I, Tiberius Claudius Drusus..
Nero Germanicus..
this-that-and-the-other...
who was once, and not so long ago,
better known to my friends and relatives as Claudius the Idiot,
or That Fool Claudius,
or Claudius the Stammered...
am now about to write this strange history of my life.
Are you there?
Yes you're there. I can feel it
I can feel your presence yes
I knew you would come the moment I began to write.
Yes it was inevitable.
it was prophesied by the Sibyl
Spies. Spies everywhere spying on me.
In my bed at my prayers on the street..
Even in the lavatory. Spies!
I'll cheat them every one.
it was prophesied by the Sibyl
I went to Cumae many years ago to consult her.
She was most famous
Her prophecies had achieved worldwide renown
and she did not consent to see everyone.
Unexpectedly, she consented to see me.
I was terrified.
"Oh Sibyl", I said
"I've c-come to question you about Rome's fate and mine."
"Hear me Cl-Cl-Claudius, " she answered mocking my stammer.
"Apollo speaks to you through me.
"Listen closely."
What groans beneath the Punic Curse
And strangles in the strings of purse
Before she mends must sicken worse.
Ten years, 50 days and three Clau-Clau-Claudius shall given be
A gift that all desire but he.
But when he's dumb and no more here
Nineteen hundred year or near,
Clau-Clau-Claudius shall speak clear.
Yes That's what it means
In nineteen hundred years from now they'll hear me.
Not before.
No.
A box. I need a box.
I'll put it all in here. My story.
My history of the family. Yes
And the end of the Republic Yes
When I've finished I'll seel it and bury it where no one will find it
No. No one.
Not for nineteen hundred years or more.
Then it will turn up suddenly.
People will read it They'll know the truth.
My voice as the Sibyl said as she prophesied
for them - not for these fools in Rome
but for them out there in remote posterity.
For you.
Yes. It will all be in here seeled.
You will find it, I promise you.
I, Claudius,
am now about to begin this strange history of my life...
of my family.
Of Livia my grandmother.
Of Augustus Caesar. Of Marcus Agrippa.
Yes And his hatred for Marcellus
Excellent! Excellent!
Thallus!
See they’re well taken care of. They were splendid.
- Yes, Caesar. - And see they’re properly fed.
They’ll eat better than the kitchen staff, Caesar.
There's no need to go that far. Better than us will be sufficient.
You know, Marcus, I like to eat sparingly.
There's too much gluttony in Rome.
But this one day is very special I like to make an exception.
And I've got a surprise for you. Two, as a matter of fact.
Thallus!
- Bring in the cake.
- But it's for the end of the meal - I want the family to see it.
Aristarchus of Athens is in Rome.
Oh, Marcus. They say that he's the greatest orator of our time,
and he's going to prepare an oration
for the anniversary of the battle of Actium.
- Oh, no!
- We had one last year. - That was last year.
Anyway, the speaker was dull This man, they say he's wonderful
"Seven years today sank Antony and his hopes in the harbour of Actium."
How the young mock the battle scars of their elders.
- Battle scars! - A lot of good men died there,
and a lot of good men got scarred. It's not right to make light of it.
- He's just being provocative. - No.
I think we exaggerate its significance.
Now, Marcellus, let's not argue. Marcus...
No. Let's hear what the young genius has to say.
- Well? - Look! Here is the cake.
- Do we get one each? - Julia, for heaven's sake!
- Marcus, do you recognise it? - It's my ship.
- You made it your headquarters. - She was a fine ship.
That must be you, Marcus. The candied cherry in the prow.
Marcellus, please. These things mean something to us.
We're taking ourselves a little seriously.
Not seriously enough.
Livia, isn't that a wonderful cake?
- Wonderful - Don't you like it?
Bring in the Greek. If you keep him waiting longer, he'll need a shave.
As a matter of fact he's bearded.
Thallus, bring in the Greek.
- Leave the cake. - Take the cake.
Marcus, they say that he writes a sort of prose hymn.
What can that mean? It's a form I've never heard of.
One of these new Greek inventions.
They’re always inventing. Why are they so clever?
If they’re so clever, why are they our province instead of vice versa?
- Ah, Aristarchus, welcome. - Hail. Caesar.
I hope we haven't kept you waiting.
Come. We're ready now.
Give us your piece.
Give me your peace, Caesar, and I shall gladly give you mine.
Yes, of course. I'm sorry. Thallus.
Caesar calls for silence!
What a voice. Perhaps we should change places?
Only the Romans can afford ushers with a voice like that.
- Did you have it trained? - I was an actor, sir.
That explains it. Resting, are you?
No, sir. I've given it up.
Everyone's an actor in Rome. There isn't enough work.
And what there is goes to friends. It's the same everywhere.
The theatre isn't what it was.
No. And I'll tell you something else.
It never was what it was.
Thallus, please discuss your personal problems in your own time.
Today is a day to drink and dance!
Let us rival the priests of Mars
with feats to dock the couches of the Gods.
Seven summers past,
the wild queen, Cleopatra,
dreaming her dreams of ruin on your lovely Empire,
sailed her hopes into the harbour of Actium,
and there, with noble Antony, spa curses on the ships of Caesar
and cried, "Sink Rome! And all her minions.
"Egypt's not for conquests!"
But words do not kill and curses sink no ships.
Before she could catch her scented breath, mighty Agrippa...
Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa.
Old friend and commander of the armies of Augustus -
Emperor of Rome and most remarkable man.
But even more remarkable was Livia his second wife.
If Augustus ruled the world, Livia ruled Augustus.
Octavia - Augustus’ sister...
mother of Marcellus
And next to him, Julia his wife - Augustus' only daughter.
Augustus was now clearly preferring Marcellus over Agrippa.
And Agrippa knew it
And Antony, once proud Antony,
fearing to be last,
chased her to the very gates of heaven!
Romans! Remember them!
Their fateful deaths grace your lives today with living legend.
Your names and theirs...
in history, will be forever intertwined.
Wonderful
What a gift you Greeks have.
Incidentally, the battle wasn't like that.
- No? - No, not at all
But you described it poetically. I understand that.
It was poetic licence. I'm used to that.
I write a little poetry myself. Could I show it to you sometime?
- I'd be honoured, Caesar. - It's nothing professional.
but it's not bad, though I say it myself.
Ah, Thallus has found a place for you.
We'll talk some more later.
Wasn't that beautiful?
He doesn't know about naval battles.
Well. it wasn't much of a battle, was it?
I beg your pardon?
One wine-soaked lover and his Egyptian whore?
I could have put up a better show myself.
Now, now, Marcellus.
- Let's not fool ourselves. - You know all about it, do you?
Yes. I've studied that battle and I'm not impressed.
It wasn't a famous victory. The result was a foregone conclusion.
- Let's watch the acrobats... - Just a minute!
I won't be taught my kids who've only just learned to piss in a pot.
When you've actually done something, come back and talk to me again.
- If you'll excuse me. - Marcus, it's early.
It seems late to me. Too late.
Perhaps that's because I'm such an old man!
Thallus!
Oh, get rid of them!
Marcus!
My grandmother Livia.
Her mind always turning. Always scheming.
And I - Claudius?
You ask, where am I?
I am not yet born, but will be soon.
Now I must continue with the story of the rivalry between Marcellus and Agrippa.
Yes?
- Yes? - Caesar is asking for you, Lady.
- Yes. I'll come soon. - He says at once.
Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa is with him.
You'd better come down.
And wait outside.
I don't understand you.
You want to leave Rome, but you won't say why.
- You don't need me here anymore. - Let me be the judge of that.
Appoint me Governor of Syria and I'll deal with that Parthian king.
- It's time someone did. - He wants to leave Rome.
- Why, Marcus? - He doesn't need me in Rome.
That's not the reason. You're not being straight with me.
Not straight? Oh, no, don't say that to me.
If one man has been straight with you, it's Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa.
- Is it Marcellus? - Marcellus?
- What's he got to do with it? - I don't know.
Do you object to my appointing him City Magistrate?
It's got nothing to do with Marcellus.
He's a capable man - another reason why you don't need me here.
Look, Marcus, we're old friends.
We've shared a lot of campaigns. If Marcellus has upset you...
Lady, talk to him. It's not Marcellus. I'm very fond of the boy.
We all are.
His friends can be high-handed, but I was young once and had friends.
Yes. The greatest friend a man ever had.
- Marcus... - I'm not a man to hide my feelings.
- You know I feel the same. - Of course.
I'd have gone long ago if I hadn't thought that.
That's why I can say to you now that I've got nothing against Marcellus.
Nothing.
He's a very gifted young man.
If you've advanced him ahead of his years, that's only natural
I'm very relieved to hear it. I know there's been friction.
Not between you and him, but between his followers and yours.
Followers? Who has followers?
Oh, he may have followers. Such things don't come within my notice.
But me? I have followers? Show me. Where are my followers?
Lady, do you see any?
Not followers, but people like to make factions,
and that makes bad feeling faster than boiled asparagus.
There's no bad feeling.
You've put my mind at rest. If you feel you have to leave Rome...
I don't feel I have to leave.
I just think I could be more use in the East.
Of course, if you feel you really need me in Rome...
No, no, I'm sure you're right. You usually are.
Your instincts are always very sound.
When will you leave?
In a few days.
Then we'll have all Rome at Ostia to see you off.
"For the Senate and the People of Rome," eh?
For the Senate and the People of Rome!
Goodbye, old friend.
Goodbye.
Damn him! What does he think he is?
We know whom he thinks he is. Your successor.
He's too old! I need to groom a younger man.
We can't do without Marcus Agrippa.
Give him five months, then call him back.
- No. - Do it, my dear.
Better to call him back when you don't need him than when you do.
No! I know what I'm doing.
My son is waiting outside to pay his respects. Will you see him?
Of course.
Ah, Tiberius. You're off to join our troops in Germany?
- Yes, Caesar. - I'm sure you'll do well for us.
Remember that we need good generals.
The Empire won't hold together without.
Write to me. I like to have views from all sides.
It helps me to make up my mind about things.
Yes.
And now I have things to do.
Yes, yes, many things.
Well. the best of luck go with you, and all the Muses.
I could have saved myself the trouble.
Oh, you're so keen to save yourself trouble.
Did that cost you so much - a hail and farewell?
- He doesn't like me. - Well. we can't all be lovable,
though we could try a bit harder.
It's my nature. I can't change it.
And wouldn't if you could. You've a mighty high opinion of yourself.
I wonder you didn't transfer your hopes to my brother.
I might have done that long ago
if he didn't share the idiotic hopes your father had of another Republic.
Besides, I took the auspices when you were born
and they were very favourable.
Not that old chicken story again.
You may sneer all you like,
but I marked a Zodiac on the floor of the hen-house
and a chicken came down and rested on your birth sign.
I took its egg and warmed it in my hands and it hatched -
a young cock chick, and it already had a fine comb on its head.
You haven't much patience, have you?
You want everything at once.
Twenty years ago, Augustus ruled with Mark Antony,
but I could see that wouldn't last - I could see one man would be king.
So I divorced your father and married Augustus and waited.
Now where would I be now if I'd wanted everything at once, eh?
And where would you be?
Where am I now for all your patience and your prophetic chickens?
You are my son and I am Augustus' wife - that's where you are.
