Claudius, not there! Those are the Imperial seets.
Sit behind. Here, with Herod.
Your nose is running.
Just look at them all They can't wait to see the blood start flowing.
I've n-n-never seen a swordfight before.
I wish Ger-Germanicus was here.
Look at them! Stuffing themselves with cakes
when men are preparing to die for their enjoyment.
Oh, Herod! I hope you're not going to s-s-spoil it all
My dear Claudius, I'm fascinated.
I never cease to wonder at these spectacles.
It's origin's r-r-religious.
It's a r-r-religious r-r-rite... r-r-really.
It's an honour. We render the spirits of the dead.
By rendering more people dead? How noble!
Oh, shut up, Herod. You're a J-Jew. You don't understand these things.
Besides, Mother will hear you and you'll make her cross.
I've a few words to say to you before these games begin.
Well. gather round.
Now, these games are being held in honour of my son, Drusus Nero,
who was worth the lot of you put together.
It's my intention that these games shall be remembered
long after you're dead and forgotten even by your nearest and dearest.
You're all scum and you know it,
but you've a chance here - some of you -
to prove that you're a bit more than that.
And for those whom death doesn't liberate,
there'll be plenty of freedoms handed out afterwards -
to say nothing of gold plate and coin.
But I want a good show.
I want my money’s worth!
I don't want any kiss-in-the-ring stuff.
And I don't want my family watching two grown men
pussyfooting around each other for half an hour.
There's been too much of that.
Don't think you can fool me - I know Avery trick in the book,
like the pig's blood in the bladder to make it look as if you're dead.
There's been too much of that too lately.
These games are being degraded
by the increasing use of professional tricks to stay alive,
and I won't have it.
So put on a good show and there'll be plenty of money for the living
and a decent burial for the dead.
If not, I'll break this guild up...
and I'll send the lot of you to the mines in Numidia.
That's all I have to say.
Claudius!
Get him up. This is not a comedy theatre.
That happened to me once. Do you remember, Livia?
No, I don't.
- It did. Which games was it at? - I don't remember.
- Or was it at the races? - The gladiators are saluting you.
Eh?
Oh.
- Calm down, for heaven's sake. - I'm t-trying.
One of them's about to die and they look more relaxed than you do.
Drusus would have loved this.
Yes. I was thinking of him.
I'm sure he's watching, my dear.
Poor Drusus.
I'm sure the fat one's going to win.
How about a little bet, Herod? I'll take the fat man for 20 gold pieces.
It's against my religion to boot on the life of a man.
Really? I thought you could boot on anything.
Caesar, it's true.
The Jews love gambling, but they fear their god more.
- Which one? - We have only one, Caesar.
I've never understood that. It's insufficient.
You could have some of ours.
Believe me, Caesar, the one we have is hard enough to live with!
On second thoughts, I'll take the boot.
- Good man! - Finish him! Finish him!
- Err... - It's all right. I'll see him home.
Postumus.
- Where's your husband? - Out on one of his usual jaunts.
Oh, Livilla.
It was all I could do to stop touching you at the Games today.
I nearly went mad.
Oh, my poor darling.
Oh! Ow!
Murder! Murder!
- Stop it! Help me! - Livilla...
Don't! Stop it! Help me!
No, please! Help!
Help!
He tried to rape me! Keep him away!
You bitch! You filthy bitch!
What are you? Some kind of animal?
It's a lie. Can't you see? The whole thing's a lie.
Look at her. She's terrified!
- She invited me into her room. - I didn't!
He climbed up and attacked me!
She'd invite you to her room with her husband a few doors away? !
- She told me he'd be out. - You filthy pig!
Stop it! Stop it!
Wait outside.
I suppose this isn't your dagger?
Yes, it's mine, but she could have got it anytime.
What do you take me for?
You expect me to believe she falsely accused you of rape?
For what reason? Well. tell me!
- Ask her. Perhaps she knows. - I'm asking you!
He'll incriminate us all before he's done.
She hates me and you're too blind to see it.
Hates you? What do you mean?
She hated my brothers and my mother.
She hates anyone who might come between you and her son!
What is going on? What is he saying?
Oh, Grandfather, open your eyes! Throw off the blinkers!
Everyone around you has either died or disappeared.
Do you think it was all an accident?
My father Agrippa and before him, Marcellus.
My brothers Gaius and Lucius, my mother Julia and now me!
Can't you see? She's clearing a path for herself!
And her other son, Drusus, whose memory she honours in those games -
ask her how he died!
There was nothing wrong with him till she sent her physician to him!
Marcellus? Agrippa?
What is he saying? What is he, some kind of raving lunatic?
Does he think that they were all murdered?
Are you insane? Or is just that you want me to think you are?
Yes! You're very clever.
You think that by pretending to be mad that I'll be lenient with you.
You think insanity will move me and I'll put you away somewhere.
You're disgusting!
I'd rather clear vomit off the street than talk to you.
It's incredible, isn't it?
It's too horrific even to think about.
I have to be mad even to mention it.
What a joke!
What a pathetic joke!
It's not me that's mad, it's her!
Look at her, she's a madwoman!
She'll destroy us all before she's finished, you included!
I could kill you now.
Spill your guts and give you no more thought than I would a dead dog.
But that's too easy for you.
You're going to suffer, like your mother suffers.
Yes. Living out your life on a rock somewhere
with nothing but birds for company.
It won't be on any map because they’re all too big for you.
But I'll find one, don't worry, just your size.
And you'll stay there till you rot.
Guard!
Take him away, and keep him under arrest!
Are you all right?
- I feel unclean. - It's him that's unclean, not you.
Tomorrow, you and I will go the temple and make a sacrifice together.
You'll feel better.
Go on!
Sh! They’re seerching for me in the grounds. They’ll find me soon.
- I haven't much time. - Postumus.
Just listen.
Well?
He slipped the guards. They’re seerching the palace.
He won't get far.
If he runs to the ends of the earth, he'll find a Roman to give him up.
Oh, take your wife to bed!
And, Castor, be nice to her. Get in beside her. That's your place.
If you'd been there more often, this would not have happened!
And you really think my grandmother put Livilla up to it?
I'm certain of it.
I'll go. If Livia knows I've been here, your life won't be worth much.
But I wanted you, above all. to know the truth, and Germanicus.
I'll tell him. But, listen, stay alive.
Don't give them any excuse to k-k-kill you.
I'm sorry I won't be at your wedding.
Don't worry. It'll be a very small affair.
I embarrass them all far too much.
Good. Go on embarrassing them.
Go on playing the idiot. It's safer that way.
Somebody else said that to me a while ago. Asinius P-Pollio.
Then we're not the only ones who know what's going on.
Goodbye, old friend.
She grew!
She just kept on growing!
Hail. Caesar!
The Legions of Rome salute you on their return from the Rhine.
- In triumph? - In triumph, Caesar!
The German tribes are put down. They have sued for peace.
Our punishments have been fierce and we have brought back many captives.
The province is peaceful once more and her tribute flows again.
Your legions await your further orders.
Hail. Caesar!
You'll hurt your eyes reading in this light.
- It was so hot in my r-room. - Am I disturbing you?
No. It's a v-v-very boring book.
- Where's Mother? - She and Pina are talking.
About children and about what it's like to be a soldier's wife.
She's wonderful. Pina - the way she goes everywhere with you.
