Domina Triumphans

Chapter 27: 48 AD, Rome, Lugdunum, and Western Britannia

Aemilia rolled over in bed, and landed on the tile, striking her head on the corner of a nightstand. She was dizzy, her ears were ringing, and she had no idea where she was. She tried to scramble onto her hands and knees, and crawl toward the chamber pot, which seemed to get no closer. She had a handmaid, but could not remember her name. Afraid of soiling herself, she pulled off her underwear, and kept trying to reach the chamberpot. There was a washstand beside it, and Aemilia clung to it as she balanced on the pot and did what she had to.

That chore over, she sat on the cold floor. A cup of wine was the best cure for a hangover, but there was none in the room. Her gut was hollow, but there was no food either. Again, she tried to remember her handmaid's name, but drew a blank. She had had so many over the years. She recalled being in the forum, dancing on the rostrum to the various tunes people were playing, then something striking her head, and Domitius carrying her somewhere. She had no idea how she ended up here. Someone came to her door and unlocked it. Domitius entered with a tray of food and set it on the table. He stood watching her.

"Aemililla, you have puked all over this room," he said.

He called her maid and a chamber servant and stepped out while they cleaned her and the mess. Aemilia found the tray and gulped the wine. The headache eased somewhat. She would need to eat and munched on some cheese and fruit to ease her stomach. Domitius returned and sat across from her at the table. They were two of seven siblings. Gnaeus and Aemilius, now dead, then Domitius, Lepida who was married to Beaky, Aemilia, the widow of Nero Caesar, Lepidilla, the wife of Marcellus Gallio, and Domitia, who was found dead by suicide within a year of her marriage to Sejanus' son Strabo. Like the rest of the Triumviral families, they were on top of the world and had nothing good to show for it.

Their paternal great-grandfather was Triumvir Marcus Lepidus, whose son married Antonia Major, a daughter of Antony. Their family lacked for nothing. As children, they had miles of parkland to hunt, fish, swim, ride, and dawdle away their days. The boys got lessons, when their tutors could keep their interest. The girls got nothing. Aemilia, forty this year, could not read or write. Beaky and Gallio later paid tutors to educate their wives.

Along with their Imperial cousins and several other royal and highborn heirs, the Sejanii, the Marcellii, the Messalii, the Blaesii, as well as Great Herod's children, the Ptolemies of Mauritania, and offshoots of Arminius and Vercingetorix, the Triumviral brood discovered nightlife in their early teens. Wine, drugs, and sex were constants. Domitius guessed that what saved him was the fact that he loved history and poetry enough to knuckle down at lessons, and later discovered that he was a sick drunk. Too much wine brought on stomach cramps and kept him on or near the pot for hours. And he did not like being out of control of his mind. He was also a tribune in XIV under Old Julius Antonius, who reminded him continually of the dangers the Antonii were prone to. Julius and Domitia kept Beaky on the straight and narrow, and safeguarded Lepida, as Gallio's family did for Lepidilla.

Gnaeus, Aemilius, and Aemilia were shit out of luck. Gnaeus and Aemilius were forced to commit suicide by Caligula, with Domitius assisting, and Aemilia was passed around from one wealthy man to another. After Nero's death, she was released from prison and went from bed to bed. No one wanted her as a wife. She found a place in her cousin Valeria's court, where her drinking and silly obsession with Iolarix of Gaul were the butt of jokes she never got. Now, she had pissed Claudius off and Balba had sent Domitius a message.

.. She needs to end it honorably, before he puts an end to her himself. This is my final warning and last word....

Domitius stepped into the next room and poured a cup of wine. Years ago, he had bought a vial of something from Locusta in case he ever needed it. Opening the container, he dripped the liquid into the goblet. He carried it into Aemilia's room and set the cup on the table.