And in the long run, that's better than being anybody else,
even Marcellus or Marcus Agrippa.
Now you may kiss me and take your leave.
Remember my prophetic chickens and have patience.
Do well on the Rhine. Your brother is covering himself with glory.
- We mustn't fall behind. - Have I ever?
No.
In the less imaginative arts, you are certainly to be relied upon.
And now my grandmother's mind turned more and more
towards the removal of Marcellus
Good day, Mother. You look a little piqued. Are you feeling well?
- Lady. - I slept badly last night.
There's so much noise in the streets at night. Can't we do something?
The traffic must move sometime.
Would you have it move during the day?
There's too many people in Rome. They keep coming in from everywhere.
Syria, Gaul. Germany.
They’re the life blood. They make Rome what it is.
Noisy, garish and uninhabitable!
It shall be even worse when the Games begin.
Look at that! Isn't it a beauty.
- Off your tree? - Of course.
You know, you should eat more pears, Livia.
How can I? You pick them all
I'll have some more sent from the country.
Marcellus, we must talk about these games.
- Yes. I want to do something new. - That sounds familiar.
I want to really celebrate my appointment as City Magistrate.
What earth quaking innovations are we to see?
Giraffes riding elephants?
I want to tent in all the theatres.
Turn the whole marketplace into a gigantic multi-coloured marquee.
- Cover it. - That's all?
No. I have an idea for a battle
between 50 Germans and 50 blacks from Morocco.
Yes. And who's going to pay for all this?
I am, for part.
- And so are you. - Yes, that's what I thought.
Come on. Would you consider 20 Germans against 20 black Moroccans?
He spoils him.
It would be hard not to. He has such winning ways.
Oh, yes, he has winning ways all right.
People fall over themselves to do things for him.
I must go in. It's too hot.
Come, Antonia, I think you should lie down.
Coming, Mother.
I hear there was opposition in the Senate to Marcellus' appointment.
Nothing to speak of. Just some friends of Agrippa.
They’re always ready to remind your father there are no kings in Rome.
I don't know why he puts up with the Senate at all
Your father observes the forms. It's very important.
Romans like to believe they govern themselves.
The older ones do perhaps, but I don't think it matters to us.
You should hear Marcellus' friends talk.
He's very popular, isn't he?
- Yes. - With you too?
- Why do you ask? - Well. there are no children yet.
There's no issue between you and Father
and you've been married for 20 years.
True. Still. I'm very happy with your father.
And I am with Marcellus.
I'm pleased. There's no substitute for a happy marriage.
No.
Mind you, they seem to be few and far between these days.
I always thought Tiberius was lucky with his Vipsania.
Yes. Yes, they’re very much in love.
You know, when I first married your father,
you and Tiberius were children and you used to play together.
- Do you remember? - Yes, I remember.
And when you grew up, you seemed so fond of one another.
I once had hopes...
Yes, I used to adore him.
How foolish one is when one is young.
I wish to await the arrival of Marcellus.
You're not going to read letters during the performance?
I see no reason to sit doing nothing while we wait.
- It looks so bad. - These are urgent.
My great uncle Julius used to do it. The crowd never liked it.
Wait till you see what Marcellus has arranged. He's got a rhinoceros.
- What's that? - An extraordinary beast.
It's got a horn on its nose.
So has Scipio's wife. He could have used her.
Ah, Marcellus. We've been waiting for you. Julia. Octavia.
Marcellus!
I told you he was popular.
Let the Games begin!
Are you all right?
- I have a headache. - What a shame.
The games are wonderful Can't you come back?
- No. - Marcellus is a huge success.
Yes. Yes, I could see that.
Yes, well..
I'll go back to the Games.
You're not worried about me leaving, are you?
You'll have Marcellus. He can do all my work.
How long will you be gone?
About four or five months.
I haven't been to the Eastern provinces for years.
Will you see Agrippa?
No, why should I? He never got any further than Lesbos.
He sent his deputy to govern Syria. He's got a nerve.
Well. I can manage without him now.
He can see that. Now let him stew.
I don't need him.
Are you sure you're all right?
Well. I'll go back to the Games.
Yes.
Are there letters from the Emperor?
No, Lady, but one has arrived for my lord Marcellus.
When you take it to him, would you ask him to see me before dinner?
There are some names here I want to discuss.
He already has the letter, but it seems my lord Marcellus is in bed.
- What's the matter with him? - A chill on the stomach.
It's a pity his wife and mother went away.
- Yes? - The Lady Livia has called, master.
Ask her to come in.
I can't stay in bed. I've got too much to do.
If you get up now, you'll be in bed all tomorrow.
Wise, Musar, wise.
Marcellus!
It's nothing, Lady. A summer chill on the stomach.
- I've worked through worse. - Have you eaten?
He can't keep anything down. It's perfectly natural
Only if the food doesn't agree with him.
I nursed Augustus last summer and he ate everything I prepared for him.
I'll be well tomorrow.
These chills can be dangerous. Augustus was nearly carried off.
I'm not so easily disposed of.
I'd never forgive myself if anything happened to you.
What can happen to me? I wouldn't think of it.
- My mother and Julia will.. - Exactly. Your mother and Julia.
And how should I face them if anything did happen?
Oh, there, there.
I shall move my room next to yours
and I shall prepare all your food myself.
You'll see what can be served up to tempt a weak apatite.
But it's a chill. nothing more. Musar assures me.
I wouldn't pay too much attention to Musar.
He thinks he cured Augustus, but it was my nursing that did it.
- And I shall nurse you. - Lady...
No. No arguments.
- Why go to this trouble? - I insist.
- It's very good of you. - No, no, my dear.
Goodness has nothing to do with it.
It's Musar, Lady.
He's getting worse. Much worse.
Yes. I'll come soon.
We ought to inform his wife and his mother. They should be here.
No. You exaggerate.
Things have to get worse before they get better.
But he keeps nothing down. Nothing.
It is worrying.
He's bringing up green slime.
I've never see anything like it.
- Green, you say? - Yes. Have you see it before?
No.
No, I've never see green before.
Perhaps it's a good sign.
Forgive me, Lady.
You're thinner.
You look better. The life of the legions agrees with you.
Have I ever complained? I'd as soon be in camp on the Rhine as here.
I had to call you back.
Augustus is still in Greece touring the provinces and Marcellus...
- How is he? - I think he may die.
- Has Augustus been told? - Yes, of course.
As soon as it began to look serious.
- When did he fall ill? - About a month ago.
Musar said it was just a chill. but I could see it was more serious,
so I decided I'd nurse him myself.
Well. his wife and mother were away.
I've been at his side day and night.
I prepare all his food myself and I see that he eats it.
I wouldn't have thought you'd care whether he lived or died.
I care very much whether he lives or dies.
- Do Julia and his mother know? - Yes. They’re with him now.
Julia is being hysterical. of course,
and his mother never stops praying.
- Let's hope her prayers are heard. - Yes, indeed.
And mine too.
Tell me...
what do you think of Julia?
Nothing. Why?
Nobody could accuse you of being devious.
- She thinks well of you. - What's that supposed to mean?
Nothing. She likes you, that's all Always has.
Mother, I'm a happily married man. Julia doesn't interest me.
Not even if you hung her naked from the ceiling above my bed.
She might even do that if I asked her!
Aren't you forgetting something?
She's married to Marcellus and he's not dead yet.
When I start to forget things, you may light my funeral pyre
and put me on it - dead or alive.
Don't ask me to divorce Vipsania because I won't do it.
Oh, what a lover we have here!
Did you bring back poems from the Rhine?
Vipsania's the only thing that means anything to me.
I thought a boy's mother meant something.
Well. you do mean something, but so does she,
so don't ask me to push her aside.
I may ask more than that before I finish.
Where does all this get us?
There's Marcellus and Agrippa, and Augustus proffers them both to me.
Ye Gods!
What's that?
It sounds as if there is now only Agrippa.
- He's dead! - Julia!
Julia! Julia.
Control yourself!
That's no way for a Roman woman to behave!
But he's dead.
He gave a great cry and then he rolled over and fell on the bed.
- He's dead! He's dead! - Come along. Wait here.
- He's dead. - Tiberius, take care of Julia.
This is very grave. We must send to Augustus.
Tiberius!
I said take care of Julia!
I did everything I could.
Everything.
I did everything I could.
Everything I did for Augustus I did for him, but it made no difference.
He's dead? You're sure he's dead?
My son is dead. You can be sure.
Poor Augustus. His heart will break.
It must have been food poisoning.
What do you mean, food poisoning?
Well. the summer's been so hot. These things happen.
Yes. Yes, of course. Well. there has been a lot of it about.
I thought it was a chill. but I was wrong. Wrong!
It must have been something he ate.
There ought to be an inquest, I suppose.
No. There's no need of that. We know what he died of.
- Do we? - Food poisoning!
You said so yourself!
Yes.
I couldn't swear to it.
No...
but I could.
Tiberius, take Julia to her room and comfort her.
Stay with her a while.
I'll send word to your wife what keeps you.
"My dear Augustus...
"a most unfortunate and tragic thing has happened...
"Marcellus, your adopted some,
"has unaccountably died after a short illness
"No one is certain of the cause, but food poisoning is suspected..
"I must say that does seem to me the most likely explanation."
Rome erupted into fury.
Marcellus' death led to demands for a return of the Republic -
the last thing my grandmother wanted.
They’re rampaging through the streets, looting the shops.
All the City Watchmen are out.
They’re no use! Turn the Guard out on them!
I won't answer for the consequences.
Oh, you drooping lily! Do you want us all to be murdered in our beds?
- Go and talk to them, then. - Are you mad?
No. And I'm not frightened of that rabble either.
Out of my way!
What do you want?
A Republic? The Republic was all humbug!
Do you want civil wars all over again?
Do you want famine in the streets?
Do you want Gauls and Huns knocking on your doors?
You're all crying for the moon!
Go on back to your homes and...
Rabble! You call yourselves Romans?!
You wait till my husband gets home!
I wish, just for once, you would behave like a normal woman!
To be a normal woman you need normal men around you.
We must get Agrippa back. He's the only one who speaks their language.
Whatever Augustus thinks, he must patch up this quarrel
and get Agrippa back at any price.
I'm going to write to him at once.
Meanwhile, order the Guards onto the streets!
Marcus.
Marcus!
Oh, it's been too long, too long.
I wouldn't have had it so.
Marcus, what silly things get in the way of friendship.
- You could have come sooner. - How could I have come?
I'd have come to you. Just one word - a hint, that's all
Would I have stayed away if I'd been sure of my welcome?
It's pride, stupid pride.
Did you have a good journey?
The see was rough, but I didn't really notice it.
I was thinking of when we were young together.
It's too painful to think of one's youth.
- We've come a long way together. - Not always together.
Marcus, you were always in my thoughts.
It wasn't always obvious. No, be just with me.
There were times - oh, I can remember them -
when that young man - and I'm sorry he's dead...
When that young man went out of his way to insult me
with never a word of reproof from you. From my old friend, not a word.
Marcus, he was like a son to me.
You have children. You know what it's like.
Perhaps I was foolish. Perhaps I did indulge him.
But it seemed like high spirits, that's all - a little horseplay.
- Haven't we all been guilty of it? - Maybe.