You're very lucky, you know.
And how do you like being a married man?
And a father. What do you think of your little boy?
I don't like him very much. I think he's horrid.
Oh, Claudius!
What do you think of my wife? She's taller than me.
I know.
She's taller than me.
No, it's not funny.
How could anybody grow that tall?
Some people just never know when to stop.
- Do you sleep together? - Now and then.
I must admit, it's a bit of an ordeal
Her face is not unpleasant.
I rarely see her face. I never get up that far!
Oh, Claudius! Dear brother.
It is good to see you again.
I wish I could have come with you. What was it like?
The scene in the Teutoberg forest was terrible when we came on it.
No one had been buried. Bodies strewn around, horribly mutilated.
They’re a savage lot, those Germans.
But we avenged them. They’ll be quiet for a long time to come.
Tell me about Postumus. You didn't say much in your letters.
I was afraid to say too much.
Letters get intercepted and read by certain parties.
Come, you see plots everywhere. Who would dare to open your mail?
Grandmother. She opens everybody’s.
- Livia?! - Sh!
How else do you think she knows everything?
Does Augustus know that she does that?
I don't know what Augustus knows, but she knows everything.
- Postumus thinks... - Thinks what?
That night he was arrested, he broke away and came to see me in my room.
He wasn't trying to escape,
but he wanted me to know the truth so I could tell you.
What did he tell you?
That he didn't force Livilla. She invited him into her room -
as she'd often done before when Castor was out gambling or...
Anyway, when he got there, she started to scream.
The guards rushed in and she accused him of trying to r-rape her.
- Did you believe him? - Yes.
I'd believe Postumus before I'd believe Livilla.
But, Claudius, it's an age-old excuse that men have often used.
"She led me on. She wanted me to."
I've thought of that too. One does, even about one's friends.
But I believe him.
- But why would she do such a thing? - I asked him the same thing.
He said...
L-Livia had put her up to it.
Ah, our grandmother again.
Between reading letters and arranging rapes,
when does she ever sleep?
If you'll listen, I'll tell you what Postumus thinks of her.
It will stand the hairs up on your head.
He believes that she has systematically destroyed his mother,
his brothers and possibly his father,
that she poisoned Julia's first husband
and had a hand in our father's death.
He believes that she poisoned our grandfather,
and she will stop at nothing to ensure Tiberius follows Augustus.
He believes she's mad.
And I said all that without s-s-stuttering.
Well. nearly.
- Proof? - No.
Claudius, have you mentioned this to Augustus?
No! He takes me for a big enough fool already.
It must come from you or no one.
- All right. I'm listening. - Not here.
If you prune any more of that, there'll be nothing left.
Are you now an expert on gardening? Is that something you've become?
I'm only telling you. The gardeners all complained last year.
- And whose garden is this? - Others use it.
Incredible! Everyone's an expert suddenly.
- How long have we been married? - Don't you remember?
50 years. In all that time, you've never known one plant from another
and suddenly you know all there is to know about pruning. Wonderful!
I think your brain's going soft. Nobody can talk to you any more.
- Anyone can talk to me. - No, they can't.
Anyone can talk to me any time - except you.
You don't talk to people. You bully them.
This conversation's got ridiculous.
Wrong. This conversation was always ridiculous.
Your melon's here.
Is it true you're going to Corsica?
- Yes. - When?
Very soon.
- You never told me. - No.
I don't know what's come over you. You tell me nothing.
Well. you get to know everything anyway.
Why are you going to Corsica?
Because the Corsicans asked me to go.
What for?
Piracy. They’ve been complaining for years. They’re losing business.
Couldn't you have asked one of the Consuls to go?
Why should I?
I know how you hate travelling by see.
No. It doesn't bother me.
Will you be stopping off anywhere on the way?
- Such as where? - I don't know!
You'll be passing the island of your grandson's banishment.
Which one is that?
Planasia. Had you forgotten?
I hadn't thought about it. Why should I stop off there?
I thought you might take this opportunity of inspecting it.
- Have you tried this melon? - I don't want any!
If you ate more fruit, you wouldn't get so many wrinkles.
- Would you like me to come? - What for?
It's an arduous journey to make at your age, on your own.
- You might fall ill and die. - The see air will do me good.
Besides, Germanicus will be with me. I'm sending him to France.
What a support that boy's become.
I see.
- That's settled, then? - Yes.
- Double dealing? - No!
- Pining after Postumus? - No!
Then how does he know? Somebody's talked to him.
It wasn't me, I swear it! Why should I?
Because you're tired of your husband
and would like to see Postumus back.
How? He'd never forgive me anyway!
You're cleverer than that.
You'd tell him I forced you and shed a few tears.
I never met a man who could resist that.
If he knows something, it wasn't from me. I swear it.
I swear it!
All right.
I believe you.
Someone else, then.
Castor knows. He guessed. I never told him.
Yes, Castor knows. That's why you got your black aye.
It didn't pass unnoticed, my dear.
If Castor knows, he'd keep it to himself. He's got nothing to gain.
- It's someone else. - My brother?
- Germanicus wasn't here. - I meant Claudius.
That fool? His brains are addled. He sees nothing and he hears nothing.
Well. perhaps I was wrong.
Perhaps we should just wait and see.
Well. well. well..
What have we here? Tourists?
Have you come to see the beast in his cage?
Is the rock bare enough for you, Father?
Does it conform to your notions of smallness?
How thin you look. How pale.
What did you expect? A fat, jolly man full of laughs and jokes?
You must forgive me, Father.
It's been four years since I saw a soul apart from the guards.
I wasn't prepared for visitors.
This is Quintus Fabius Maximus, an old friend.
I envy you, Quintus Fabius Maximus.
Envy me what?
That you're an old friend of my father's.
You're better off than his adopted son.
Leave us.
They never told me it'd be like this.
I don't expect you ever asked!
You don't find out what you don't want to know!
- Don't say that. - Did you come for a tour?
That'll take ten minutes, as you once prophesied!
Then wound me if you must. I deserve it.
You have a knife. I wouldn't blame you if you used it!
Oh, it's tears now, is it?
I never knew a man cry as easily as you do.
Yes, tears come easily to me. I don't deny it.
You're wonderful. wonderful!
What's my role now? To feel sorry for you?!
- Mistakes have been made... - Mistakes!
Is that what you call them? You think tears will put them right?
Well. bravo! You still have tears to shed.
How many tears would you have left if you'd sat on this rock
for four solid years?
- Postumus... - How many? !
You've come to the wrong place to show your tears.
Even the stones weep here.
Now you've heard something, is that it?
It's made you think, perhaps you were wrong, too hasty?
Is that why you're here, to tell me it was a mistake?
I don't want to hear it! Leave me alone!
Go away and die but leave me alone!
Postumus...
What have you done to me?
Four years! What have you done with my life?
Don't. Please don't...
When those guards came in, I thought, "This is the end.
"He's sent them now to finish me off."
- How could you think such a thing? - What else could I think?
To die, that's nothing.
I'd have given my life for you, for Rome, a thousand times over.
But to die like a dog...
What can I say? What can I say?
A day hasn't passed when I haven't thought of you.
And I of you.
But not fondly, Father, not fondly.
I know, I know, I know.
What could I do? There are such liars in the world, such cheats!
And nowhere more, it seems, than among my own.
I've had to live this long to find that out.
