other legal matters, had already been careful enough to ensure that he would not be missing out on any political intrigue, which might affect his position, by temporarily leaving the Imperial residence.

Callistus, whose vast wealth mainly emanated from the bribes he took, thought that he might even spend a rare night in his own home before returning early next morning to the quarters he kept in the palace. Such a luxury should enable him to become reacquainted with not only the current situation regarding the large retinue of servants and slaves who looked after his huge domus but also his daughter, Nymphida, and grandson, Nymphidius Sabinus, whom he seldom saw.

Callistus’ desire to see Nymphida was immediately disabused by his own head freedman, responsible for the operation of the whole household. He advised his master that the lady of the house was spending the evening elsewhere.

Callistus was disappointed but not surprised. The Imperial freedman had long known that his daughter was well named, being a rather shameless nymphomaniac. She was undoubtedly attending some rich patrician’s all-night orgy, where she would be regularly pleasured by some combination of host, other guests and slaves, including some of erotic acrobats and dancers invariably hired for such occasions.

Callistus’ domestic freedman confirmed that Nymphidius Sabinus was at home but requested his master to raise a particular issue with his grandson, illegitimate offspring of the late mad Emperor Gaius Caligula, when he saw the 13 year-old. "I regret to report, Sir," the man advised, "that the child has been abusing some of the slave boys, usually pretty ones slightly older than him, and thereby causing some disruption to the efficient running of your household."

Callistus, who was sadly aware that his grandson was not a likeable child and possessed a strong sadistic streak, asked for details. In part answer, the domestic freedman summoned young Endymion, who had been that day’s victim of Nymphidius Sabinus’ perverse cruelty.

Endymion, attired only in his short, sleeveless slave tunic, was still unable to walk properly without flinching in pain. As the very attractive boy was subsequently brought into Callistus’ presence, it was therefore immediately evident to the Imperial freedman that the 15 year-old had recently suffered severely.

"Turn round, boy," the domestic freedman commanded Endymion, "and raise your tunic so that our master can see what’s been perpetrated on your bottom!" The 15 year-old was naturally inherently reluctant to comply with such a personally degrading order but knew better than to disobey or show any hesitation. After all, Callistus could literally do anything he wanted with his own slaves, who were not people but chattels.

Endymion gingerly turned round and lifted his tunic to reveal his bare bottom to his master’s appalled eyes. The boy’s normally lustrously creamy rear curves were now displayed as a patchwork of various yellow, brown and purple hues, lightened a little by the shiny ointment applied to help relieve the resultant constant throbbing pain. Callistus’ shock at the sight of the 15 year-old’s sore raw posterior was then illustrated by the horrified gasp that emanated from the man’s lips.

"What did the boy do to deserve such chastisement from my grandson?" Callistus subsequently asked, with clear disgust at the damage perpetrated on his young slave’s bottom evident in his voice. "He failed to masturbate productively, Sir," answered the domestic freedman, whilst displaying an expression of contempt in respect of the fact that one of his charges had been required to indulge in such a perversity for the entertainment of the wicked young master of the house.

The title of ‘freedman’ indicated that, like Callistus himself, the senior domestic servant had also once been a slave until granted liberty by his master in return for long, loyal and efficient service. The two men therefore possessed greater sympathy for the plight of the servile class than most of those born into citizenship, although the need for household efficiency and discipline dictated that miscreants would nevertheless be suitably punished for their misdemeanours.

"How many times were you hit, boy?" Callistus now enquired of Endymion, who was still holding his tunic up to expose his exceedingly sore bare bottom for inspection by his master. "I….I don’t know precisely, Sir," the boy replied with a little abashed hesitation, "but I had to count up to ten twice and another five twice, and some blows were repeated when I forgot to count or fell over."

"I estimate, Sir," the domestic freedman helpfully intervened to relate, "from what the boy tells me and from examination of his wounds, that he was struck about forty times by your grandson’s ferula. I would naturally have no problem with such punishment if it was deserved. However, beating slaves apparently just for pleasure not only causes disarray to routine by unnecessarily reducing the effectiveness of servants but also can create disruptive disharmony within the household."

"I agree," Callistus commented before exclaiming: "Gods, what sort of little monster has my daughter brought into this world?"

(Imperial palace, Palatine Hill, Rome, same time)

‘Sub Tiberio quies.’

(‘Under Tiberius, calm.’)