I'm sorry he's dead.
I wouldn't have wished it, though he was no friend.
Yes.
I need my old friend again.
Now Marcellus is gone, you need Agrippa.
No, no, no, you must believe me.
I'd already made up my mind to see you.
Would I pass Lesbos without calling in? It's unthinkable.
No, Marcus, I need you back in Rome.
I don't know. I don't know if I'm up to it anymore.
Things are bad there, I hear.
Oh, there's been a little trouble. That's not why I want you back.
I want you back because that's where you belong.
My old friend should be in Rome with me.
I need that strong right arm again.
What do you say?
It's yours!
Marcus!
But err...
But?
Let's seel this bond tighter than it's ever been before.
How?
What's closer than a family tie?
To be related is a declaration of what we mean to each other.
- You're thinking of your children? - No. I'm thinking of myself.
- I don't get on with my wife. - I didn't know that.
We haven't slept together for years.
I'm speaking a little soon, I know, and one must observe the decencies,
but Julia's a young woman.
She'll get married again soon. Well. why not to me?
- To you? - Well. why not?
Don't tell me I'm not good enough for your family.
Why not?
It's a deal You'll be my son-in-law, have you thought of that?
I've thought of nothing else!
Why?
Why did you agree to it?
Because he wanted it. It was his price.
- His price! - What could I say?
You could have said no!
No, I could not! I saw no reason to say no.
- I understood why he wanted it. - So could anyone!
- What would you have done? - I could have handled him.
How?
I would have reminded him that he's a man of no background
and that he cannot assume to enter the Julian family.
- And you would have lost him! - I would not!
Lost him as quick as boiled asparagus.
That is the most foolish expression.
It's my expression! I'll use it when I like!
Why are you so opposed to this marriage? I see no reason for it.
It gives him more than he deserves.
There's another reason. What is it?
There is no other reason!
Except... Except...
You might have consulted Julia first.
Are we now to ignore the wishes of our children
and sell them as if they were solves?
Have you no feelings?
But she got her way in the end.
Nine years passed before Agrippa's services could be spared.
Then he died - poisoned by Livia.
Tiberius divorced his wife and married Julia.
Drusus, my father -
Tiberius’ beloved brother..
But then everybody loved my father, except Livia...his mother.
Wicked woman.
You're getting soft.
You wouldn't last a five-hour march in the army. Throw it!
Oh, come on! Throw it!
Antonia throws harder than that.
Shut up! Throw the ball
If you lost some of that stomach of yours...
Now we'll see who's hard.
- Death or surrender? - Oh, get off.
Ha!
I never thought I'd see you in such a condition.
Spend ten years in Rome and see how you feel
Hay...
What's this, eh? Sulks?
You're lucky. You go back to the army tomorrow.
That's the only decent life for a Roman.
Marching, fighting, building forts.
Those were the best years of my life.
You made the army's life bloody hell
I drilled them hard, but I was fair. I'll boot they say I was fair.
- Do you know what they really say? - What?
They say that your drills were bloodless battles...
and your battles were bloody drills.
- Is that what they say? Really? - Yes.
You know, that army I took across the Alps, they were men.
- You've never had men like that. - We've won some victories too.
I know, I know. But those two legions...
The twelfth and the sixteenth?
You'll never see their like again.
Nothing bothered them - the heat, the cold...
the marching.
Oh, I cursed them and I flogged them,
but I cursed and flogged their officers too.
If there weren't any tents for the men,
I slept out in the open with them.
You'll have to take the field again.
- He won't let me. - Who, Augustus?
He keeps me here as his work donkey.
Says he can't spare me. I'm his chief errand boy.
I spend my time investigating the level of unemployment.
Or reorganising the city fire brigade.
Added to that, there's that bitch Julia they made me marry.
Oh, he's just impossible. Sometimes he doesn't speak to me for days.
He was always very broody, according to Drusus, even as a child.
Drusus can always make him laugh.
Drusus only knows him as a brother. He ought to be married to him.
You know, Antonia, I'm very easygoing.
Do you want that toe to drop off? !
There's a stiffness in the joint.
There wasn't before you started to work on it.
They daydream. They’ll spend all day massaging a toe if you let them.
- She's probably in love. - I hope she has better luck than me.
- What was I talking about? - About Tiberius.
He never wanted to divorce Vipsania.
That stalk of a thing? I don't know what he saw in her.
She's as thin as a stick.
He used to spend half of every night in bed looking for her!
- Julia! - It's true.
If the sheets got a bit crumpled, she disappeared until morning.
He was lucky if they found her when they made the bed.
- She's not that thin! - I don't know what you call thin,
but I saw old Valerius after he starved himself to death
and he looks better than she looks!
I could never see the attraction.
After ten years, I'd have thought he'd be glad to see the back of her.
That's the trouble. He was always glad to see the back of her.
- Julia, what on earth do you mean? - Well. he's very strange.
You're too sensitive a person for me to go into details.
Julia, he doesn't...?
Oh, I could put up with that.
I'm not like you. I could probably teach him a thing or two.
But it's the coldness.
I can't get near him. Even snow will melt on a warm day, but not him.
- I had no idea. - And he hates Gaius and Lucius.
- He hates my boys. They’re sweet. - Very sweet.
And to think I was once mad about him. What fools we women are.
Augustus should never have insisted on the marriage.
Don't blame my father. Blame Livia. If anyone insisted, she did.
She tried the same thing ten years ago, but Agrippa got in first.
- I didn't know that. - No. You were too young.
That's all right. I've had enough.
When Marcellus died, she had everything planned.
She knew how I felt about Tiberius and she wanted us to marry,
but Agrippa had the same idea,
and Augustus needed him more than he needed her son, so she had to wait.
And can she wait! Ye Gods, time means nothing to her!
- Poor Marcellus. - That must have been terrible.
To tell you the truth...
Leave us. I'll call you.
Off you go. Go.
To tell you the truth,
it's crossed my mind that Livia might have had a hand in that.
Julia!
I might be wrong, but he was a strong, healthy man,
and he never had a serious illness until she got her hands on him.
I often wonder about that woman.
Antonia, you're so innocent!
Hah! Not so innocent. Ask Drusus.
I might just do that one of these days if I get him in the mood!
He's very attractive.
Why is it that when I come in here with you, I cover myself up,
but normally I don't bother?
Well. you should. I don't approve of all this nakedness.
Oh, Antonia!
I shall miss you when you leave tomorrow.
Not so hard.
The dirt's ingrained in the skin.
- It goes deeper than that. - Your gloom is magnificent.
Not so hard or I'll get my men to do it.
I can't think why you won't let them anyway.
A man should keep himself clean, not have slaves do it.
How's he supposed to scrape his own back?
- He gets his brother to do it. - If he hasn't a brother?
- Gets his son. - If he hasn't a son?
- Gets his friend. - If he hasn't a friend?
Then he should go and hang himself.
I've tried it. It's better to have a slave scrape your back.
You know, I shall miss you.
- You don't have any dark thoughts. - Nonsense. We all have them.
Not like me. Not like me.
You're no worse than the rest of us.
I'll tell you something, Drusus.
Sometimes I so hate myself, I can't bear the thought of me anymore.
You don't know anything about darkness, do you?
Inside darkness. Blackness.
Stop bragging! I could match you black for black.
Not you. Not you.
The Claudian tree produces two kinds of apples - the sweet and the sour.
That was never more true than you and me.
And what of our mother, which is she?
- Livia? - Mmm.
They say a snake bit her once and died.
Hay, that's no longer funny.
I've only cared for three people in my life.
- One was our father. - The noblest of us all
Yes. The other was Vipsania.
Yes. I was sorry about that. Why did you divorce her?
Livia insisted on it. Julia wanted it. Augustus insisted on it.
All the same, you were so happy, you might have refused.
Do you think the monarchy will survive Augustus?
No, I don't. Rome will be a republic again, I promise you that.
Then perhaps I did it all for nothing.
Is that why you did it?
Is that really?
But there are Julia's sons. They’ll come before you anyway.
My poor brother.
- So ambitious. - Our mother makes me so.
Oh, God, I miss her so!
Vipsania.
What did they make me do?
Tiberius.
What's done is done.
Yes.
Yes, it's done.
I must forget her.
Vipsania was the second and she's gone.
You're the third.
Well. you know I feel the same way.
You should have my nature and I yours.
- Why? - I'm older. I should protect you.
Well. we'll protect each other.
I don't know what from.
There are many things you don't know.
- If anything happens to you... - What could happen?
You could be killed in battle.
- Or you could fall sick and die. - Yes.
And you could cut your throat shaving or choke on a plum stone.
Tiberius, none of us is guaranteed a time.
No.
You're my lifeline into the light.
Six again!
One, two, three, four, five, six
Now what will you do?
I'll put two legions in the port and stop the corn supply.
Not bad. Rome can't live without corn.
You've got your back to the see and that's not good. It's your decision.
Lucius, your turn.
- Six! - These dice have nothing but sixes.
One, two, three, four, five, six Belgica, Belgic's mine.
Go on, throw again.
Two.
- One, two. I'll take Britain. - You've only got three legions.
- Julius did it. - He didn't stay long though.
Yes, what is it?
Caesar, your stepson Drusus Nero begs to take his leave.
- Yes, you can come with me. - Can't we finish the game?
Later. We have a duty and duty comes before pleasure.
Come and say goodbye to the man who commands all our armies in Germany.
Come on, come on. No sulks. That's not the Roman way.
- So you're leaving us? - Yes, Caesar.
And glad to go?
I go where I'm sent, Caesar, but, yes, I am glad to go.
When I was your age, I wanted to be with the army too.
I brought Gaius and Lucius to say goodbye.
We've been playing Empire. I've already lost Egypt and Syria.
- May I ask Drusus a question? - Go ahead.
How many legions could invade Britain?
Four. Yes. And a great deal of auxiliary cavalry as well
Not three? They’re very uncivilised.
It's not worth the risk.
On a fresh venture, you must hit hard and quickly.
Sending for reinforcements gives the enemy breathing space.
I'll do it one day.
I doubt it's worth it.
There's nothing of value there and the people make poor slaves.
Say goodbye and wait for me upstairs.
- Goodbye, then. - Goodbye.
Goodbye.
Read Julius' commentaries on his campaign in Britain.
- I've read it twice. - So have I. Goodbye.
Don't move the tokens while I'm gone. I know where they are.
They’re good boys. We'll have need of them one day.
Come and walk with me in the garden a moment.
- Is Antonia travelling with you? - Yes.
- That's all right in her condition? - Yes.
I didn't realise she was expecting again. Julia told me.
- It's a bit close to the others. - Well. what can you do?
True. Anyway, we need more children, especially among the nobility.
People aren't getting married early enough.
I must do something about that.
Have you said goodbye to Livia?
She's with the Parthian ambassador.
Oh, yes. She works so hard for me. Your mother is a very fine woman.
I'd have given up long ago if it weren't for her.
It's an immense burden to place on the shoulders of one man.
Yes, it is. It's really too much.
I sometimes have a longing to be just a private citizen again.
It's been 20 years now since Mark Antony died
and I took it all on my own. I blame him, you know.
What a fool that man was. The whole of the Eastern Empire was his.
If he'd been a proper husband to my sister, things would be different.
- Is it too late...? - Yes?