They’ve made a fool of you.
There are places where they’ve made a god out of me,
but my own family have made me a fool
And Livia, it seems, more than anyone.
- She lied to you. - Why?
How did you find out?
- Germanicus told me. - He wasn't there.
Claudius told him, apparently.
What do you make of him, eh?
He's a curious chap. He's a bit of a fool
Aren't we all?
I've been wrong about a lot of things.
Well. I'm here to make amends.
It won't be long before you're in Rome.
- Can't I return with you now? - No. Your banishment is permanent.
I must get that decree reversed. That will take a bit of time.
The moment I set that in motion, it'll cause a few hearts to flutter
and a few minds to get busy.
I want to wait until Tiberius is out of Rome.
I'd worry more about Livia if I were you.
When you've lived so long with a woman...
when she's been more than a wife to you.
It's been like having another right arm.
It's hard to believe such things.
Believe them, Father.
I do. I do.
Come in.
Lady, the chief Vestal. Camilla Pulchra.
You look well. Lady, which is a blessing for Rome and for all of us.
And you, my dear, are as beautiful and serene as ever.
Come, let's sit down.
I envy you your serenity.
I envy all the Vestals.
I often wish I could have become one of them.
Rome would have been the loser then.
And you retire next year?
Yes. It's 30 years since I took my vows.
I must say, I find it hard to believe.
You came to me some time ago to ask me to use my influence with Augustus
to persuade the Senate to rebuild the House of the Vestals.
- That was a long time ago. - My dear, I never forget anything.
My dream is to leave the House more beautiful than when I entered it.
The Senate has promised to find the money, but they never have.
Well. I think it's time we did something.
- Have you spoken to your husband? - Many times.
It's been my dream too to rebuild that house.
But, like all men, he makes promises and noises and does very little.
- But he also likes to surprise me. - And has he?
Well. I think he has, but I'm not sure.
That's why I asked you here.
I have a feeling he's set aside a sum for it in his will
Oh, that would be wonderful! Do you think he has?
I asked him about it when he returned from Corsica.
"Wait and see," he said with such a twinkle in his aye
that it made me wonder if he'd come to you recently
to make an alteration in his will
But he did! He spent a whole morning locked in a room with it.
When he came out, he handed me two documents instead of one.
You see, I was right. Oh, this intuition of mine.
- Did he bring a witness? - Yes. Fabius Maximus.
Oh, the artful one!
He's just like a little boy. He has to be so mysterious about it all
He couldn't come out and say,
"Livia, you shall have your house for the Vestals when I die."
No. He must tease me. He must surprise me.
What a dear man he is.
You think then that the alteration is in respect of that?
Well. it seems likely.
Oh, what a pity we couldn't take it out and have a look at it.
Just you and me - two women together - in a tiny little conspiracy.
Yes, that would certainly set our minds at rest.
But it has his seel on.
Oh, but that's nothing.
I have the use of his seel I've had it for years.
How else do you think official documents get signed when he's away?
Mmm?
I hadn't thought of that.
But then, of course, that would be breaking my vows.
But in such a good cause.
And if we found the alteration were in respect of something else,
why, I would feel bound to find that money myself.
Rome owes so much to the sanctity of the Vestals.
What do you think, my dear?
Aaah! Oh, Montanus. Oh, help me, Montanus.
If you'd lie still and let the cold compresses work.
Oh, the pain's in my belly, you fool! Not in my head.
Here, drink this.
It will ease the pain.
It's like a fire in there.
It's the ulcer again. I warned you. Too much work and too much worry.
- Will you follow an idiot? - Yes.
Eat only milk products and eggs.
And give up work for a while or I won't be responsible.
When you feel a little better, take a holiday. Go to Capri or somewhere.
Paddle in the see, get some fresh air. I'll talk to the Lady Livia.
I've had premonitions. Premonitions of death.
- We all have them. - No, no, no. This is serious.
Listen, old friend, let me tell you.
Two weeks after we came back from you know where,
I was in Mars Field giving a libation.
A little ceremony. You remember?
I remember, but I wasn't there.
No? Well. nearby, there's a temple built in memory of Marcus Agrippa.
- Yes, I know it. - An eagle circled me five times,
then flew off and settled on the "A" of Agrippa's name.
- Well. Caesar... - No, don't lie to me.
It's clear what it means.
It was telling me that my time had come
and that I must give way to someone by the name of Agrippa.
- Postumus? - Who else?
- Did you consult an augur? - No. I don't need an augur.
Well. you're not an expert on the interpretation of signs.
Then listen to this.
The following day, lightning melted the "C" on my name on a statue nearby.
It struck the "C" off "Caesar". Do you follow? What does "C" mean?
- A hundred. - A hundred. Exactly!
Livia saw it. She went to an augur to find out what it meant.
She wouldn't tell me, but I forced it out of her.
It means that I have only a hundred days to live.
I shall die in a hundred days.
Or weeks.
Eh?
Why shouldn't it be weeks?
Or months?
Why shouldn't it mean that you'll live to be a hundred?
- Do you think so? - Why not?
Perhaps she went to the wrong augur.
Perhaps he looked at the wrong book.
G-G-Good morning, Grandmother.
Mother and I would like to know
if there's any ch-change in Augustus' health.
He's improving, which is more than I can say for you.
Tha-thank you, Grandmother. It's a gr-great relief.
Yes.
Well. thank you.
Is it true...?
Is it true that you've written a book
about religious changes during the reign of Augustus?
Y-y-yes, Grandmother.
You intend to give a public reading of it?
- Yes, Grandmother. - You'll do no such thing.
N-no, Grandmother.
It wasn't my idea. Germanicus suggested it before he left.
You won't make a laughing stock of my family.
I'm b-b-better when I'm rehearsed.
So is a trained monkey, but he still looks and sounds like a monkey.
Yes, Grandmother.
If your head doesn't stop twitching,
I'll have it off and stuck on a pole. That'll fix it.
Th-th-thank you, Grandmother.
Oh, I beg your... Oh. I'm... I beg your pardon.
Leave it alone!
That grandson of yours could wreck the empire...
just by strolling through it.
Augustus is improving.
Are you drinking because he nearly died or because he didn't?
- Sarcastic, aren't we? - I was just wondering.
I never know whether I read you right. Is something wrong?
He's altered his will
What's the matter - cat got your tongue?
That took your breath away, didn't it?
- How do you know? - I make it my business to know.
- In whose favour? - Whose do you think?
- Germanicus? - Ha!
Trust you to get it wrong.
I must have been nodding when I gave birth to you.
I sometimes wonder that you ever did anything so natural as giving birth.
In whose favour has he altered his will?
Postumus. Whose do you think? He took a trip to Corsica.
Didn't it occur to you he may visit your stepson?
- Why should he? - He's changed his mind about him.
What could have caused him to change it?
What does he know now that he didn't know then? What could he know?
What is there to know?
He's a senile old man. How do I know why he changed his mind?
But he has, and so much the worse for you, my baby,
if I can't change it back again.
Well. don't bother on my account! I'm sick of it!
The gods know I've done my best!
He never liked me. Never!
Thirty years I've run his errands for him!
I've fought on his bloody frontiers, collected his taxes!
He's never once put his hand on mine and said, "Thank you.
"What would I have done without you?"
Now he sends me off to Illyricum without a farewell dinner.
