‘Queen of Thracia, I know, I met her when I was with the Fourth Scythica there.’
‘Of course; so then you’re aware that she has always been a friend of Rome’s.’
‘So why would the Parthians help Radamistus to seize the throne if his family is pro-Roman?’
‘Assuming, again, that Narcissus is right and they did, with Agrippina somehow involved, that is what you have to find out while you help Mithridates back to his rightful place where we originally put him.’
‘Me? Depose the usurper? I’ll need an army for that.’
‘That’s what we’re trying to avoid; if we send an army in we’ll be at war with Parthia. It may come to that but where would we take the legions from?’
‘Perhaps you shouldn’t have invaded an irrelevant island like Britannia and then tied up four legions trying to keep hold of it.’
‘What’s done is done and it achieved the political aim at the time of giving Claudius a victory and securing his position.’ Pallas paused and regarded Vespasian for a moment. ‘But I will admit that the repercussions of that venture have gravely reduced our aggressive power. We can’t strip any more legions from the Rhenus; we can’t risk moving them from the Danuvius as, although nothing has happened as yet, we must assume that the embassy was to encourage the northern tribes to push south into Moesia. The two Egyptian legions and the single African one protect the grain supply from those provinces and so cannot be moved and the Hispanic ones are busy most of the time cowing the locals. And if we send the Syrian legions in, Parthia could sweep through the province to Our Sea, no doubt aided by those treacherous Jews, if they can manage to unite themselves; although my brother Felix, whom I persuaded the Emperor to make procurator of Judaea, tells me that they are still as argumentative as ever.’
‘So we can’t afford to go to war.’
‘Not at the moment; we need a few years to prepare.’
‘So you want me to achieve by intrigue what we’re unable to do with force in order to remedy a situation that threatens the stability of the Empire that may have been instigated by the Empress herself for reasons that seem to escape everybody?’
Pallas’ face remained unmoved. ‘Yes.’
Vespasian laughed, loud and hollow. ‘It’ll cost you.’
‘You could come back from this very well.’
‘I’m not asking to be paid to come back, I’m asking to be paid to go.’
‘What do you want?’
‘Protection from Agrippina, a guarantee of a province when I return, my brother to be exonerated of all responsibility for losing this Parthian embassy and, just so I can get some financial gain from this situation, reinstatement into the equestrian class for a client of mine.’
‘I could guarantee all but the first; the Empress’s grudges are not easily forgotten.’
Vespasian thought for a moment. ‘But my wife’s are; in which case I also want the finest Gallic wet nurse available in the city. Make sure that Flavia knows just how much she costs.’
If Pallas felt surprise at that request he did not show it. ‘Very well. You’ll leave as soon as you step down from the consulship in a couple of days.’
‘But it’s still winter; the shipping lanes won’t be open yet.’
‘I’ll give you enough gold to tempt a crew out of their hibernation. You can cross to Epirus and then take the Via Egnatia to Macedonia; there you can question your brother and find out what it is that Narcissus suspects he knows that proves Agrippina’s treachery. As Caenis suggested, I’ve dismissed her from my service, ostensibly for disloyalty; Narcissus will assume that she refused to tell me what you talked about last night and think that he’s safe in trusting you.’
‘Caenis believes that Narcissus thinks my uncle is somehow important in that respect.’
‘I can’t see why but nevertheless you’ll take him with you: he can come back to Rome and give me the information once you’ve seen Sabinus.’
Vespasian knew that he would not be sending Gaius back with any information until he knew which freedman to give it to.
‘You, meantime, will carry on east in one of Sabinus’ ships and then travel overland from the coast and be in Armenia by the spring.’
‘Does Agrippina suspect that I have a dual mission?’
‘No, she suspects nothing. She’s just pleased that you’re going. Whether she is behind Radamistus or not, she isn’t concerned because she thinks that you will fail.’
‘Then she does suspect one thing.’
‘What?’
‘She suspects that I’ll never come back.’