Is it too late to lay down the burdens of office?
- And let the Senate rule? - Yes.
You're just like your father. Always wanting the Republic.
He was my enemy too at one time.
I'll never be that.
No.
No, I didn't mean that. Be like him, you couldn't do better.
I did him wrong once, you know. Oh, yes, yes.
I took your mother from him
and that has weighed with me over the years.
Still. we're a family,
and we all work together for the greater good of Rome.
My brother...
Yes, yes, Tiberius.
He's a puzzle to me, like the Sphinx
He's like a large dog watching everything and saying nothing.
- He wants to leave Rome. - I know. But I need him here.
What would I do without him?
- Still. an unwilling horse... - Is more trouble than walking.
But we're not horses. We can't all do what we want.
And what does he want? He wants to sit on a rock all day -
Rhodes or Capri - and throw stones at the see.
Why? I don't know. No. We can't have it.
Ah, here's your mother.
- You're off again? - Yes, Mother.
You read the dispatches? The Corusci are giving trouble again.
I'll give them trouble enough.
Shall we ever civilise the Germans?
- I doubt it. - You know how I feel
When we conquer a people, we must be temperate,
but when agreements are broken, punishments must be severe.
What do the Parthians want?
They want a Roman god to worship.
They want to dedicate a temple to you.
I won't have it.
We've abolished kings in Rome. Would you give us living gods?
They won't be in Rome. They’ll be in Syria.
What harm is a temple built in your name where primitive people...?
No, it makes me uneasy, Livia. I feel in my heart it's not right.
We may offend those gods that look after us and oversee our destiny.
- But... - No. You must tell them no.
I must get back to the boys and finish the game.
Look after Antonia. No accidents.
Who knows what great Roman she may be carrying.
The gods go with you.
I shall ask the boys to dine with us.
They can listen to the discussion with the ambassadors.
Leave him alone. Don't encourage him to step down from office.
Mother, do you really want us to drift into a hereditary monarchy?
Become corrupt like the Eastern potentates?
Rome will never be a republic again.
Well. we needn't quarrel about it.
Let me kiss you and say goodbye.
You know, you mustn't mind if you dislike me.
A mother can't love all her children.
You shouldn't have come here. It's wrong. It's wrong.
Don't send me away. Please, Vipsania.
Do you want to make trouble for me?
No. No.
Then go away. It's dangerous.
Open the shutter. Let me look at you again.
Please, please go away!
Is it true?
Yes. Yes, it's true.
- You're getting married again. - Yes.
I won't have it. I won't have it!
I'll kill you! You're mine! You're my wife!
I am not your wife. You divorced me.
Don't... Don't.
Please, you must leave me alone.
We mustn't see each other again.
- Do you love him? - Do you love her?
No. No, I hate her.
- He's very kind to me. - But why must you marry again?
I must put an end to your following me! To your coming to see me!
Your mother's spies are everywhere.
I don't care about that!
You're married to Augustus' daughter.
You can't treat her like no one.
Don't get married again, I beg you.
I couldn't bear it.
And spend the rest of my life alone?
You wouldn't be alone, I promise you.
Tiberius, it was not my doing. I didn't divorce you, you divorced me!
I didn't want to.
- They made me do it. - They couldn't have made me!
I'm sorry. I didn't mean that. I didn't mean that.
It was hard for you, I know.
Harder for you than it would have been for me.
I shouldn't have done it. I should have killed myself first.
It's done now. There's no going back.
Let's die together.
Let's kill ourselves.
Let's go into our bathroom, open our veins,
and when they find us, our blood will be mingling in the water.
Oh, my baby, my baby. It's too late. It's too late.
I'm lost. I'm lost. I go from darkness into darkness.
You'll come through it and so will I.
How will I? I'm afraid of what I'll become without you.
- Why should you be afraid? - Because of your sweetness.
We had a delegation here six months ago from Palmyra.
And Augustus refused, I remember.
The thought of deification makes him uneasy.
It might make us all uneasy.
- We're not all worthy of it. - No, of course.
But his mind is made up?
Yes, but so is mine.
I cannot allow his natural modesty
to interfere with his political judgement.
If the Senate thought that his deification were politically useful.
he would not be displeased.
But he will exert no pressure nor be present at the debates.
Of course.
There will be some opposition.
- But I'll take the line... - I'll tell you what line to take.
You were see! And in broad daylight!
Going in and coming out. I won't have it! It's not the first time!
I went to congratulate her.
Don't congratulate her! Leave her be! You didn't go for that reason!
You'll treat my daughter with respect! Do you hear me?!
I didn't ask for this marriage, you asked for it!
I won't have it made a mockery of!
He's been seeing his former wife, if you please!
- I think you exaggerate. - I exaggerate nothing!
He met her on the street. Yes, you did. I heard about it.
I hear everything. Nothing escapes me.
He didn't dare speak to her,
but he followed her like a moonstruck calf for everyone to see!
You will not make a laughing stock of my family
or as quick as boiled asparagus, I'll have you out! Out!
You listen to me.
Mark Antony was twice the man you are,
but when he spa on my sister,
he learned a lesson he didn't live long enough to profit from.
Julia and I don't get on.
Damn you! You'll get on whether you like it or not!
And you'll leave that woman alone!
Let me go away. Let me leave Rome.
What am I to do with him?
Tell me. You're his mother, speak to him. It's Agrippa all over again.
He doesn't mean it. He doesn't want to go.
Didn't you hear what he said?!
He's unhappy. He didn't mean it.
It's not unnatural for a man to see his former wife now and then.
I saw his father several times after you and I were married.
- That was different. - Not so different.
And you saw Julia's mother from time to time.
- Yes, but not in secret! - I don't remember being present.
Maybe not, but it was not in secret!
Well. how secret was this? I knew about it.
- You knew about it? - Of course. He told me.
You never said anything to me.
Have you so little to occupy your time
that I must tell you about everyone in the household?
You're always complaining that you have too much to think about.
Perhaps you'd care to see the laundry lists in future?
All right. I was hasty.
But you understand I felt I had cause!
Tiberius, listen. I'm not blind.
I know that you and Julia aren't the most perfectly-matched couple,
but what can you do? These things happen.
We can't cut the knot every time we quarrel
Especially us. We have to set an example. Livia, you'll back me.
Of course. We have duties which far outweigh our private feelings.
Exactly.
Now, Tiberius, you play fair with me, eh? Don't sulk.
If it's a little thing on the side - I'm not encouraging - who's to know?
Forgetting that your mother's here - if that's ever possible!
Yes. Well. we can wink at it between men.
But Vipsania...
I don't like it, do you understand? It's not right.
You play fair with me and you'll see I can be generous too.
Good.
If there's one thing I hate, it's a family row.
What does it cost to be kind? To be sympathetic and understanding.
Yes?
A messenger has arrived from Germany, Caesar.
Send him in.
A dispatch from Drusus Nero for his noble brother.
Tiberius, let's hear what he says.
"My dear Tiberius, a period of enforced rest due to a slight head wound
"has given me much time to reflect on the state of our beloved Rome."
- He's wounded. Not seriously? - He says slight.
"Such was the extent of the corruption that I found in..."
Go on.
The handwriting is...
Surely you can read more than that?
Yes. Well. he goes on to say err...
Well?
Honestly, sir, it's not worth reading.
I think my brother was perhaps not himself when he wrote it.
"..The corruption and petty place seeking that I found in Rome.
"I have come to the conclusion that it is the consequence
"of the continued exercise of supreme power by Augustus.
"Could we not persuade him, even compel him to retire?
"I firmly believe he is ready to do this,
"but for the stubbornness of our mother Livia,
"who derives such satisfaction
"from the exercise of supreme power through him..."
There's more. Do you want to read it?
The letter's clearly treasonable.
No, no. He feels strongly about it. I understand that.
He's wrong, but I understand it.
Then again, perhaps he's right.
Perhaps I should retire. I've said so often enough.
Will you allow him to insult me?
He's your son, not mine!
His wound might have affected him. He speaks of giddiness at the end.
Yes.
Yes. That's it.
He's a little bit deranged.
Those German forests can affect a man.
I'll call him back for a rest. It'll be good to see him again.
Yes, you're right. We should have him back.
I'll send a doctor with the letter.
- He's got a doctor. - Army doctors! What do they know?
I'll send my own. He'll know how to take care of him.
Easy.
That's right. Fetch the doctor.
- Which one? - Ours, of course, and hurry.
Lift him onto the table and be careful or I'll make eunuchs of you!
You blockheads! Right. Get this away.
I'll have the lot of you crucified.
It's all right. It's all right.
All right. Clear out.
It feels terrible.
It's a mess. We'll get it cleaned.
Hurry up with that water!
What happened?
My horse fell on me. I couldn't get out.
It crushed my leg on a rock, then tore it to shreds getting up.
- The doctor's coming. - What did they mean - "Which one"?
One arrived from Rome. He's your mother's personal physician.
That was kind of her. He'll have more to look at. Where is he?
We found him a room. He doesn't look too happy.
He's already missing the comforts of home.
This will probably hurt.
He brought a letter with him from Caesar.
- Where is it? - I'll give it to you after.
Give it to me now!
Rufus?
- What happened? - A horse fell and crushed his leg.
- Oh... - No, no, I'm all right.
I've been invited, politely, back to Rome.
- Why? - I'm not sure, but I can guess.
Oh! Get out of here!
You'll not be moving far on that leg, if I'm any judge of wounds.
I don't understand it.
A simple fall
- How could it happen? - They can be bad sometimes.
- To bring him to death's door. - It's an excuse for not returning.
Why do you say that?
I've heard such reasons before. Don't raise your voice to me.
- What reason could he have? - Who knows?
We know he has the whole of the western armies at his back.
He'll come when it suits him.
I must go to my brother.
He's 500 miles away. He could be dead even now.
All the same, I must go to him.
I'll make a sacrifice and offer prayers.
Perhaps he won't be taken from us.
Take him our love.
Well. go, go quickly!
The Senate today voted to make me a god in Palmyra.
They’ll put a little statue to me in the temple
and people will bring offerings asking me to bring rain
or cure their father's gout.
Tell me, Livia, if I'm a god - even in Palmyra...
how do I cure gout?
What is it, my love? What do you want?
Fetch the children.
Yes. Yes, of course.
I'll bring them.
He wants me to fetch the children.
- Is he...? - No. But it's near.
- What is it? - Gangrene.
It crept slowly up. Nothing seemed to stop it.
Where's the staff surgeon?
He wasn't allowed near him. He took the case out of his hands.
Musar.
It was just a simple fall
What happened to your skill?
I...I came too late.
His condition was too far gone. I came too late.
Drusus?
Drusus, look at me.
Drusus, it's I, Tiberius.
You and your damned plum stones.
She read the letter.
I couldn't stop her.
She was there when I got it.
I couldn't think it would have anything in it.
Rome has a severe mother.
And Gaius and Lucius...
a cruel stepmother.
Drusus...?
Drusus!
No.
You didn't wait.
Look. I brought you little Claudius.
And you didn't wait.
Shouldn't have died and that's a fact
Somebody blundered, and that's a fact
Come.
Your meal is ready, Caesar.
Will you have it now or shall I take it away?
Very good. I think the cook's on form today, for a change.