- Tacitus (the only three words the historian used in relation to the history of Palestine during the reign of the Emperor Tiberius)

"Jesus was actually no more than a radical Jewish reformer," Gaius continued, "albeit a decent, eloquent and valiant one, whose philosophies were quite worthy. Neither he nor anyone who knew and supported him would claim anything else. He was sadly also one of a total of six supposed ‘Messiahs’ to be hunted down and crucified in the reign of the Emperor Tiberius, during a period of incompetent and greedily corrupt Roman administrators and growing revolutionary movements, regular rioting and much brigandage."

"I don’t know why," Gaius advised, "Paul of Tarsus chose Jesus for particular and distorted adulation but I do believe that Christ would have been appalled at his attempts to ascribe divinity to him!"

(Domus of Callistus, patrician quarter, Palatine Hill, Rome, same time)

‘How much more human to manifest towards wrongdoers a kind and fatherly spirit….’

- Seneca the Younger

"What do you propose to do, Sir?" the domestic freedman asked of his master. "I’ll request my grandson to refrain from such activities," was the not unexpected weak answer from Callistus.

Despite Nymphidius Sabinus’ glaring faults of character, Callistus still loved his only grandson, for whom he had lofty ambitions. The attitude of the Imperial freedman, who, in the absence of a male parent, possessed the fatherly power of ‘pater potestas’ over the boy, was encouraged by the fawning angelic innocence always cleverly adopted by the 13 year-old whenever he was in his grandfather’s company.

Callistus was astute enough to know that his grandson did not show his true self whenever he was in his grandfather’s presence but he could never rile himself to admonish the boy severely for misdemeanours, such as that perpetrated on Endymion. He would invariably instead politely ask the 13 year-old not to repeat his transgressions, requests that the spoilt but rather lonely child, who did not attend school but was being educated by private tutors, often subsequently wickedly ignored.

Appreciating that mild admonishment and prohibition was again unlikely to work and that his grandson would consequently certainly return to abusing slave boys, Callistus now decided on a different solution to resolve the issue. The Imperial freedman therefore added to the answer he had already given to his senior domestic servant about what he proposed to do.

"Also," Callistus accordingly commanded, "I’ll remove temptation from my grandson. Have all the slave boys involved sold and replaced with people who are not so young and pretty!"

Endymion, still holding his tunic to expose his bottom, was appalled to hear the Imperial freedman’s order, as being resold could actually worsen his fortunes. The boy’s father and mother were also slaves within Callistus’ household, as was technically his baby brother, Sporos, although the infant was currently too young to perform any chores.

Resale at market would therefore cause Endymion to be separated from his family. However, typical Roman masters cared little for such considerations, generally keeping such familial groups together only if there were efficiencies and other rewards to be gained from such arrangements, such as the procreation of the next generation of slaves. Children so produced were prime candidates for later profitable disposal.

Endymion realised that any new master could also be even crueller than Nymphidius Sabinus, or live in far less comfortable circumstances and require far more arduous work from his new slave. Worse still, a pretty boy like him could end up in a brothel or be castrated to join the entourage of some rich Roman lady.

Endymion’s concern made him infringe protocol by altering his position and talking without permission. The boy dropped the uplifted hem of his tunic, turned round and shamelessly fell to his knees.

"Please, Sir," Endymion then begged of Callistus, as tears formed in his sensuous dark eyes, "please don’t sell me." The boy’s impertinent actions shocked and appalled both his master and the domestic freedman, with the latter being the first to castigate the 15 year-old for his insubordination.

The domestic freedman struck Endymion across his beautiful face, causing the kneeling boy to cry aloud and fall sideways onto the floor. "Stand up, you insolent brat," the man then threatened, "and be quiet or you’ll receive more blows from a ferula on your sore backside!"

Given the option, Endymion, trying to hide his sobs and stop his tears, obeyed. As the boy did so, Callistus carefully observed him comply with the domestic freedman’s order.

"Make sure," Callistus, who, despite his immense wealth, remained rather parsimonious, then instructed his domestic freedman, "that this boy’s bottom is fully repaired before he goes to market. I don’t want his price reduced by any physical imperfection in respect of what would normally be one of his prize assets. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if a pederast, manager of an erotic acrobatic or dancing troupe or brothel-keeper were lured by such pleasant attributes into paying very good money for him!"

The tearful and anxious Endymion somehow found Callistus’ flattering comment unhelpful.

(Domus of Gaius Musonius Rufus, Subura Quarter, Rome, 2 months later, Iun. DCCV A.V.C. [late June 52])

‘Death is nothing to us, since when we are, death has not come, and when death has come, we are not.’

