‘Is it certain that the murderer was a slave?’ asked Tigellinus in tones of horror.
‘He was caught red-handed,’ said the messenger. ‘The dagger was wrenched from him, dripping with blood. His name is Vibius and he does not deny the crime.’
‘And what was his motive?’
‘Some say that the Præfect had promised him his liberty for a certain sum of money. The slave pinched himself for years to raise it, and when he brought the money Pedanius broke his bargain.’
The hearers only shrugged their shoulders.
‘That happens commonly enough,’ said Cæcina Tuscus, Nero’s foster-brother, who had himself been born a slave.
‘It only meant,’ said Senecio, ‘that the Præfect had changed his mind.’
‘Others say,’ continued the man, ‘that Pedanius had a favourite, who had been also a favourite of Vibius, who was driven wildly jealous.’
‘The notion of a slave presuming to have a favourite!’ lisped the effeminate Quintianus. ‘What next?’
‘How many slaves had Pedanius?’ asked Petronius.