Try that.
There.
The garlic's overdone for my taste.
You're always complaining about the g-garlic.
Go on.
A good swallow now.
Yes, I know this one. It's from the north. About five years old.
They had a bad summer. The grapes had less sugar in them.
Oh, stop showing off. Well. fill it up, then you can go.
I'm very busy.
- Another history, Caesar? - Yes.
- Of the Etruscans again? - No, of my family.
Did you ever read my history of the Etruscans?
No. I got it down from the library once, but I couldn't get into it.
Very well written, of course. Very well
Is something the matter, Caesar?
The fact is, when you know that someone's trying to poison you,
nothing tastes right, absolutely nothing.
Come now, who would want to poison you, Caesar?
Don't butter me up! You know who'd want to poison me.
My wife, that's who, and that slimy son of hers.
For all I know, you're in league with them.
In my opinion, the only person likely to poison us is the cook.
I wish you'd let me get rid of him.
He's a Greek and the only thing he does is stuff vine leaves.
Will you take it away? I'm not hungry.
May I ask how the current work is coming?
Well enough.
May I ask how far you've got?
The death of my father.
Ah, the noble Drusus.
A tragedy that one should lose one's father so young.
- Yes! - Yes.
A tragedy for us all
Yes, and for Rome.
And especially for my uncle.
He was never the same again.
Well. sons of Agrippa...
The daylight's fled and stars are out.
It's time for decent people to lock their doors and go to sleep.
Come.
Come on. You can see me to my bed...
and then go to your own.
Yes, we've eaten well and drunk well
Too well perhaps.
Poor Julia. She can't take the wine as she used to.
And even dear Antonia nods a little.
What...?
What were you thinking tonight, my dear?
Ah, of poor Drusus.
Yes, yes, I was thinking of him tonight too.
Rome cannot afford such a loss.
I pray to the Gods that these boys will be as noble and virtuous as he was.
You mustn't dwell on it. A year has gone by.
That's quite long enough for grief.
More is not the Roman way, you know.
Musicians, play us out.
Let us have music to take us to our sleep.
A year?
Is that all it is?
One little year?
Goodnight, Lady.
Pretty sight, isn't she?
I must get away from her. I must leave Rome.
You'll stay.
You'll have patience, as I have.
Where has your patience got you?
You've lost him, Mother.
You've lost him to those two boys.
If you leave Rome, I'll wash my hands of you once and for all
and shed not a single tear.
That's not surprising. I saw you shed none for my brother.
Have they all gone?
Oh, Tiberius, I was having such a beautiful dream.
Tiberius...
Sleep with me tonight. I'll be so loving to you.
Be nice to me.
Oh, just tonight.
Let me go, you fat drunken cow!
Fat? !
I'm fat where a woman should be fat, not skinny like a boy!
Go to bed, my dear, and I'll send you one up.
He's very pretty, I promise you. I've had him myself.
He reminds me of your ex-wife.
Not a hair on his body and his even skinnier behind!
There'll be no divorce. None!
I don't care what he is. You married him.
Look what your son did to my daughter.
What kind of a man is that? I've never liked him, never.
He's your son, but I've never liked him.
- I want a divorce! - No divorce!
You've been married three times already!
That's not my fault! I was widowed twice!
How can a woman get herself widowed twice?
- That's not fair! - It shows damn poor judgment!
I never asked to marry Agrippa!
Well. you asked to marry this one!
That husband of yours can clear out of Rome.
Tell him to go. I don't even want to see him.
I don't want his name mentioned in this house!
How am I supposed to live, neither married nor divorced?
You'll live as befits a Roman matron.
And heaven help you if you don't!
Oh, I don't know.
Why can't they get on? What do they want from life?
I'm supposed to rule an empire and I can't rule my own family.
Thank God for these boys. You'll help me, won't you?
What would we do without Agrippa's sons, Livia? They’re our one hope.
In three or four years, they’ll be able to take some of this burden.
They’re promising, all right. Aren't you, my beauties?
Very promising.
Still. you've a long way to go, haven't you?
A long, long way.
We must take good care of them, Augustus.
And we shall. I promise you.
The very best of care.
Ah, that's how it should be.
Stay like that a moment. What a picture you make.
It expresses the true spirit of the Roman family.
Where is it? Where is it?
Oh, where is it?
No.
I had it yesterday.
What...? Oh, damned secretaries.
No system. None at all
They just shove it anywhere. What do they care?
It's just another piece of paper to them.
I'm sure I had it yesterday.
Yes, she wrote him a letter after Gaius died.
What was it? "The answer, I'm afraid, is no."
Yes, that was it.
"My dear Tiberius, the answer, I'm afraid, is no."
This is the one! Yes! Yes! Yes! This is it.
"My dear Tiberius, the answer, I'm afraid, is no,
"which is what I expected.
"Augustus refuses to allow you to return to Rome...
"Refuses even to discuss it
"Despite the sudden and unexplained death of his beloved Gaius,
"and despite my pleading with him,
"he is adamant that you will stay where you are.
"He has, of course never forgiven you for what you did to Julia
"and frankly I am not surprised."
- Well? - Hmm?
Oh, it's very promising, Excellency, very promising indeed.
You've been saying that for years.
Find some disasters, then my life might get better.
It has, Excellency. The planets are in a most favourable conjunction.
I'm sure that the letter from Rome contained good news. Am I not right?
You might have guessed that from my mother.
Excellency, your mother is not the most scrutable of women.
One may read her letters, but never her face.
I'd stake my life there was some good news in that letter.
Come, my calculations prove it.
I'm to stay here and rot if it has anything to do with Augustus.
But there's more. I'm sure there must be more.
She promises now to work for my return.
Excellent! I knew it. It's all here. The chart doesn't lie.
But it counsels patience too. Nothing will happen overnight.
What else did you learn in Rome?
Augustus has taken the death of Gaius very hard.
Is there more news about how he died?
It's mysterious. The body was burned before an autopsy was ordered.
When you die in the East, they don't keep you hanging about long.
I shan't shed any tears for him. What else did you learn?
Augustus intends to appoint your other stepson to command in Spain.
Lucius?
He couldn't fight his way out of a harem!
What else?
Your wife's behaviour is a scandal known to all except her father.
Suppose you finish that horoscope.
Of course, Excellency.
Is there anything to drink?
My mouth is quite dry. It's such a long climb up this hill
It'll be a lot shorter going down if I don't like that chart of yours.
Why do they all hate me so? What have I done to them?
You could stay longer. What's the hurry?
- No hurry, really. - Rome is like a sewer in summer.
I wasn't going back to Rome. I was going to take the children to Ostia.
What for? The see is the see. You might as well stay here.
Well. I thought perhaps you might like to be on your own for a while.
When have I ever wanted to be on my own?
Well. that's what I meant, really.
Oh! No, you don't put me out.
I have to behave myself when the children are around.
Well. up to a point.
You're always sewing or weaving. Why don't you let the slaves do it?
- They never do things properly. - That's quite true.
They don't want to work and they eat you out of house and home.
It's hard to buy good slaves. You must be a good judge of character.
- Do you pick your own? - Yes, of course. Don't you?
I did when I lived with Tiberius. I felt I ought to.
You know me. I was all right with the girls,
but when it came to the male slaves I used to pick the good-looking ones
and ended up doing the work myself!
Julia, how could you?
Living with Tiberius was not the fulfilling experience I'd expected.
- Mother! - I was seldom filled.
- What's the matter? - Mother!
- What is it? - Look what he did.
- Who? - Germanicus.
He threw sand all over me. It's in my face, on my hair, everywhere.
Germanicus, how could you?
I was only teasing. She threw it in mine.
Oh, come on, Pina. I'm sorry.
You did it on purpose. I'll never speak to you again.
Come here and let me wipe it off and stop being so dramatic.
Germanicus?
You mustn't be so rough.
I'm... I'm sorry.
She's perfectly all right.
- How's Claudius? - He's looking for shells.
Make sure the slaves watch him and don't leave him out.
We won't. Come on, Pina. I'm sorry.
Don't be too long down there! It's time you came in out of the sun!
They’ll be getting married soon.
What worries me is who's going to marry Claudius,
with his foot and his stammer.
There's always somebody.
To tell you the truth, I find it very hard to be affectionate to him.
I ought to love him more because of his afflictions, but I don't.
- I think he's sweet. - You're not his mother.
It's not easy living with a child who's so stupid.
Everything you tell him you have to repeat half a dozen times.
What Drusus would have made of him, I don't know.
Ah, Drusus. You had something wonderful there, my dear.
Tell me, did you never wonder about his death?
I mean, did it never strike you as odd
that Livia's personal physician was looking after him?
You said something like that before.
I said that I thought that Livia had a hand in it, and I still think so.
- Tiberius thought so. - I can't believe that.
People say that Tiberius didn't mind being banished
because he was glad to get away from me. But that wasn't it.
I think he was pleased to get away from his mother.
She used to invite him to dinner too often!
Julia, don't joke.
I'm not!
I've seen his face often enough when she's poured wine for him.
I don't dine there happily myself.
You've upset me, you really have.
It's terrible to accuse someone of poisoning without proof.
She accuses me of all sorts of things without proof!
Make sure she doesn't get any, then.
- Are you leaving, Lucius? - Yes, Mother.
We'll be in Rome before nightfall
It's been so pleasant here. I love your house.
You must come again. I've got a little present for you in my study.
A memento of your visit. We shan't be long.
Nothing for me, Mother?
You don't deserve anything leaving so soon!
- When are you leaving for Spain? - In a few months.
Augustus must have great confidence in you.
Yes. Yes, I think so.
Deserter.
I shall be here all summer.
Oh, I could eat you.
- Here comes your brother. - Postumus. I'm leaving.
What's wrong? Have you lost something?
No. Are you going back to Rome?
- Yes. - May I come with you?
You can ask Mother, but I'm sure she'll say no.
- What's the matter? - Nothing.
- He's had a quarrel with Livilla. - Oh, shut up.
I don't know why you quarrel so much. Can't you be nice?
Look who's called to visit us. Gnaeus Domitius.
I was on my way to Formiae.
I felt I must call upon you, Lady.
Do you know my son, Lucius?
An honour, sir.
I took the auspices for your brother before he left for Syria.
They were most favourable.
I've never seen the liver of a ewe so clear.
One could almost see through it.
His death is inexplicable to me.
And to us all My youngest, Postumus.
- We must go, Mother. - Yes. Take care on the journey.
- May I go with them, Mother? - Whatever for? Certainly not.
Goodbye, Antonia.
- Go and make it up with Livilla. - Oh, shut up.
Sir.
Come, Plautius, we'll make a start.
- Goodbye. - Goodbye.
Here come the children. Let's go into the house.
It sounds as if they’ve been quarrelling.
Eagles! They’re fighting! Postumus, look at the eagles!
What are they fighting for?
One of them's got something! See, in its claws there.
Mother, Mother, the eagles are fighting!
Look out!
What is it, Claudius?
It's a wolf cub.
Mother, it dropped right from its claws.
Let me have him!
Leave it be! It fell to Claudius, leave it be!
Look at the blood. Ye Gods, what does it mean?
Domitius, tell us what it means.
- Lady, I... - You know what it means, I can see.
Tell us, I beg you.