Not even a goodbye. Just get on your horse and ride!
Well. damn him!
I retired before and I can retire again!
Let his precious grandson run his empire for him.
I'm sick to death of it!
- When do you leave? - Very soon.
I wouldn't travel too fast, if I were you.
Why not?
Well. you won't have so far to come back if anything happens to him.
I was just going to see your mother. I've heard she's not very well
I wanted a word, but I'm dragging you away from your work.
- N-no, really. - I'll only stay a minute.
Are you b-better now?
Well. you know, I think so.
Well. shall we sit down for a moment?
P-please.
They put me on this diet, you know, but I cured myself.
You know how? I refused to eat. Oh, a little milk and fruit.
I got myself this cow and I milked it myself.
The fruit I picked from the garden, so it was untouched by human hand,
except my own.
You never know what gets into food. The slaves are so careless.
Anyway, I'm still here.
Yes. I'm going away for a little holiday.
First to Capri and then to Nola. I'm a bit tired.
What a pleasant garden this is. I've never been here before.
Claudius, do you bear me any ill will?
Ill will? Why should I?
Oh, we can be so wrong about people. I was wrong about you.
We judge too much on appearances.
I mean, your appearance is against you. You know that, don't you?
You give everybody the impression you're a bit of a fool
But you're not such a fool. are you?
I hope n-not.
Germanicus told me all about you.
He said that you were loyal to three things -
to your friends, to Rome and to the truth.
That's a wonderful thing to say of a person.
I'd be proud if he said that of me.
My brother worships you.
- No? Do you think so? - Yes. He's often told me.
Well. well
He's a great man, you know. A fine Roman in the best tradition -
even though he is a bit of a republican.
What did you think? I didn't know?
I'm a republican myself at heart. You know that, don't you?
It was never my intention to rule for so long,
but...I don't know, things just didn't work out.
I kept wanting to retire. Your father wanted me to retire.
I don't know. It just never happened.
So many things turn out different from the way you hoped.
I went to Corsica, you know, and I paid a visit to a certain island
and I saw a certain person.
None of that would have happened but for you. Germanicus told me.
Anyway, when I got back, I paid a visit to the Vestal Virgins
and I made some alterations to a certain document there.
No one knows about that - not even your grandmother - so not a word.
Oh, you can tr-trust me.
Yes. I see now that I can.
When I get back, we'll talk again. We'll talk many times, eh?
I've found another friend.
Even at my age, a man finds he has friends he never even dreamed of.
What luck, Livia! I've thrown Venus three times in a row!
Come on, pay up, all of you!
Oh, what luck, Livia! You never saw such a...
Come and play. I'm winning a fortune.
- Don't you think it's time for bed? - Certainly not.
We'll start again. Odds or evens?
- Odds! Odds! - Evens!
Junius, you're not batting.
Caesar, I have no money. It's gone.
Really? Come on, have some of mine.
- But you gave us all the money. - It's only a game.
But if we win, we keep it and if we lose, you give it back.
Who's complaining? Come on, make your boot.
- Montanus, have you . - Odds, Caesar.
You'll be sorry. I've been throwing evens all night.
- Evens! - Odds! Odds!
Ha! Ha!
What did I tell you? Come on, pay up.
Who boot odds? Come on, don't slink away. I saw you!
Oh, what an evening.
Evens, collect your winnings. Odds, pay up.
- What's the matter? - I feel sick.
Take me to my room.
No food! Do you hear?
I'll eat figs from the garden, nothing else.
Nothing!
And I'll pick them myself.
Are you mad? Figs from the garden?
Aren't your bowels loose enough? I must give you medicine.
No! Curse it! Nothing that's been touched by human hand, do you hear?
Not even Livia's. Nothing.
Nothing.
It's a very bad attack.
He'll eat no prepared food, none. Those are his instructions.
Only figs from the tree. Perhaps he's right, I don't know.
- He cured himself before. - Did he give any reason?
None.
It mustn't be touched by human hand, not even by yours.
Perhaps he's right after all
No matter how many times one tells them,
the kitchen staff never wash their hands after using the lavatory.
He's too ill to go to Rome. He'll have to stay here in Nola for a few days.
Are you feeling better?
There's a delegation here from Rome.
They’re waiting to see you.
Well. you're a fine one.
You made yourself worse with all those figs.
I never heard anything so ridiculous.
I only came on this journey to look after you,
and you won't let me or anyone else cook for you.
It's very embarrassing, you know.
People might think we were trying to poison you.
I sent for Tiberius.
Fortunately, he wasn't too far away. He'll be here soon.
Well. I thought you might want to see him.
And he'll do everything that has to be done.
Hasn't he always?
Of course...you two haven't always seen aye to aye.
But that hasn't been entirely his fault, you know that, don't you?
You were always inclined to favour one over the other.
I've often spoken to you about it.
You made fish of one and foul of the other so often
that no one knew where he was or what he was.
You should have listened to me more.
You should have.
You know that, don't you?
I've been right more often than you have, you know.
But because I was a woman, you pushed me into the background.
Oh, yes...yes, you did.
And all I ever wanted was for you and for Rome.
Nothing I ever did was for myself.
Nothing.
Only for you...and for Rome.
As a Claudian should.
Oh, yes, my dear. I'm a Claudian.
I think you are apt to forget that at times.
But I never did.
No.
Never.
No.
How is he?
He's dead.
Augustus is dead.
The earth will shake.
I must go and see the senators and the consuls from Rome.
Stay with him till I return.
By the way...
don't touch the figs.
Augustus has fallen into a deep sleep.
He willed himself to stay awake until my son arrived
and then, comforted by his return, he dozed off.
There's no point in your waiting here.
Come back again tomorrow.
Between now and then, I will post bulletins on the door.
- You are Colonel Sejanus? - Yes, Lady.
The son of the Commander of the Guard?
Yes, Lady.
Your father has high regard for you.
I hope you won't find it misplaced.
- You know why you're here? - Yes. I'll leave at once.
- Good. - Lady.
Weight it with stones. We'll bury it at see.
- Are you Fabius Maximus? - Yes. What's the message?
It's here.
Let the will be read.
"This is the last will and testament of Augustus Caesar,
"formerly Gaius Octavius of the family of Julius,
"made on the 3rd April
"in the year of the consuls Lucius Plancus and Gaius Scillius.
"For as much as a sinister fate has bereft me of my sons,
"Gaius and Lucius,
"it is now my will that Tiberius Claudius Nero Caesar
"become my heir in the first range of two-thirds of my estate,
"and in the remaining third of the first range,
"it is my will that my beloved wife Livia shall become my heir..."
Come in.
"..and in recognition of her life-long service
"shall if the Senate permit adopt the name of..."
- What do you want? - M-m-m...
Spit it out, boy!
M-m-mother said I might come and offer my ccc...
Condolences?
Condolences. Yes, Grandmother.
It's a t-terrible tragedy.
Have you been in the Senate?
On the steps. I'm not allowed in the Senate.
No, neither am I. They won't allow me in because I'm a woman
and you because you're a fool It's strange when you think of it.
It's full of nothing but old women and fools!
They’ve read the will
That's what they think.
Pardon?
Where have they got to?
They asked Uncle T-Tiberius to take Augustus' place, but he refused.
And I'll boot they asked him again, and I'll boot that he said yes.
