“Are the pleasures of Rhodes to be enjoyed?”
“Ay! Even more! Sestus Gallus knows how to contrive new pleasures. He was disgraced by the Divine Augustus. Even thou didst once reprimand him in the Senate for his openly lascivious life. Now thou canst repay him by taking him with thee.”
“Send for him. Send also for the poet, Asellius Sabinus. His witty and unseemly verse will enliven the evenings there. Make known to him that my liberality will be no less than when I, under the spell of Bacchus, presented him with two hundred thousand sesterces for his poem called ‘The Dispute between the Truffle and the Fig-pecker, and the Oyster and the Thrush.’”
“Titus Priscus would be a good addition to thy new household.”
“Ha, ha! Priscus, who is ashamed to show his face in Rome? Ay, send for him! Capri will tremble with our orgies!”
Sejanus had never before seen the emperor so contented. Now was the opportunity for which he had waited. On the crest of this happy wave he floated his great and ambitious desire. He stood before the emperor, who had thrown himself on a couch, and said: “Before thou leavest the city, I would crave of thee a favor, O mighty Tiberius. Thou hast been lavish in bestowing upon me honors and distinctions. True, I am a descendant of a Roman knight and have little family record, still I am a supplicant before thee. Accustomed I have been to the kindness of the Divine Augustus, and subsequently to thy numerous decisions in my favor. Therefore would I rather address my hopes and prayers to princes than to gods. Never have I sought the glare of honors. Watching and toiling, like one of the common soldiers, for thy safety has been my choice. However, what has been most glorious for me has been attained,—that is, to be thought worthy of alliance with thee. Hence the foundation for my present hopes; since the Divine Augustus, in the disposal of his daughter, had considered even some of the Roman knights. Therefore I beg thee, O noble Tiberius, if a husband is sought for Livilla, that thou wouldst remember thy friend, who would seek no other advantage than the high honor of such an alliance.”
“I will deal candidly with thee, O faithful minister. By the marriage to Livilla, the partisans of the house of Caesar would flame out with far more fury. What would be the consequences if by such a marriage the strife were inflamed? Thou art deceived if thou thinkest to continue in the same rank as now. Livilla, who has already been the wife of Caius Caesar and of Drusus, will not be satisfied to grow old with a husband no higher than a Roman knight. Nay, supposing that I suffered thee afterwards to remain what thou art; believest thou that they who saw her father, her brother, and the ancestors of our house enjoying the highest dignities will ever suffer such a marriage? However, neither thine own inclinations nor those of Livilla shall be thwarted by me. The secret purposes of my own heart towards thee and the further ties of affinity with which I am contriving to bind thee to me I shall at present forbear to reveal. This only will I disclose, that there is nothing too high for thy virtues and thy zeal towards me to merit. When opportunity presents either in the Senate or in popular assembly, I shall not hesitate to express my sentiments.”
“Most willingly do I yield to thy decision,” said Sejanus, as he bowed himself from the room.
Chapter XVI
AT last the emperor started for Capri. A gorgeous litter, supported by six stalwart Syrians, bore him to the Porta Capena, where carriages awaited him and his party. Besides the servants, there were with Tiberius the Senator Nerva, the Knight Atticus, Sejanus, Caligula, the little Tiberius, and a few Greek comedians. To the Senate the emperor had explained that his departure was occasioned by the need of his presence at the dedication of temples in Campania. The news of the emperor’s departure spread through the city like the announcement of a great victory of the legions. Crowds had, therefore, collected along the roads that led to the Porta Capena. At the parting signal from the trumpets of the accompanying Praetorian guards, there arose from the people a cry of joy that penetrated the bosom of Tiberius like a sharp poniard.