- Epicurus

My beloved Gaius encouraged Tyanus to disclose the contents of the letter the 12 year-old had just received from his similarly aged Chaeronean friend, Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus, which had taken 2 months to reach Rome from Greece. The young man from Volsinii did so not only to allow Achilleus, Hylas, Selene and himself to share the news within the papyrus scroll but also to provide the boy recipient with further reading practice.

With Gaius’ help, Tyanus, a native Greek from Tyana in Asia Minor via Alexandria in Aegyptia, was becoming increasingly proficient in both verbal and written Latin but still needed every opportunity to practise the subject in order to improve further. Everyone now found the 12 year-old’s revelation of his friend’s narrative both clear and very interesting until one particular piece of news was reached, which caused Achilleus to burst into tears.

Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus did not know of Achilleus’ true secret background. The young Chaeronean had therefore innocently reported in his letter that, not long after Gaius and his boy entourage had left Athens’ port of Piraeus for home, a group of notorious pirates, who had previously terrorised Greek waters before being captured by the Roman navy, had arrived in chains. The name of the leader of the men was Peleus, and he had suffered particularly cruelly when all were subsequently crucified.

After Tyanus’ reading of his letter had concluded prematurely with this piece of information, Gaius’ domus remained very sombre for a while, whilst Achilleus grieved for his deceased father, Peleus, and prayed to the gods for the wellbeing of the parental soul in Hades. However, Axenius, cleverly secretly summoned by the young man from Volsinii via a verbal message relayed urgently by the always compliant Hylas, eventually rescued the situation. The 22 year-old Germanian arrived with Anacletus, Axenia and Arius, as well as Caratacus’ five children, who were regular visitors to his own residence, particularly as now during the summer when no schooling or tutoring occurred.

The arrival of the eight other close young friends and the subsequent play indulged by all within Gaius’ small and now suddenly rather very crowded domus soon enabled Achilleus at least temporarily to forget his father’s horrible death in faraway Piraeus.

(Ostia, same time)

‘I am not a king but Caesar.’

- Julius Caesar

Lucanus watched as Ostia’s quayside retreated from view, as his ship approached the harbour mouth. The 13 year-old boy could just about still see his 18 year-old friends, Persius and Quintilianus, waving to him.

Lucanus, accompanied by his conscientious and watchful adult slave, was reluctantly returning home for the summer holidays to Corduba, capital of Baetica in southern Hispania, whilst Persius and Quintilianus remained in Rome. The 13 year-old would have much preferred to have stayed with P and Q but family duty sadly necessitated otherwise.

The coast of Latium eventually also slowly disappeared from sight, being replaced by the currently calm blue waves of that part of the Mare Internum, flanked by western Italia and the isles of Corsica, Sardinia and Sicilia, called the ‘Mare Tyrrhenum’. Lucanus then went to his cabin below decks to read a book.

The book was an interesting but ultimately somehow unsatisfactory account of the battle of Pharsalus in Greece, which had taken place almost precisely a century previously, during one of the Roman civil wars. Julius Caesar’s heavily outnumbered veteran legions, which had previously helped him to conquer Gaul, had, through inspired generalship, defeated Pompey’s senatorial army.

As Lucanus read the narrative, his highly intelligent mind began to consider the great conflict in wider historical context. The boy then began to formulate the idea that the end of the Roman republic had begun that day on the bloody battlefield of Pharsalus. Despite his tender years, the 13 year-old had already decided that he disliked the autocratic Imperial system, preferring the notion of representative government.

As young Lucanus subsequently contemplated what he had read, he fatefully decided that he could someday write a better account of the battle of Pharsalus, which he would also use as propaganda to support his republican idealism.

(Domus of Gaius Musonius Rufus, Subura Quarter, Rome, same time)

‘Antisthenes used to say that envious people were devoured by their own disposition, just as iron is by rust.’

- Diogenes

Claudius undertook one of his now rare ventures out of the Imperial palace. The Emperor’s main motivation resulted from the fact that he was to perform the ceremonial dedication to the gods of a new monument that celebrated his own glory, as the arch, the second ‘Arcus Claudius’, commemorated his successful invasion of my homeland of Britannia.

The first ‘Arcus Claudius’ had been one of the arches of the aqueduct called the ‘Aqua Virgo’. The latter was named after the virgin girl who supposedly showed some soldiers the location of the springs, situated about 8 miles from Rome, which formed the plentiful water-source and near to which a shrine still commemorates the legend.