- Yes, he did. - Well. what are they doing now?
Debating whether to make Augustus a god.
Debating, are they? What do you think?
I think they should. I think it was f-f-foretold.
Really, now? And who foretold it?
J-J-J-Jove.
Jove, eh?
A hundred days ago, he melted the "C" on one of Augustus' statues.
And what does that mean, idiot head?
If you strike out the letter "C" from "Caesar",
the word "Aesar" is left, and in Etruscan, Aesar means "god".
Deciphered some Etruscan now, have we?
Yes, Grandmother. I've been studying it.
Oh, you fool
If Jove wanted to talk to us,
don't you think he'd talk to us in Latin, not in Etruscan?
What'd be the point of that? Hadn't thought of that, had you?
All the same, I'd drop a note to Tiberius, if I were you.
He could use all the arguments he could get.
Will they make Augustus a g-g-god?
Oh, yes. He is a god.
And so shall I be one day, I prophesy.
And here's another prophecy.
If Jove ever melts the "C" off your name,
what's left will turn out to mean "jackass".
Bye-bye, Clau-Clau.
All right. You can go now.
You wicked woman!
Wickedness!
Here, what's this? Eh? Augustus' will!
You stole it!
His last will!
Poison is queen!
Stop it! Stop it!
Stop it!
Stop it! Stop it! Stop it!
Shouldn't eat so much at night.
Mushrooms.
Yes. I'm working too hard. Yes.
Too much work. I must get it all done though. I must finish.
Now, where was I?
Augustus died, yes.
Uncle Tiberius took his place.
But he didn't want it. Not then.
Waited too long.
Yes. Strange man.
Filthy brute.
All power corrupts.
Only one man kept him in chock - Germanicus, my brother.
My dear brother Germanicus.
Tiberius sent him to Syria to take command and then...
Let his body be laid in the marketplace at Antioch
so that the people may see the marks of poison and witchery on his body.
Let word be sent to Rome. Germanicus is dead.
Oh, nothing now stands between Rome and her Imperial destiny.
Thus, my children...
does your father come home to you.
Ashes in an urn.
Look at him! Remember him!
Remember all your days how your father returned to you.
Take it, Castor! Carry it to Rome.
And by the love you had for my husband,
defend his children and avenge his death!
My babies! My babies! What have they done to you?
And Claudius, dear Claudius - you, I know, loved him.
He was dearer to me than anyone. Nobody had such a brother.
Where is the Emperor? Where is Livia?
Too stricken with grief to appear in public.
- And your mother? - The same.
Oh, is their grief greater than ours, then?
Along the way, in every town and village,
the people flooded to pay their respect as we passed.
The air was filled with cries and lamentations.
Look at the faces of these people.
It's as if they’ve lost a son or a father of their own.
Yet the man he called father and the woman who was his grandmother
do not come out to great us!
I ask again, is their grief greater than ours?!
No! No!
Put the ashes on the hearse and let us journey on to Rome.
There must be a hundred thousand people out there.
Mars Field is ablaze with torches.
The funeral will be over soon. The crowds will disperse.
Why did they admire him so?
People always have the Emperor to blame.
My husband was Emperor for 40 years and he was admired by everyone.
Ah, well. I wasn't referring to gods.
The troops would have made Germanicus Emperor, if he'd agreed.
Germanicus didn't believe in emperors. He should have.
There's a lot of bad feeling and it's all directed at me!
What do they want from me? They always preferred him to me. Why?
You just don't have a lovable nature.
Even your own son doesn't care for you much.
- I'm loved by many people. - You're loved, but not well loved.
- And you are, I suppose? - Unlike you, I don't care.
He's profoundly loved, but also profoundly dead.
There's no harm in loving the dead. Everybody's loved when he's dead.
- I wouldn't count on that. - What do you want, Mother?
I'm told that your son Castor and Agrippina
intend to prosecute Piso and Plancina for treason and murder.
- They have no proof. - They could tell a pretty tale.
A pretty tale isn't proof.
A different story from the one you've been telling for five years.
You've buried many men with your pretty tales.
Where is he now?
My last report said he was on his way to Rome.
I won't have him tried.
Better to have him tried than to live under a cloud.
- That won't trouble Piso. - I was thinking of you.
Has it ever occurred to you that it's you they hate and not me?
There is nothing in this world that occurs to you
that has not occurred to me first. That is the affliction I live with.
I can't believe it.
Dearly as I loved my son, I can't believe what you're saying.
Piso, yes, we all know his record. But Tiberius?
Then why did he appoint Piso Governor of Syria?
There were others he could have chosen.
It wasn't a good choice, I grant you,
but I can't believe that an Emperor of Rome would stoop to such methods.
Those are his methods. He doesn't need to stoop.
I'm sorry, Castor. I know he's your father.
Say it. You can say nothing against my father that I've not said myself.
It's not for us to accuse the Emperor. We have no proof.
Proof! The people won't need proof. The people know. They’re not fools.
I've told the prosecutor to prepare charges against Piso and Plancina.
- On what gr-grounds? - Treason and murder.
- Is there really proof of murder? - And of witchery.
Is it possible? Barbarian Jew that I am, I find it incredible
that sophisticated people believe in witchery.
Oh, scoff all you like, Herod, but judge for yourself.
On our return to Syria from Egypt, Germanicus fell ill
and suspected that Plancina had bribed her way into our kitchens
- and had his food poisoned. - But why?
Because Germanicus had dismissed her husband, Piso.
So I prepared all his food myself, but he was able to eat very little.
He complained that there was a smell of death in the house,
and began to believe that Plancina was using witchcraft against him.
He made a propitiating sacrifice of nine black puppies to Hecate...
..which was the proper thing to do when being victimised.
And the very next day,
a slave who was washing the floor noticed a loose tile.
Lifting it up, he saw beneath it the naked and decaying corpse of a baby,
its belly painted red with horns tied to its forehead.
We seerched every room and equally gruesome finds were made.
The corpse of a cat with rudimentary wings growing in its back.
The head of a negro with a child's white hand stuck in its mouth.
The skull of an ass with the word Germanicus written across it.
Oh, cock's feathers smeared in blood were found among the cushions.
The word Rome written upside down.
And the number 17.
Only I knew that the number 17 upset him dreadfully.
Plancina must have had accomplices.
There could not have been. The woman dabbles in witchcraft!
Go on, Pina.
One of the things that upset him most was the appearance of his name,
each day shortened by a letter.
It would appear quite suddenly without explanation
in rooms to which the servants had no access
and where the windows were too small for a man to climb through.
He told me he was doomed.
I told him not as long as he had the green jasper charm of Hecate.
It was under his pillow and that comforted him.
He knew as long as he had that, nothing could happen to him.
That night, while he was asleep,
he felt a tiny movement under his pillow.
He turned on his side and fumbled for the charm.
It was gone.
Tell me, Herod, how did it disappear?
Nobody but myself was allowed in that room.
Who could have taken it? Who?
Caligula, darling, what are you doing out of bed?
- I've had a bad dream, Mother. - Oh, my poor baby. Come here.
- What did you dream? - Horrid dream.
I dreamt there were bats sitting along the shelf in my room.
Then they flew down and sat on me until I was all covered with them
- and no one could see me any more. - Poor baby.
- You shouldn't eat before bed. - Mother, he's been through so much!
He stuffs himself with things.