- Children, go into the house. - No! Let them stay.
The sign was given to you all.
and given now, perhaps, because I am here to read it.
But they must be sworn to secrecy.
Who are the gods that watch over this house?
Jupiter and Mars.
Then do you swear, all of you, by these your gods...
that no word of what you are about to hear shall ever pass your lips?
Yes, we do.
The wolf cub is Rome. No doubt of it.
Romulus was suckled by a wolf as her own cub,
and Romulus was Rome.
And look at it.
All torn about the nock and shivering with fear.
A wretched sight.
Rome will be wretched one day.
But he will protect it.
He and no other.
Claudius as protector of Rome!
I hope I shall be dead by then.
Go to your room! You shall have nothing to eat all day!
Children, come in. Come inside.
May I k-k-keep the cub, please, Mother? Please may I?
Well. it is true? Have I heard right?
Are you having my daughter-in-law?
Come, you can be frank with me.
As a matter of fact it would be better for you to be frank with me.
She took a fancy to me.
I'm sure she did.
Well. what could I do? She is, after all. Caesar’s daughter.
You were wise not to refuse her.
Would you do as much for me?
I am, after all. Caesar’s wife.
Quite a stud, aren't you?
You find me utterly repulsive, but you'd try all the same.
I like that. I like a trier.
You're a very beautiful woman.
I'm an old one.
Still. that wouldn't stop you if you thought I could do something for you.
Well. perhaps I can.
Yours is a noble family, but poor, I believe.
- They’ve been unfortunate. - But not in you, clearly.
No. In you I would say they have been very fortunate.
Come closer.
How long have you known my daughter-in-law?
Not long. A month or so.
And did you meet her through her son, or her son through her?
I was Lucius' friend first.
I stayed at the house in Antium for a few days.
What a lovely time you must have had. Have you been there since?
Yes.
Tell me, does Lucius know you're ploughing his mother's furrow
with such ferocious skill and energy.
Well. I don't know.
Perhaps he...
- Perhaps he... - Guesses?
Well. that wouldn't be hard, would it?
All Rome apart from her father guesses.
How much does Lucius mean to you?
He means more than I can say.
Oh, not more than you can say, surely?
Try.
I am his best friend.
Lady, what do you want of me?
I want to help you in your career.
You'd liked to be helped, wouldn't you?
Yes. And what must I do in exchange? Stop seeing the Lady Julia?
Oh, you've a mighty high opinion of yourself, haven't you?
Do you imagine that I would stoop to buying you off
when I could swat you like a fly if I wanted?
- I meant... - Hold your tongue.
I will tell you what I want and you will provide it.
I want a catalogue of my daughter-in-law's activities.
I want names, dates, places.
Far from breaking with her, you may encourage her.
Well. she needs little encouragement.
Less work for you, then, isn't it?
Yes, I can see the attraction.
You should go far if you manage to keep your head.
You may go now.
Oh, Plautius?
You need not, of course, include your own name on that list...
for the moment.
Caesar.
Praxis, look at this. They’ve just delivered it.
It's a bust of my late adopted son, Gaius.
What a beautiful face, Caesar.
Such a noble brow.
- What a tragic loss for Rome. - Thank you, Praxis. Thank you.
Caesar, the representatives of the Noble Order of Knights are here.
- Hmm? - You asked to see them in here
to address them on the subject of the marriage laws.
Oh, yes. Yes.
I'll see them out there.
Hay! Hay! Boy! Boy, come here! Come! Stay with me.
I've called you here because I'm sick and tired...
Look. Up, up.
..of the constant complaints that I've been getting from you and others
about the severity of the laws I've made against bachelors.
To that I say, stop complaining and get married!
Because your complaints don't impress me that much.
And who in Hades do you think you are, Vestal Virgins?
You make me sick, the lot of you!
Look at that. Do you know what that is?
That is a child. A Roman child. How in Hades do you think he got there?
By a Roman man and a Roman woman coming together in the same bed.
That is the fine product of a proper Roman union!
- Can't you stop that twitching? - I ca-ca...
Oh, never mind.
Oh, I hear some titters.
You can do better, can you? You murderers of your own posterity!
Well. damn well go and do it now! Quick as boiled asparagus!
Or, by thunder, I'll bring in some laws you won't like!
And that's all I've got to say to you!
Don't try to get round it by getting engaged to nine-year-old girls.
I know that dodge. A radish may know no Greek, but I do.
Now, which one are you?
- Claudius. - Oh, yes, Drusus' boy.
Shouldn't you be at your lessons?
Don't you like your lessons? No. I don't like mine.
- You can't do nothing all day. - Get back to your lessons at once.
He's been helping me. I used him as a model
- A model of what? Idiocy? - No, no.
Never mind. Off you go.
That child should have been exposed at birth.
- We don't do that anymore. - More's the pity.
He twitches, stutters and limps. Even his mother can't stand him.
Well. he's quite harmless.
He gets on my nerves. He talks to himself and irritates people.
- I want to talk to you. - What about?
Marriage.
That's what I've been talking about. There's not enough of it.
Which is why the family should set a good example.
You remember how early Gaius and Lucius were betrothed,
and Tiberius too.
- On the subject of Tiberius... - Leave me alone on Tiberius.
What harm would it do if he came back to Rome as a private citizen?
I know he's your son. Your feelings are natural in a mother.
But we've had this out before and so many times.
For what he did to Julia, I shall never forgive him.
Perhaps the fault was not all on one side? Perhaps he was provoked?
No. I can't accept that.
I know you'll say I'm her father, she can do no wrong.
But if she's done wrong, let someone prove it.
Black and white, chapter and verse, and not sly backstairs gossip.
Let's not talk about it again. My mind is closed.
Now, on the subject of marriage.
What do you suggest? Agrippina and Germanicus - that's obvious.
Yes. We should arranged the betrothal as soon as possible.
And Castor and Livilla too.
Castor and Livilla? Are you sure? I thought Postumus.
He's a little monster and Livilla can't stand him.
Well. if you say so. She's a bit of a flirt, then. She teases him a lot.
- That's natural in a girl - Yes, I suppose so.
What about Claudius? Who's going to marry Claudius?
I'll find someone. It won't be easy, but I'll find someone.
Most women marry fools, but it takes them a while to find out.
With Claudius, it's as plain as the nose on his face.
Plautius.
Why didn't you save me from this beast?
So Father asked me to see his own personal physician, so I did.
Do you know what he told me? He told me not to eat so much.
He said if I stopped eating so much, the palpitations would go.
- I ask you, am I a big eater? - Well..
I can't live on lettuce. I'm not a caterpillar.
Hello, Aunt J-J-Julia.
Hello, dear. Who's that you've got there?
His name's Herod.
His grandfather is King of the J-J-Jews.
Really? And what's he doing here?
He's been sent to be educated in Rome and he's been put in my class.
Well. how nice. He's a handsome lad, isn't he?
Do I have the honour of addressing the wife of the great Agrippa?
Yes, dear, you do.
My name is Herod Agrippa.
I was named after your illustrious husband Marcus Agrippa.
Really? Well. wasn't that nice of your father to do that?
No. It was my grandfather who did that.
It was nice of him, then.
He's not very nice, Lady.
He had my father executed soon after I was born.
Oh, dear.
- I am sorry. - Yes. So was my father.
This is my m-m-mother.
The great Lady Antonia,
daughter of Mark Antony and wife of the noble Drusus.
My, you do know a lot about us.
I have studied you all
You are all known throughout the world. You are famous.
Well. you may come and visit us whenever you like.
Have you introduced him to Germanicus and Livilla yet?
Not yet.
C-ccome on, Herod.
Thank you for receiving a mere provincial so generously.
What a polite boy! And how well he speaks Latin.
Julia, not another fig.
Figs are good for you.
You sound just like Lucius.
You'll miss him when he goes to Spain.
Mmm. I shall miss that good-looking friend of his even more.
Quite a collection!
It certainly doesn't lack variety, does it?
I hope these names will stand up to examination?
Everything there can be verified.
Who, for example, is Gershon?
One of the house slaves - from Africa.
Scandalous. Are there any other slaves on this list?
One or two. The rest are mainly Romans of good birth and family.
Not quite good enough, it appears.
- You've done well - Thank you.
You've no qualms about betraying your friend's mother?
- In matters of state, I... - Oh, you do learn fast, don't you?
And what about your friend, as distinct from his mother?
You are ambitious.
- When you tell Caesar Augustus... - Oh, I shan't tell him.
He wouldn't appreciate it coming from me.
You see, he would question, in his mind, my motives.
No, no. I must find someone else to do that.
But your name won't be mentioned.
I may have another little assignment for you.
If I can be of service.
It may not be quite so enjoyable.
One can't always combine business with pleasure.
No.
And, usually, it's better not to.
You may go now.
You knew about it!
You knew all along, but you did nothing. Nothing!
- What could I do? - You could have gone to Augustus.
I thought he knew but had just closed his eyes to it.
Shame on you!
Shame you should think him such a man when he thinks so highly of you!
- Would you have me inform on my mother? ! - You could have come to me! To me!
Do you think I'd have stood by and done nothing?
I'd have tried to save her. Now it's too late to save either of you.
Gods.
- I should have told you. - You should have told him.
It's not for that alone that he'll condemn you.
That you did nothing is bad enough, but you did more.
- You aided and abetted... - No! No.
You acted as her pimp and her procurer!
- That's not true! - Liar!
You introduced your friend Plautius to her for that purpose.
Plautius?
Do you deny he has been her lover?
Do you deny he was the organiser of her orgies in Antium and in Rome?
He's not the first of your friends to wind up in her bed!
- It may look that way to you... - How will it look to Augustus?
Like mother, like son - that's how it will look. Oh!
What a blow this will be to him.
Not enough that his daughter is revealed as the town prostitute,
but that her son, whom he groomed for the highest office,
has connived with her, encouraged her
and even supplied her with lovers.
- What can I do? - Nothing!
There's nothing you can do.
You and your mother have destroyed the two dearest things in his life.
And to think that I, his wife,
should have to expose the corruption in his own family.
Let me do it! Please!
Give me this once chance to make good.
- You? - Please.
My sin was one of omission, nothing else.
Give me this chance to redeem myself. Give me the list.
Very well Let it be your doing and not mine.
You, Aelius Sextus Balbas.
Is it true? Have you slept with my daughter?
- Caesar, I... - Answer the question.
Yes, Caesar.
And you, Marcus Volunsius Saturnius?
Have you slept with my daughter?
- Caesar... - Just answer the question.
Yes, Caesar.
And you? Have you?
And you, Publius Norbanus Flaccus?
Once, Caesar.
Ah, only once? That's all?
Not slept, Caesar.
Not slept? You mean it happened standing up, perhaps?
Or in the street or on a bench? Not slept?
Is there anyone in Rome who has not slept with my daughter? !
Take them out! I'll decide what to do with them later!
- Grandfather... - No, no! I'm all right.
This must have been hard for you. Terrible.
It's a wonderful thing you've done. I'm proud of you.
I shall banish her! Banish her for life.
Don't tell me where she's gone or mention her name.
But let her...! Let her be all alone.
All alone until she dies! She's not fit for human company!
Father!
Please!
Please let me in!
Let me talk to you!
Let me explain!
Father?
Father!