The Aqua Virgo is one of the lowest and shortest of Rome’s aqueducts, with the copious water-flow from the source springs to the city running mostly through a long subterranean conduit until reaching the Pincian Hill and the magnificent ‘Horti Luculliani’, or ‘Gardens of Lucullus’. The latter, as I have previously described, were once owned by Valerius Asiaticus and were the scene not only of his suicide at the instigation of Messalina, who coveted his property, but also rather appropriately later of the execution of that scheming Empress. The first ‘Arcus Claudius’, spanning an ancient street, had been damaged and allowed to fall into disrepair by Caligula’s attempt, abandoned after his assassination, to build his own amphitheatre in the vicinity but was repaired in monumental form by his successor, 5 years prior to the current dedication.

The second ‘Arcus Claudius’, also forming part of the aqueduct, was a completely new construction, specially commissioned to aggrandise the Emperor’s achievement in successfully conquering Britannia. The arch spanned the Via Lata, just north of the Saepta Julia. The latter is the rectangular marble complex on the Campus Martius, surrounded by a mile-long portico, that is supposed to be used for municipal voting but more regularly in Imperial times acts as another occasional venue for gladiatorial contests, including the naval variety, ‘naumachiae’.

Given that glorification of Claudius’ role in the conquest of much of my homeland might be distasteful to me, whom the Emperor now treated with great kindness, the Princeps considerately excused me from his service for the whole day, appointing another food-taster for the subsequent celebratory banquet. I therefore took the rare opportunity to visit Gaius at his own domus rather than compelling him to frequent my room in the Imperial palace.

I was naturally surprised but not displeased to discover not only Gaius, Hylas, Achilleus, Tynanus and Selene in my beloved’s small but pleasant domus but also my friend, Axenius, and eight other currently raucous children, for some of whom I was soon the object of some attention. However, the latter scenario merely involved acting as a barrier in an energetic game of tag between them.

Over the course of the previous 2 months, I had already been introduced to Gaius’ new slave, Selene, who had exhibited due courtesy and outward affability towards me. However, although I did not confess my perception to anyone, I thought that I also detected a little disguised hostility, not from her actions or words but from the look in her sensuous dark eyes. As we politely again greeted each other on this occasion, my concern returned.

I, of course, did not appreciate the fact at the time but Selene was secretly extremely envious of my relationship with the wonderful young man from Volsinii. Her jealousy had also made her determined to deprive me of my status as Gaius’ lover and instead tempt the 22 year-old to her bed as opposed to mine.

(Praenestine Gate, Rome, next day)

‘Every individual is the architect of his own fortune.’

- Emperor Claudius

Axenius had personally gone to meet Gnaeus Julius Agricola, as soon as he had been advised by messenger despatched by the ship’s captain that the boy’s vessel had arrived in what Claudius was busily improving and confirming as Rome’s main port. After exchanging polite greetings with the 12 year-old, the 22 year-old Germanian then chose to instruct his carpentum driver to take a route back from Ostia to the eternal city that would enter the Imperial capital through the Praenestine Gate.

One of the secondary roads from Ostia crossed major and minor thoroughfares coming from the south, including the Via Appia and Via Labicana. The latter route ran 15 Roman miles to Labici and then joined the Via Latina, which led to Tusculum and beyond.

Axenius’ carpentum advanced north along the Via Labicana because this road formerly entered Rome through the Praenestine Gate, or ‘Porta Praenestina’, just after merging with the Via Praenestina, which ventured 25 miles east to the town of Praeneste. The reason for this indirect route to the Germanian’s rather palatial domus then became obvious, as the 22 and 12 year-olds left their coach, which could not encroach into the city during daylight without an appropriate concessionary Imperial permit, in order to walk the rest of the way. Agricola’s copious luggage, which was being carried on top of the horse-drawn transport would follow on the vehicle after sunset.

Axenius and Agricola left the carpentum just outside the Sepulchrum Eurysacis, which is situated on the fork of the Vias Labicana and Praenestina and is the tomb of Marcus Vergilius Eurysaces, a very rich baker who lived at the time of the republic. The trapezoidal building, measuring roughly 9, 7, 6 and 4 paces on its four inscribed sides, is of concrete with travertine facing in the form of rows of horizontal and vertical cylinders, designed to represent measures for grain and vessels for mixing dough. Above are a cornice and a frieze covered with reliefs, representing the various operations involved in breadmaking, and at the corners are pilasters.