Perhaps he'd like to sleep with Drusillus? He'd be company for him.
Would you like to sleep with your cousin?
- I'd rather sleep with Drusilla. - Drusilla? Your sister?
At your age? What is the world coming to?
- He doesn't mean it. - He's been too long in the East.
Syria is no place to bring up a Roman child.
- I don't like it here. - You'll have to get used to it.
What was so wonderful about the East?
Herod Agrippa is talking to you, child!
It was full of strange and mysterious people and things.
The Syrians made a great fuss of him, I'm afraid.
He wandered all over Antioch with the house slaves.
Too much freedom.
I don't think so. His father was very strict.
Would you like to sleep in your cousin's room as Claudius suggests?
- I'll go to my own room. - I'll take him. Say goodnight.
Goodnight.
He's very overwrought.
Now, what about the t-t-trial?
Do you think you can prove a charge of poisoning?
We have a witness - Martina.
She's a notorious poisoner and was seen often with Plancina.
- Where is she? - On her way to R-Rome.
She's being kept hidden in different places.
We must find a place for her here.
Sejanus' agents are looking for her.
I know a place. A house of a merchant friend of mine.
Good. I've applied for permission to prosecute in the courts.
Oh, I think that's n-not a good idea.
Better in the courts than in the Senate by my father.
He can f-fix the courts behind the scenes.
If he's tried in the Senate by him, T-T-Tiberius will be on trial too.
Clever, Clau-Clau!
He's right. You'll be better off in the Senate.
We'll move for a trial in the Senate.
In the Senate? What's wrong with the courts?
I tried for the courts, but my son and his friends pressed for the Senate.
I had no grounds to oppose them.
Well..
If it's the Senate, it's the Senate.
Why should I be concerned? I'm no stranger to the Senate.
If my enemies have friends there, so have I. They’ll find that out.
- And you will be hearing the case? - Of course.
Well. then, what better guarantee of justice have we?
And justice is all Plancina and I came home for.
We've done nothing to be ashamed of -
except that it makes me ashamed to have to say so.
That was very well put. I couldn't have put that better.
But that shame will be theirs in the end.
Certain people will come to rue the day
they accused Gnaeus Calpurnius Piso and his wife of murder!
They’re arraigning you for treason as well
Treason?
Oh, it's treason now, is it?
What will they think of next?
That I caused a plague of moths?
Or it is I who am polluting the Tiber?
There was a drought in Syria when I left, perhaps I caused that?
I should prepare your defence well
I shall That will take me no time. But treason! Where is the treason?
I mean, I had certain disagreements with Germanicus,
but I wasn't his house boy.
They were very cold to us, you know - Germanicus and Agrippina.
From the start, they snubbed us.
Naturally. They knew why I was there.
I had not been made Governor of Syria to follow like a small dog.
I was there as watch dog for my Emperor, and they knew it.
Oh, the insults we bore at their hands!
Members of his own command were ashamed.
At official banquets, we were seeted on the third couch,
and Agrippina gave herself such airs, she might have been queen!
And they accuse me of treason.
Oh, don't talk to me of treason. Not to me.
What has my whole life been but one of service to Rome and my Emperor?
My sons, too. Let the jackals howl. I have nothing to fear.
My head is held high. I'm ashamed of nothing...
I gave orders not to be disturbed!
My lord, the Commander of the Guard has an urgent report to make.
Wait here.
He says very little. He neither agrees nor disagrees.
- He already plays the judge. - The judge? How?
He listens, but not with sympathy.
That's just his way. He's a very cold fish.
It's not what I expected.
Each one written in his own handwriting.
Quote: "I have the utmost faith in you."
Quote: "Any steps taken to chock disloyalty
"will be looked on kindly by the Senate."
What did he expect me to make of such phrases? I'm not a fool
- They are his tacit agreement. - But they bear his seel
No letter bearing the Imperial seel can be read in public.
I don't need it to be read in public.
They will be beside me in the Senate, mute, but eloquent.
They will plead our case better than Cicero.
Every Senator will understand their meaning
and vote the way he believes his Emperor wants him to.
Who is the woman, Martina?
Martina.
The widow of the Roman who settled in Antioch. We knew her slightly.
Did you know she was notorious as a poisoner?
Poisoner? Has she ever been convicted of poisoning?
What of her?
Sejanus says she is in Rome to be a witness.
Where is she?
His agents haven't found her yet. Do you have anything to fear from her?
Not if she speaks the truth.
But if she's held incommunicado,
who knows what they might persuade her to say?
Well. let's hope we find her first.
I loved this room. It was my life.
But you won't mind letting it to us?
- You've got to pay in advance. - My friend will pay.
- Are you taking the room? - Y-yes.
You'll like it. It's got a fine view of the river.
If you stand on the box, you'll see.
It's n-n-not for me. It's f-for my mother.
Oh. Well. it's not very comfortable.
What about those soldiers? I'm not letting a barracks!
No questions, Gershon. She's being locked up.
Locked up?! What kind of a son are you? "Honour thy father and mother!"
- Do you want us to look elsewhere? - Of course!
What do you think I run here? A jail?
Is t-t-that enough?
If I approved of what you were doing, it would be enough,
but since you're offending against Mosaic law...
It's Roman law here, Gershon.
It's Roman law everywhere. That's the trouble. But one day...
With that son, you've got to be lucky with your daughters.
Like everyone else, I grieve for Germanicus.
But apart from the charge of murder,
we must consider the question of treason.
Did Gnaeus Calpurnius Piso incite his troops to mutiny and rebellion?
Did he bribe them to support him?
Did he make war to regain his province?
The case against Gnaeus Calpurnius Piso may now be heard.
If it please the Emperor, my father,
I have been asked to open the case against the accused.
In the matter of murder,
we shall be bringing before the House clear evidence of poisoning.
In the matter of treason, we shall show that after Germanicus' death,
Gnaeus Calpurnius Piso raised the troops in a rebellion
against the new governor of that province.
Let go of me, you horrible German woman!
- What's this? - I hate you!
- What's the matter? - He is disgusting!
- What has he done? - Oh!
- What has he done? - That child is a monster!
I'm not! You horrid German! I'll burn your house down!
Stop it! Stop it! Come here! Now, what is all this G-German?
It's German if he doesn't like it.
- What has he done? - He knows!
I didn't do anything! I didn't!
Honestly, Uncle Claudius. I didn't do anything. It was a game.
I found him in Drusilla's bed. Naked, the pair of them!
They’re revolting. I've locked her in her room!
- Mother... - You're a blockhead to believe him!
- Where are you taking him? - The cellar.
Please don't let her take me. I'm afraid of the cellar.
You leave him with me. I'll t-t-talk to him.
He needs a good whipping, not a talking to!
Claudius, you're such a fool! I've no patience with you.
It should have been you who died, not Germanicus! What use are you?
Now, don't you know
that you sh-shouldn't play games like that with your sister?
Eh? Don't you know how w=wicked it is?
- Why? - Why?
- B-because it is. - Why?
Don't answer me back or I'll clout you round the head!
Now, you listen to me.
Now, a sister is a sister and she's not to be p-p-played with -
ever, do you understand?
You can't p-p-play with her and you can't m-marry her.
- But she wanted to... - I don't care what she wanted!
You're disgusting, the pair of you. I shall talk to Dr-Drusilla later.