Please! Please don't send me away!
Please, please, please don't send me away!
I couldn't bear it!
Not alone. Please!
Plea-ea-ease!
Please!
Please, Father!
Please let me talk to you!
Father, please!
Please.
Give me another chance.
Please.
This is your doing, isn't it?
Don't think I don't know.
You think you're very clever.
You think that by discrediting me, he'll bring your son back.
You're so transparent.
You want that precious son of yours to follow him when he dies
so you can come into your own.
But I have two sons, and they both come before yours.
So make your mind up to it, Livia.
When my father dies, you won't be wanted anymore.
So take my advice and climb on the funeral pyre with him!
So you've come out of your room at last.
I'm cursed, Livia.
I'm cursed.
First Gaius, then this.
What have I done to deserve this?
Yes.
It's a hard thing to see a child banished.
Don't I know that?
But how much harder when one knows the banishment is undeserved?
Have you thought of that? Have you thought how I have felt these years?
Yes. You must let my son come home.
With Lucius in Spain, we need him here in Rome.
And besides, can't you see now what has been plain to me for years?
That it was her wickedness that drove him away.
I'll never bring him back - never!
He drove her to it! He set her on that road.
This wouldn't have happened but for him! I'll never bring him back!
He can stay there and rot!
Excellency, there's a ship in the harbour.
I know.
I'm sure it will bring important letters for you.
I thought they might have arrived.
No, Thrasyllus, nothing has arrived.
What do you see in your horoscope? It must be good news.
I'm not looking at mine. I'm looking at yours.
At mine? You must be joking.
If there's good news, you'll find it in your horoscope, not mine.
Mine has been so indecisive lately, I thought I'd examine yours.
But why? What could that possibly tell you?
I decided today that if nothing pleasing came off that boat,
I would have you thrown down the cliff into the boy.
That's very funny. Very funny.
What exactly does it say? Can you see anything?
Oh, yes, it's very clear.
It confirms my worse fears for your safety.
Extraordinary how accurate these things are.
How would have thought I could have made a decision about you
and seen it clearly reflected in your chart?
Perhaps you've cast it wrong.
Not as wrong as you've been casting mine.
There's news coming from that boat. I'm sure of it.
Didn't you see the eagle on your roof this morning?
There are no eagles in Rhodes.
Exactly!
Yet the whole town was pointing at it.
It can mean only one thing - good news.
Alas, but not for you. Sentor!
Let me look at the chart. A man's destiny is not so easily read.
Yours is. I wrote it myself this morning.
Sentor, escort my friend down the cliff path.
And take care, I have a terrible feeling he may slip.
His stars speak of disasters.
Yes, master. An imperial courier has arrived with despatches.
Show him out. My friend can wait a while.
You see, a horoscope, like the heart of a man, is not so easy to read.
Let's see what the despatches say, shall we?
Your prophecies haven't inspired much confidence lately.
Imperial despatch from Augustus Caesar for Tiberius Claudius Nero.
Lucius is dead. I am to return to Rome.
Dead?
Dead.
Dead?
Dead.
Sir, all Rome is drowned in grief.
Well. of course they are. That's only natural
- What happened? - A terrible boating accident.
A boating accident?
- Where? - In Marseilles.
He was on his way to Spain. He and his friend.
- His friend? - Caius Plautinus Silvanus.
They were waiting for the boat to take them to Spain.
While they waited, they went fishing.
Fishing?
I don't understand. Why are you laughing?
It's nervous laughter.
Go on with your story.
Well. go on, go on.
The boat overturned.
- Overturned? - Yes. Shall I go on?
Plautius behaved like a hero.
He swam for two miles holding on to his friend trying to save him,
but when he got to shore, his friend was dead
and he was in a state of exhaustion.
What a terrible thing.
Gaius and Lucius within 18 months...
and their mother banished in between.
That family is beginning to resemble a Greek tragedy.
- Is your ship returning to Rome? - Yes, sir. Tomorrow.
We’ll join it. You may go now.
Curious the fates are.
My exile ended and you predicted it.
Brave Thrasyllus.
I never lost faith in you.
So you've come home?
Yes, Caesar.
I am here to do whatever you want.
Well. let bygones be bygones, eh?
Families quarrel. they make it up. That's in the nature of things.
My two grandsons are dead.
My daughter...
People say, "Bring her back".
They shout at me in the street. You know that?
"Wicked!" they say. "Bring her back."
But no, no, no, no.
She's not my daughter anymore. I've forgotten her.
Anyway, we'll talk later.
There's a lot to be done. Trouble in Germany.
The Parthians are at it again. That king always stirring up trouble.
I've got his son as a hostage. I swore I'd execute him.
But he's such a likeable little chap.
Anyway, we'll talk later.
Later.
The likeable little chap is now the king who's causing all the trouble.
His mind is going.
Yes.
But mine isn't. You'll dine with me tonight and we'll talk.
Yes, Mother.
Ch-ch-cheer up, Postumus.
Come and play nuts.
What's the m-m-matter?
Nothing.
Oh, sir, be cheerful
Caesar has adopted you into his family and made you his heir.
That is an honour. It means you'll succeed him.
Yes, Herod.
But he's adopted my stepfather too...
and we both can't succeed him, can we?
I'm frightened.
I want my mother.
I want my brothers.
Where are they?
"Thaw follows frost, hard on the heels of spring
"treads summer bound to die..."
Myself when young - not a pretty sight
"Then back to wintertime again where nothing stirs.
"But, oh, what’re the sky-led seesons mar,
"Moon upon moon rebuilds it with her..."
Postumus, Agrippa's sole surviving son, and my best friend.
His mother, Julia was banished you may remember,
and his two elder brothers died mysteriously.
"..If the gods in heaven should add the morrow to the day..."
The golden-haired Apollo is Germanicus my brother -
already a great soldier.
"..will ever hold.
"When thou descendent once the shades among,
"the stern assize..."
And if you wait a moment, you will see a creature of a different kind -
Livilla my sister.
Yes there she is tormenting Postumus as usual
when her husband is away.
"..Shall friend thee more."
Oh, beautiful. beautiful
Horace, my dear fellow, such language. Wonderful. wonderful
Weren't they lovely poems?
Exquisite. Now, that's what I call poetry.
Ovid! No comparison. It's better than Ovid.
I don't care what they say! I've never liked that man.
His poetry's very beautiful. but it's also very smutty.
A lot of it's downright indecent.
I wouldn't have him in the house. Thank you.
People say that he has a lovely voice, but what does he do with it?
Talks a lot of smut, that's what!
Write poetry, yes, but write about nice things -
things you'd like your children to hear.
I want a copy of the book when you publish.
- Of course, Caesar. - I've got a present for you.
- But Caesar... - It's a little gold statue.
Etruscan, I think. It's solid gold, but you'll appreciate it properly.
- You go too... - No, no. Err, Praxis? Where are you?
- Here, Caesar. - He knows where it is.
Wait till you see it, really.
- You must come again some time. - Any time.
I was wondering how long it would take you to knock that over.
How can you be so clumsy?
Leave it alone, for heaven's sake.
If you want to clear up, you can work in the kitchens.
Claudius!
Pina, wake up. It's time to go home.
- Time we all went home. - Are you leaving?
It's two hours after dark already.
Yes, and there's a lot of work to do tomorrow.
A sleepy head's a foolish one.
What a poet that Horace is, eh?
Livilla, the whole family was here except your husband. It won't do.
What can I do? Castor hates family dinners.
I don't understand that. Tiberius, you must talk to that son of yours.
- He doesn't listen to me. - Goodnight, Uncle.
Goodnight, my dear.
- Grandfather. - Goodnight, Germanicus, Pina.
Goodnight, Grandmother.
That's my foot you're treading on.
- Are we going? - Sorry.
Claudius, do come on.
Postumus, I'll come and see your troops. How are they shaping up?
- Very well - Good.
Goodnight. Goodnight, everyone.
- Goodnight, Domitia. - Goodnight, Grandfather.
Ah, goodnight, Livilla.
You tell that husband of yours... You know what to tell him.
- Grandmother. - Goodnight, my dear.
- You looked very lovely tonight. - Thank you. Goodnight, Uncle.
- Goodnight, G-Grandfather. - What? Oh, goodnight, Claudius.
What a wonderful avenging.
They’re such good children. I think they liked their little presents.
What are we going to do about Claudius?
Claudius? In the matter of what?
The games to be held in his father's honour.
I don't know. Must we think about it now?
How much longer can we leave it? Is he to sit in your box or is he not?
- It'll look odd if he doesn't. - It might look odder if he does.
Do you want to sit next to a twitching idiot?
Let's think about it tomorrow. Goodnight, my dear.
Don't worry about Claudius.
I'll have him to dinner a few times and see how he gets on.
If we could just stop that twitching.
Caesar, forgive me, but a courier has just arrived from Germany.
Are you mad? Do you expect me to read despatches at this time?
But it's urgent, Caesar. There's been a terrible disaster.
- Send him in. - Come in, come in.
Is this the way you present yourself?
Couldn't you have taken a bath?
Forgive me, Caesar. I would not have presumed...
- Which legion are you with? - I was with the 19th.
Was? Have you been transferred?
No, Caesar. The 19th legion does not exist anymore.
Nor does the 17th, nor the 18th.
The army of Quinctilius Varus was massacred in the Teutoberg Forest.
Nothing stands between the German tribes and our provinces in Gaul
Massacred?
What are you saying to me?
There is no army in Across-the-Rhine Germany.
Troops and orderlies...
auxiliaries and general staff... massacred to a man.
Those who survived the battle were hunted down.
Where is Varus?
Dead. When he saw that all was lost, he killed himself.
Three legions?
Three legions, Caesar. There's nothing left.
Send for Germanicus and Postumus. Hurry!
Come to the study. Come with us!
They caught us here and here.
We were on a punitive expedition
because a tax collector had been murdered.
He sent three legions on a punitive expedition?
Not at first, Caesar, no.
We'd suffered some early defeats, so he sent back for the rest.
What happened to the loyal Germans?
They betrayed us. They led us into the forest and vanished.
But weren't you warned?
Many times, Caesar.
Go on.
We'd err... We'd had a mass of intelligence
warning us that things were happening in the villages.
Go on.
The commander ignored it, sir.
That stiff-knocked fool! I should never have appointed him! Go on.
We were advancing along a track.
We didn't even put out advance guards.
Progress was slow because we were felling trees
and the tribes had time to gather. Then it started to rain.
The archers couldn't keep their bows dry and their shields became soaked.
Our carts got stuck in the mud.
When the Germans attacked, we were in a hopeless position.
What's happened?
The army east of the Rhine has been destroyed. All of it.
Nothing stands between the Germans and our provinces in Gaul
How did you get out?
Only one officer kept his head - Cassius Chaerea.
About 120 of us cut our way out and back to the fort.
- The others are still there. - All right.
Did the Germans take any prisoners?
Yes. They put them in wicker cages and burned them alive.
Lady, I can't find Postumus Agrippa. He's not in his room.
Praxis, did it occur to you he may have visited his wife's room?
Naturally I tried there. But he wasn't there either.
I then spoke to one of the palace guards,
who said he'd seen him going towards your grand-daughter's apartments.
- Livilla? - Yes.
Naturally, I didn't enquire further because...