"I hope you don’t mind walking rather than using a litter," the extremely handsome Axenius commented to the very pretty Agricola, to whom he had taken an instant liking, "but I don’t believe that slaves should have the degrading task of having to carry others around." "Not at all," the boy truthfully responded, "because I totally agree with you."

Axenius’ attitude to litters was understandable, given that he was formerly a slave himself. Meanwhile, the disposition of Agricola, who emanated from a distinguished equestrian family, was entirely compatible with his pleasant considerate nature.

"Are these new?" Agricola then asked, in respect of the twin aqueduct arches that now basically comprised the Praenestine Gate and through one of which he and Axenius were currently striding. "Yes," the Germanian eunuch replied, "which is why I’ve brought you this way in keeping with my promise to your mother to show you the best of Rome. Emperor Claudius himself just yesterday dedicated them to the gods. As we emerge on the other side, you’ll be able to see the relevant Imperial inscription!"

The Roman water supply was just as important to Claudius as meeting the demand of the masses for grain. As well as repairing Agrippa’s Aqua Virgo, which Caligula had allowed to be damaged and fall into disrepair, the Emperor therefore also completed the Aqua Claudia and the Anio Novus by bringing them over the Praenestine Gate.

The whole structure is of travertine, about 32 paces high and 24 wide. The two principal arches, which are at a very slight angle to each other, are approximately 14 paces high and over 6 wide and deep.

In the central pier is a smaller archway, just over 5 paces high and almost 2 wide. Above this, and at the same level in the north and south, are other arched openings, Corinthian columns and an entablature. The overall workmanship is of a high standard, with two elaborate water storage basins nearby completing the hydraulic engineering.

As Agricola and Axenius emerged formally into Rome and into the sunlight from the arch through which they had walked, the boy’s intrigued eyes finally read the Imperial inscription mentioned by the Germanian. Some of Claudius’ fawning engineers had rather inaccurately proclaimed on the ‘porta’ that the Emperor had built the two aqueducts at his own expense.

(Imperial palace, Palatine Hill, Rome, same time)

‘Sing the song of woe, the song of woe, but may the good prevail!’

- Aeschylus (‘Agamemnon’)

"It’s another symbol of my declining influence with the Emperor," Narcissus sadly confided in me. I had as usual just furtively advised him about my daily audience with Agrippina, to whom I had supposedly equally secretly related my knowledge of her husband’s activities undertaken since I had last seen her.

Narcissus was referring to Claudius’ recent creation of the new position of ‘Procurator of the Tiber Bank’, about which the Emperor’s secretary had known nothing until I told him. I knew because I had been present, as the Princeps’ slave attendant, at the relevant meeting with another Imperial freedman, the eunuch Posides, who was obviously still favoured because he was being appointed to the post, which was potentially highly lucrative as it could attract bribes from commercial developers.

Rome was still subject to occasional flooding from an overflowing Tiber and the situation was another civic defect that Claudius was attempting to improve. The Emperor had already set minimum distances from the river where buildings could be constructed and the creation of the new post was his attempt to enliven the relevant senatorial commission, which had been established by Tiberius to tackle the same issue but had proved rather ineffective.

"Perhaps I should retire," Narcissus then commented, "to a faraway place where Agrippina can’t perpetrate vengeance against me." However, without having to say so, both the Imperial secretary and I appreciated that no such location now existed within the vast Roman Empire, given the Empress’ quick acquisition of significant influence and power.

(Temple of Iupiter Optimus Maximus, Capitoline Hill, Rome, next day)

‘Ut uarias usus meditando extunderet artes.’

(‘That need and thought should useful arts devise.’)

- Virgil in explanation as to why Jupiter made life hard for men (‘Georgics’, 1.133)

Axenius and Agricola watched as the ox was stunned with a pole-axe in front of the ornate external altar of Iupiter Optimus Maximus, prior to having its throat cut. As the blood then seeped from the new wound, priests cut open the poor animal to examine its entrails in order to check the omens.

"Let’s hope that the omens are good," Axenius commented to Agricola, "for you and your holiday in Rome." However, the Germanian was being slightly impertinent to the gods, as the sacrifice of the ox was not in honour of the boy or his expedition to the Imperial capital. The pair had instead deliberately visited the city’s most important and oldest temple at this time in order to be amongst the many worshippers observing the current sacred event, as usual from outside the temple, at the foot of the tall steps leading to the external altar.