- What's the matter? - Martina's disappeared.
- What? ! - We went to fetch her. She was gone.
The guard outside had been overpowered.
- Oh, Sejanus? - Who else?
That man's spies are everywhere!
Thick as flies in summer!
We've lost our chief witness, then?
That won't save the pair of them. What's he doing here?
He's been v-very naughty. Mother was going to thrash him.
Can't people leave him alone? Hasn't he been through enough?
When I heard of the death of Germanicus,
I was on the island of Cos.
In fact on my way back to Rome to report my dismissal to the Emperor.
Yes, and complain about it. I make no bones about that.
Now, my accusers say that I entered temples
and made sacrifices in an orgy of celebration.
So you did!
One ewe and a goat!
What orgy. And why? To celebrate the birth of a grandson.
To celebrate the death of Germanicus!
The living have rights! You would have done the same.
Why did you return to Syria? Why didn't you go to Rome?
I was still Governor of Syria.
We have the written instructions of Germanicus,
ordering you to leave the province.
Surtius was Governor of Syria.
Illegally! That governorship was mine!
The man who had unfairly removed me was dead.
I had my appointment. I had my instructions.
I knew where my loyalties lay.
- Read them out! - Read the letters!
I have no need to read them!
My defence will stand on its own merit.
I said I have no need to read...
Unless order is maintained in the House, I shall adjourn!
If Gnaeus Calpurnius Piso's argument is to rely upon instructions,
this House has the right to know what's in them.
These letters bear the Imperial seel
No one has the right to read them.
The Emperor may consent to having them read.
- They have no bearing on the case. - Why produce them?
They’re not evidence. They are here among my papers.
If it please the Emperor,
I move that any instructions received by the accused from Rome
be entered as evidence of his guilt or innocence.
I second that motion.
Those letters bear the Imperial seel
The seel of the god Augustus himself.
There is no precedence for making their contents public.
I will not create such a precedent.
The motion is denied.
They got more than they bargained for!
They thought they had a rabbit in the Senate, but they had a tiger. Eh, Plancina?
Oh, leave us, my friends. Plancina's tired.
A good night's rest and a little peace and quiet will work miracles.
Our enterprise will prosper again tomorrow. Goodnight, my friends.
What's the matter, Plancina?
I don't like it. It didn't go the way it should.
I thought it went very well
- Using those letters was a mistake. - Mistake?
You saw his face. He'll never forgive you.
We were carrying out his orders.
He won't thank you for reminding him.
I don't want his thanks, as long as he remembers.
He'll never forgive you, never.
He should ask my forgiveness. That trial should never have taken place.
Then why has he allowed it? !
He had to give them a show.
Germanicus has powerful friends. He can't just thumb his nose at them.
So he gives them a trial
A trial is one thing, a conviction is another.
Because if we're guilty, so is he and so is his mother.
He knows that and the Senate does.
We did what we were asked - provoke Germanicus into showing his hand.
Did that include bringing about his death?
Yes. Well. that was your idea.
- My idea? - Yes.
What does it matter?
It's a bonus for them. They’re not complaining.
What do you mean, it was my idea?
You came to me and said it could be managed.
Well. that's wonderful!
- I'm to blame then, am I? - Of course not.
I can see the way your mind is working. I'm going to be sacrificed.
- What? - Sacrificed at the temple!
- Well. I won't be! I won't be! - Stop it!
- Yes, what is it? - Lucius Aelius Sejanus is here.
- Show him in. - What does he want?
How would I know? For heaven's sake, control yourself.
I don't want him to see you looking like this.
I came to tell you, sir, that I've had guards placed round the house.
Why? I have guards of my own.
Of course. But the crowd is large and in an ugly mood.
What's their mood to me? I go where I please in Rome. Nobody stops me.
The Emperor requested it. For your safety.
Well. if it's for our safety, we're very pleased, eh, Plancina?
I understand their chief witness against me has disappeared.
So it seems.
Perhaps they never had one at all
Oh, I think they had one, but, unaccountably, she's disappeared.
Oh, by the way, the Emperor asked me to ask you for the letters.
The letters?
As state documents, they should be in the archives.
After all. they might get stolen or fall into the wrong hands.
As a matter of fact I was just about to send them round.
We were just talking about it.
Here they are. Give them to the Emperor.
Tell him I will never forget the things he wrote.
- I treasure in my mind every word. - Thank you.
The Imperial Guard will escort you to the Senate.
You needn't worry about the crowds.
Tell the Emperor I am grateful Tell him I'm always of service.
Tell him Calpurnius Piso is his humble servant and always will be!
You'll have to sacrifice them.
The mob will not have them acquitted.
They’re dragging Piso's statues to the Tiber and smashing them.
They already have the meet hooks under his chin.
What are they saying about me?
That Piso and his wife had your approval
If you let them go, they’ll be convinced of it.
But, above all. they praise Agrippina.
The glory of her country, they call her,
the only true descendant of Augustus.
- Did he give you the letters? - He expects you to save him,
but you must not.
I have come to tell you, Tiberius, that I and all of Rome,
blame you for my husband's death until you can prove your innocence.
We know you've taken our witness, but it will avail you nothing.
Emperor you may be, but justice is emperor over all
The fact you are not queen - is that the greatest injustice?
Vengeance, Tiberius! The people are crying for it on every corner.
Rome will not rest until you give it to them.
And neither shall I.
- Where is the woman, Martina? - We don't know.
Then find her.
Am I to be blamed for everything?
How will you get a conviction if you don't find her? Find her!
What other poisons do you use? Have you tried aconite?
Aconite? What's that?
Well. the roots look very like horseradish,
but it'll do more than clear your head.
Oh, yes, bless you, Lady. I know the one you mean.
You mean wolf's bane. That's what we call it. It came from India.
Really? I never knew that.
I boot you didn't know its antidote.
Morphine?
You have made a study of it. I don't worry too much about antidotes.
Well. you never know. Some fool of a slave might get the bowls mixed up.
I can see you've read a lot.
It's a pity you don't get a chance to practise. You'd be very good.
Thank you.
Tell me, what did you use on my grandson, Germanicus?
Ah, belladonna.
Ah, that accounts for the red rash.
It always leaves that mark. I didn't want it, but Plancina insisted.
I warned her, but she'd been told by know-it-alls how tasteless it was.
You know what people are like.
Amateurs. But you used witchcraft as well
Oh, I wouldn't say that.
All I did was arrange some apparitions.
Your grandson was more superstitious than any man living.
I frightened him to death.
If a man believes he's going to die, he'll die a lot quicker.
How did you gain access to that house?
You remember when Germanicus went to Egypt,
he took Agrippina, but he left Caligula behind as a punishment.
- What for? - He was never out of mischief.
He hated his father. They fought like cat and dog.
He told me how superstitious his father was.
Well. they left him in the care of a tutor - a Greek, whom I knew.
He took the child for walks in the city, and he brought him to see me.
Oh, that child's a strange one.
He told me once he was born a god,
and such was the conviction with which he said it, I believed him,
and I said I did.
It was then I suggested that he played the death game.
I said, "A god should be able to frighten a man to death."
And he shouted, "Tell me how and I'll show you." So I told him.
Are you telling me that that child poisoned his own father?
- Shocking, isn't it? - He's not a god, he's a monster.
You try telling him.
- What's the matter? - I don't know...
I've got a pain.
