Domina Victrix

Chapter 96: 40 AD, Rome, Mauretania, Caesarea, and Antioch

Caligula paced the floor of his study, knowing he had been played by just about everyone. He was a laughingstock to the mere mortals around him. His campaigns to Britannia and Germania were a bust, and he doubted they would ever move forward. Ditto the ships on Lake Nemi and the barges in Ostia. Pissed at being humiliated, Caligula was sure that Poseidon, god of the sea, had something against him personally. He sent orders that the men of V Alaudae, stationed on the Gaulish coast, would declare war on Poseidon himself, shooting catapult balls into the sea along the channel facing Britannia and pillaging shells from the beach, until Poseidon learned the errors of opposing him.

Yahweh was another deity who was out of line. His followers insisted that he was the only god anywhere and apparently he agreed. He and his son Yeshua exerted a strange effect on men's minds, since the people who worshipped them were willing to die for them. Caligula had ordered that a colossal gold statue of himself be erected in Yahweh's temple in Jerusalem. So far, though, the statue was under construction in Sidon, and the Emperor's two representatives in the region, Lucius Antonius and that disgusting Young Marcus, wasted their time negotiating with Jewish leaders instead of installing the statue by force.

Caligula had long considered replacing both men, but no one cared to go to Judea. Syria had, at one time, been a prime posting, but no one wanted that, either, probably because the Governor there also had to oversea Judean matters. He was stuck with the same configuration that had plagued Tiberius. The Aetii in Germania, the Bricii in Gaul, the Barcii in Hispania and Carthage, the Antonii in Syria. No one sought those assignments. No families pestered for tribune postings for their sons.

In fact, no one wanted anything to do with anything anymore. Senators arranged to be anywhere other than Rome. Marcus and Claudius presided over a near-empty Curia, sometimes having to wait days or week to get a quorum to vote on anything. Caligula suspected part of the problem was Marcus himself. Whenever Caligula indicated displeasure with any Senator, Marcus would pay that man a visit and let the Emperor know how chastened the offender was, and that he had agreed to retire to his estates. Then, months later, he would quietly come back to Rome as others were sent away. Domitius Lepidus was doing the same thing among the officers, moving men around various postings, then bringing them back.

To top matters off, there were the outlying royal families themselves. Milonia had born him a girl, and was about five months' pregnant. But, for the time being, he had no heirs except for Claudius. The Julii, Claudii, Drusii, and Livii had all gone extinct. Claudius had a daughter by Valeria, another Antonia, so there was some hope for the Germancii. Beyond that, he would have to look to the two Triumvir families, the Antonii being the nearest in blood.

The most senior representatives of the Antony family traced through Old Marcus' line. Senator Marcus was elderly and had no sons. Gaius was dead. Young Marcus had four boys. Marcellus was married now and would no doubt be just as fertile. The idea of Young Marcus forming an Imperial dynasty turned Caligula's stomach. Lucius was by no keans an option, though he had a son of marriageable age. Ditto for Beaky, who represented Antony's third son Julius, and had three boys. Antonias Major and Minor had a legion of grandsons. Then there was Cleopatra's progeny represented by Ptolemy of Mauretania and his three nephews.

Ptolemy was a seasoned ruler whose oppulent capital in Caesarensis rivaled the Empire's much larger cities. A capable commander and administrator, he could, in the event something happened to Caligula, make a seamless transition from King to Emperor. As this realization struck him, panic crested in Caligula's brain. He had an idea for how to deal with Ptolemy, but put that aside for now and went back to Antonia Major's line of descent.

Antonia had married twice, to Aemilius Lepidus' son, and later to Valerius Messala. By Lepidus, she had a daughter, Domitia, and a son, Domitius Lepidus Ahenobarbus. Domitia had been married to Senator Julius and was Beaky's mother. Domitius had a pack of children by his wife Claudia Marcella. Of these, Domitius had two healthy sons. Aemilius had sired no children. But Gnaeus had been married to Agrippina the Younger, and had a son, Nero, now going on three. Little Nero carried the family lines of Julius Caesar, Augustus, Agrippa, Antony, Lepidus, and Germanicus. When his parents were arrested, Little Nero was removed and placed within the Imperial household. If Milonia had no other sons, Caligula would adopt Little Nero.