According to legend, the founder of Rome, Romulus, first established the temple of Iupiter Optimus Maximus on the Capitoline Hill when he dedicated his ‘spolia opima’, which were the arms of his enemy opponent won in single combat with the leader of the Sabini. However, according to more believable tradition, the sacred place had been promised by the first king, Tarquinius Superbus, but had actually been completed by the initial Consul of the republic, Horatius.

The ancient temple, over 7 centuries old, was not only dedicated to Jupiter but also to the goddesses Juno and Minerva, the divine threesome thereby becoming known as the ‘Capitoline Triad’. The building had also once housed the sacred Sibylline Books, which, as I have previously hinted, were someday to have an important influence on my life. However, Augustus had transferred them to Apollo’s sanctuary on the Palatine Hill.

The temple of Iupiter Optimus Maximus is the largest archaic Roman structure known, although both natural and man-made disasters have necessitated much rebuilding over the centuries. The colossal foundations were built on a rocky outcrop, and in my day the building is colonnaded on three sides, whilst the back wall is set blindly into the hillside. It possesses a deep ‘pronaos’, or roofed portico, preceded by a wide flight of steps and three cells, or ‘cellae’, dedicated to each of the Capitoline Triad. The ones on the left and right are those respectively of Juno and Minerva, whilst the central amenity is that of Jupiter.

113 years before the joint attendance of Axenius and Agricola at the temple, a gigantic but graceful chryselephantine, meaning covered with ivory and gold, statue of Jupiter had been placed in the god’s cella. Other resplendent statuary and sculptures, of marble, terracotta and other materials, decorated the place, including a huge bronze depiction of a four-horse chariot, or ‘quadriga’, adorning the roof.

Iupiter Optimus Maximus presides over the state’s welfare and many of Rome’s most important civic ceremonies are centred on the god’s temple. For example, new Consuls, on annually entering office, pledge offerings to the deity there in return for the welfare of the people during their 1-year terms. They also fulfil the sacrificial vows of their predecessors.

The triumphal processions of victorious generals, attired in the same style as the statue of Iupiter Optimus Maximus within the temple, conclude there, as their success was undoubtedly due to the god’s influence over events. In return, they dedicate their victor’s laurel wreaths and sacrifice a white bull to the deity. Every Roman male is additionally supposed to sacrifice to Jupiter there after he accepts the toga virilis of manhood.

Subject nations also often fawningly ask to make offerings within the Capitoline temple in order to beg Iupiter Optimus Maximus to continue to care for Rome’s wellbeing. However, the privilege is only granted to the most favoured.

Axenius whispered to Agricola, as they continued to watch the sacrificial rite, granted to a Britannian client kingdom, which was significant of the importance afforded to the current political situation on the still not fully conquered island. "My late master," the Germanian informed, "usually couldn’t be witness to such a scene without feeling ill. You, however, seem unaffected."

"I’m only superficially unaffected," Agricola confessed honestly in reply, "as inside I hate to see suffering and death, especially if they are unnecessary. However, sacrifices to the gods are needed and anyway I’ll require a strong stomach for my intended career!" "Oh," Axenius then asked of the very pleasant boy, "what’s that to be?"

"I decided during the voyage to Ostia from Forum Julii," 12-year-old Agricola confidently answered, in rather providential circumstances, "that I want to become the great general who finally completes the conquest of Britannia!"

(Imperial palace, Palatine Hill, Rome, same time)

‘Because they are my gods!’

- Anacreon of Teos when asked why he celebrated beautiful young boys rather than the gods.

"It’s your turn to tell me some stories," Gaius commented, as we again indulged in post-sex pillow talk in the room I shared with Apollinus in the Imperial palace. I instantly knew what the young man from Volsinii wanted me to relate to him, as I had been promising for 2 months to advise him all about what Claudius had kindly told me. However, we had previously been diverted by my selfish desire to hear my beloved’s voice and anecdotes rather than my own.

I now appreciated that I could delay no longer, especially after Gaius threatened to tickle me to death if I did not obey his command to reveal all. The very learned young man from Volsinii had earlier dismissed my suggestion that he probably already knew all of the various histories that I could relate as "Nonsense!" The 22 year-old had added "And even if I do, I want to experience the ecstasy of hearing them from the sweet rosy lips of the most beautiful boy who has ever lived!"

Dear patient reader of my long saga, how could I refuse such begging, especially as the entreaty was accompanied by a pleading smile on Gaius’ very handsome face? We therefore settled down in each other’s arms so that I could tell my beloved about some of his historic predecessors.

I told Gaius about the most famous lovers of boys in all of previous history.

(To be continued in chapter XLIX – ‘Lovers’)