Because her husband has not yet returned.
With the men Postumus has been training, it's about a legion.
It depends whether the Germans have seized the Rhine bridges.
They won't have taken them. They’re barbarians. They’ll go for plunder.
Then we'll have to secure the bridges.
- I'll start tomorrow. - I'll raise the rest.
No. Germanicus stays here. There'll be panic. I'll need him here.
Well. it was here. It was years ago, but I saw it.
Then it's been stolen probably.
Ah, here is someone.
There's a book we want to look at. It's by a Greek called Polemocles.
It's a commentary on Polybius' Military Tactics. It was here.
I'll see if I can find it.
Why, it's young Claudius, isn't it?
Yes, it is, sir.
You're studious. What are you reading.
Romantic rubbish, I'll be bound. That's all the young want.
What is it that you're reading?
It's your own History of the C-C-Civil Wars.
It's rubbish, all right.
- So you know who I am? - Yes, sir. Asinius P-P-Pollio.
One of our g-greatest historians.
One of them? What do you mean?
- One of the t-two greatest. - And who is the other one?
Livy, of course.
Well. there can't be two greatest.
That's shilly-shallying and an abuse of the Roman tongue.
You must choose. Which one of us would you rather read?
- Pollio, that's not fair. - Nonsense. The lad's intelligent.
Speak up, boy. Which of us would you rather read?
Well. it d-d-depends, sir.
- Intelligent, but cowardly. - No.
I mean, it depends on what I'm reading for.
For b-beauty of language I would read Livy,
and for interpretation of fact I would read P-P-Pollio.
Now you please neither of us and that's a mistake!
I wasn't t-trying to please, just to tell the truth.
He might make an historian after all
The book isn't here. Perhaps you meant the Octavian library?
I'm not so old that I don't know what library I'm in!
Excuse me. The book you want,
it's on the t-t-top shelf, fourth from the window at the back.
I had it out the other day.
Only the t-t-title is Dissertation on Tactics
and it's by P-P-Polemocrates, not Polemocles,
and he was a J-J-Jew, not a Greek.
You'd better be right. I don't take kindly to that many corrections!
- Have I upset him? - Yes. It'll do him good.
- Do you like history? - Yes, sir.
But who the devil are you? Livy called you Claudius.
I'm T-T-Tiberius Claudius D-Drusus Nero Germanicus.
Oh, that Claudius! They told me you were a half-wit.
Well. my f-family's ashamed of me because I s-s...
stammer, and I'm lame and my head twitches.
Yes, I've noticed that. Can't you stop it?
No. The doctors said I might g-g-grow out of it.
Why were you reading my History of the Civil Wars?
Oh, I'm gathering material for a life of my father and grandfather.
Oh, I remember them.
They both believed in the Republic.
I know they did. That's why they died.
I beg your pardon?
I mean, that's why they were poisoned.
- P-p-p-poisoned! - Sh! Not so loud.
I won't mention any names, but I'll tell you this.
You say you're writing a life of your father?
They won't let you finish it.
Who won't?
Never mind. Look here, Claudius, I'll give you some good advice.
Do you want to live a long and useful life?
In that case, exaggerate your stutter and your limp.
Let your wits wander and play the fool as much as you like.
Do you understand me?
It's a pleasure to talk to you. I must find Livy.
P-P-Poisoned?
There's nothing like a piece of food picked fresh from a tree,
or a field or a stalk.
It's very nice, but you didn't ask me here to taste figs.
Did you ever think how fortunate we are?
That we weren't born in a hut on the banks of the Rhine,
or in a grubby little tent in Syria.
Did you ever think what Rome means?
Do you understand the effort
that has gone into making this little place master of the world?
Do you understand the dedication needed to maintain it?
Are you displeased with me, Grandfather?
Sit down.
Listen, Postumus.
We can't afford to sleep, you know.
Other people think only of their bread and their circuses,
but we have to provide them.
I hear nothing but complaints about you.
- What sort of complaint? - Well. all sorts.
You threw a palace guard into the fountain.
- He was laughing at Claudius. - Everyone laughs at Claudius.
Will you throw them all in the fountain?
And people say you're rude and bad-tempered.
- Who says? - Livia complains about you a lot.
What does she say?
Well. she says, for example, that you're a bit of a rake. Is it true?
The night that the courier brought news from Germany, I sent for you.
Yes. You weren't in your room.
Your wife complains you don't sleep with her enough.
- I never wanted that marriage. - You could sleep with her.
She's the same as any other woman. It's for us to set an example.
Without proper family life, where will we find people to carry on?
Why has my inheritance from my father been withheld?
Oh, that's what's bothering you.
You'll get it when I think you're mature enough to use it.
- Do I have to sit an examination? - Don't be cheeky with me.
Now, you listen. Your father was my greatest friend.
He would have taken over. And that's what I looked for in his sons.
Both your brothers are dead and you're all I've left of him.
It's my intention that you should follow me.
- My step-father may not agree. - Let me worry about Tiberius.
You made him your adopted son as well
I did it out of respect for his mother. She's an amazing woman.
But we just don't get on. I've never liked him.
He's not right to succeed me, whatever Livia thinks.
I say "succeed", but we are not kings.
We have no divine right to rule.
Still. after all my years of service to the state,
I think the Senate will accept my recommendation.
But you must earn it. You must give me confidence in you.
Come.
Grandmother? You sent for me.
How are you?
Grandmother?
Why do you deceive your husband when he's away?
Deceive? I don't understand.
Why do you allow Postumus Agrippa into your room at night?
But I don't! Who said such a thing?
Come here.
You're not going to lie to me, are you?
You're not going to treat me like a fool?
Do you think that I wouldn't know what happens under my own roof?
I've had you watched, child, and Postumus Agrippa...
as I had his mother watched - your Aunt Julia.
Do you remember her?
She was sent to an island called Pandataria.
It's a few minutes walk from end to end.
Well. I shouldn't think she walks it much anymore.
She's been on it for seven years.
Oh, God! I didn't mean it.
I didn't mean it! I won't ever do it again.
Don't send me away.
Please. Please. I won't ever see him again, I swear it.
You were always a naughty little girl, you know that, don't you?
Your mother never punished you enough.
You won't tell Augustus, will you?
He'll send me away if you do and I couldn't bear it!
Well. perhaps that won't be necessary.
Oh, come on, dry your tears.
There.
That's better.
Such a beautiful girl
I was beautiful too once, you know?
They say you were the most beautiful woman in the world.
There was one other, but she was in Egypt.
And, besides, she didn't last as long as I did.
Now, about Postumus Agrippa. You're not in love with him, are you?
No.
He pestered you, I suppose, and you gave in.
- What frail creatures we women are. - He always wanted me.
And you always enjoyed teasing him. Yes, you did, I've seen it.
I swear to you I won't do it again.
Yes, well. let's not be in too much of a hurry to swear anything.
My dear, I must talk to you like a grown woman now.
Can I talk to you? Can I open my heart to you?
Oh, yes, Grandmother, yes.
Many years ago, before you were born,
we all went through the terrible agony of civil war.
Rome tottered and shook and nearly fell
I'm afraid that may happen again.
And will it?
I'm sure of one thing.
Only a single hand at the helm will keep this ship on course.
The question is, whose hand will it be?
If there is any doubt, the rivalry will plunge us into civil war again.
- Is there a doubt? - Not in my mind.
But there is in someone else's.
Augustus.
Yes.
And it's my duty to remove that doubt.
Through everything I've ever done, that has been my only object.
And now it must become yours.
How, Grandmother?
You want your husband to become Emperor of Rome?
Yes.
Then his father must become Emperor before him.
Tiberius must succeed Augustus if Castor is to succeed Tiberius.
Only then will the line become established.
It'll seem easier to accept it than reject it.
And Postumus?
Bravo, my dear, you've put your finger on it.
Yes. Postumus.
As always, we come back to Postumus.
Nothing! That's what it amounts to - he's done nothing!
He holds bridges, but he doesn't cross them.
He's playing some game of his own!
Come in!
What's your son up to?! Six months, and all he's got are the bridges!
- He sits on his arse all day! - What does he say?
He says nothing, that's what. That's what it amounts to.
Those damned barbarians have got my eagles!
Quinctilius Varus, where are my eagles?!
Leave.
He is cautious, naturally.
I sent him to get my eagles back, not to sit on the Rhine!
He has an army of recruits. Should he risk another ambush?
If he doesn't risk something he should have stayed here!
- He's playing some game of his own. - That's a childish thing to say!
Is it? Why doesn't he get my eagles?
He'll move when he judges the army ready.
He'll move now! I'll send Postumus with an army to make sure!
I think that wouldn't be wise.
I make the military decisions, not you!
There's no need to lose your temper.
I wouldn't dream of advising you on such matters.
My son would welcome reinforcements.
- I question only sending Postumus. - Why?
- He's unproved and untried. - Oh, you always say that!
That's because it's always true.
He's the obvious person to send. He's been training recruits for months.
Training and leading men into battle are not the same.
Oh! How will he ever learn if he never does anything?
His brother was Governor of Syria at 19.
Gaius was different.
You had confidence in him and so did the Senate.
Gaius was reliable. He was a statesman. We all loved him.
- Yes, but Postumus... - Postumus is unpredictable.
And if you send Postumus, Tiberius will regard it as a criticism.
Good! That's what it's meant to be. I'm not inquiring after his health!
There's a history of antagonism between Postumus and Tiberius.
Tiberius will regard Postumus more of a spy than a support.
He'll think you don't trust him.
That's ridiculous!
Haven't you said you think he's playing some game of his own?
If you want to avoid friction between the commanders,
then I suggest you send Germanicus.
All right, I'll send Germanicus! But I want my damned eagles back!
What's this?
It's a biography. The beginning of one, anyway.
- A biography of whom? - By whom is the point.
It's by my idiot grandson Claudius. Antonia found it in his study.
You don't expect me to read it?
No. I'm having it destroyed. It's subversive.
- I told him not to continue it. - How is it subversive?
He praises his father's only fault - his attachment to the Republic.
He's harmless enough. You don't want me to punish him, do you?
No.
But I do want a decision on whether he'll sit in your box at the Games.
The games are in honour of his father.
If we send Germanicus off, neither of his sons will be in the box.
He should be there, but at the back.
I hope you don't think I'm going to pay for these games.
So that's how you feel about the Games!
No. I just feel like that about paying for them!
Nobody's asking you to pay!
Yes. As long as that's understood.
Was it ever in doubt?
Antonia and I will pay for the Games, and Germanicus and Claudius.
Claudius? That's even more reason why he should be in the box.
It'll be a very expensive seet.
And when is he going to get married?
- This year. - You said that last year.
Yes, but I put it off.
- Will this girl marry him? - What's it got to do with her?
They were betrothed six years ago.
To be honest, I feel sorry for her. What's she like?
I don't know. I haven't seen her since she was 13
- Does she know what she's getting? - Do any of us?
Look, you've left these matters to me for the last 30 years.
Are you going to interfere now?
I was asking a question. Can't I ask a question anymore?
What's wrong with you? Why are you so bad tempered?!
It's you that's bad tempered!
Your temper gets worse by the day. Everybody notices it!
I think you could do with a rest!
A long one!
Quinctilius Varus, where are my eagles?!