Oh, come, it's wind. That's all I have it all the time.
If I wanted to dispose of you, do you think I'd do it myself?
What...? What's going to happen to me?
I don't know. I'll do the best I can for you.
It's lucky for you that my agents found you before my son's did.
You wouldn't be sitting here complaining about wind.
The trial of Gnaeus Calpurnius Piso and his wife Plancina is resumed.
We understand that the principal witness in the charge of poisoning
has not been found.
In her absence, the prosecution have no case,
and we request that the charge be withdrawn.
Request denied.
If it please the Emperor, the wife of Gnaeus Calpurnius Piso
has asked that her defence be conducted separately
from her husband's,
and that she be tried independently from him.
Why...?! Why did you do this to me?
Don't you see what they think?
Do you want me to die?!
They’ve made up their minds.
There's nothing you nor I can say will change them.
The Emperor has abandoned you. He's given you up to the mob.
There's nothing on earth can save you now.
What about you?
I'll go to Livia. She, at least, stands by her friends.
Oh, Piso, listen to me.
There's the honour and wealth of our family to be saved.
Our sons, our daughters, our grandchildren - what of them?
If...
If you would take your life now...
If you take your life, there's a chance...
a good one, that an honourable death will preserve the family wealth.
Execution means only one thing - destruction for all we've built.
Fall on a sword?
Is that what you want for me, your husband?
Is that to be the end for Gnaeus Calpurnius Piso?
No.
There is another way. You go to Livia, yes!
Tell her I have another letter. She'll remember the one she wrote.
It's in her name and his, but it bears no seel
Tell her no power on earth will prevent me reading it aloud tomorrow
unless I have assurances of acquittal
You're bluffing.
No.
Tell her.
She'll remember.
Tell her I intend to read it aloud in the Senate tomorrow.
Don't look at me as if I'd told you I was pregnant!
He's got a letter, and it's very incriminating.
He'll read it unless we do something about it.
You wrote a letter in my name and yours without even using the seel?
You were away, and anyway you don't let me use the seel
Who's Emperor here, you or I?
I used Augustus' seel I had the free use of that.
I am not Augustus!
No, you're not. Otherwise this situation would never have arisen.
I think I shall go mad.
You will drive me insane!
Will you stay out of my affairs?!
Your affairs? You wouldn't be Emperor if it weren't for me.
What's done can be undone. Plancina isn't the only one with letters.
I've got plenty from Augustus saying what he thought about you,
and don't think I won't have them circulated.
What do you want?
I don't want that letter read in the Senate.
You'd be a fool if you allowed it.
You want my assurances that they’ll be acquitted?
Of course I do. They should be acquitted.
If you had any backbone, you'd do it.
I'll tell you what I'm going to do.
It's your letter, you stick to it...
and if it's read in the House, I'll deny all knowledge of it
and excuse you on the grounds of mental incompetence
brought on by extreme old age.
And you can tell your friend Plancina that there will be no deal!
What a spineless, miserable,
mean-spirited creature you are!
He won't have it.
He won't acquit your husband.
There is too much feeling against him.
And what about me?
Well. I was a little more successful there.
In exchange for the letter,
he will allow your husband to take his own life
rather than face execution.
Then he will see to it that you are spared
and that your family and your estates do not suffer.
And if my husband refuses?
I would see to it that he doesn't refuse if I were you.
It shouldn't be hard. Appeal to his honour. Men find that irresistible.
But what guarantee do I have that your son will get me acquitted?
Well. you see, I have Martina.
But he doesn't know that.
Now, his chances of convicting you without her are remote.
On the other hand...
if that letter is read,
I shall be compelled - very reluctantly...
to produce her.
He won't help us. He has abandoned us.
Oh, that miserable cur!
I shall read this. The Senate will see what sort of Emperor they have
and what sort of bitch calls herself "Mother of the nation"!
No, wait. Piso, listen. We can't fight them. They’re too powerful
And, anyway, there's the children and the estates.
Is the whole family to be destroyed because of us?
Oh, I can't believe it. It's not right. I won't allow it.
We've lived together...
we'll die together too.
There's comfort in that, isn't there?
You would...die with me?
Well. I couldn't live without you.
We'll leave the letter for Livia.
She'll help the family when we've gone. I know that.
Yes, you're right.
I'm tired of it all
To have everybody against you when all you've done is your duty.
There's no gratitude any more.
No... No honour.
To hell with Rome, I've done with it.
How shall we do it? Open a vein?
Let them find us lying together?
Shall we let them find us lying together?
No, they’re bluffing. They wouldn't dare have that letter read!
Would you rather have an executioner's sword?
It'll never come to that!
Oh, you coward!
- Well. I'm made of sterner stuff. - Plancina.
I'll show you how a Roman should die.
Plancina, they’re bluffing. They’ll never have that letter read...
Yes. Piso is dead, but Plancina goes free.
And you call that justice?
Well. it's s-s-some justice, I suppose. Better than none.
- Oh, yes. Some justice! - Pina, can't we let it rest?
I have sons to think about.
Their father is dead because Tiberius hated him.
Let's not deceive ourselves.
If he hated their father, will he love them?
I worry about my boys - Nero, Drusus,
and dear little Caligula asleep in his bed. What's to become of them?
It's Sejanus.
My father listens to him and Sejanus plays on his fears.
Can anyone smell burning?
I can smell s-s-something.
Mistress! Mistress! Caligula's set fire to the house!
It's burning. The whole top floor is ablaze! Run!
Beautiful. Lollia! Where did you find her?
We saw her first in Antioch when Titus was on duty there.
We thought her so superb
that Titus paid for her to tour the provinces.
And now, my dear friends, the entertainment is over.
It was w=wonderful and a b-b-beautiful dinner.
Thank you, but I wasn't inviting a compliment.
It's just that I have something to perform.
And I've brought you here, as our dearest friends, to be with me.
What's this? A surprise for me too?
- Yes, my dear, it is. - She never tells me anything.
Very naughty to surprise our guests and not tell your husband.
You know that I love you very much?
Now I'm really worried. This is going to cost a fortune!
- How much have you spent? - Nothing. I've spent nothing.
You may remember that a weak ago tonight,
we went to a dinner given by the Emperor.
Of course.
You may also remember that Tiberius was fascinated by our daughter.
I must admit, I saw him looking at Camilla once or twice.
What you don't know
is that she received a summons to the palace the next day.
What? A summons? You never told me.
I thought it best not to put you in a position where you would object.
What is this, Lollia? What are you telling me?
A summons to the Emperor is not something to be refused,
but I wouldn't let my daughter go alone, knowing his reputation.
So I went with her.
We went into a room I imagine he keeps for such receptions.
I'd never been into that room before, not met anyone who had.
The walls were hung with what the Emperor imagines is erotic art.
They depict scenes of incredible beastliness -
not fit for anyone to look at, let alone a young girl
Lollia, why are you telling me this now in front of all our friends?
These are not just friends.
They are all. in their different ways, important people in Rome.
That's why they’re here tonight.
He took Camilla up to show her the paintings
and talked about them as if they were works of art.
When I objected and said he should be ashamed of himself
for trying to corrupt a young girl,
he simply smiled and said, "What about an old one?"
No, Titus, please.
Then he clapped his hands,
and a slave appeared from another room carrying a tray of wine.
The slave was naked...
and while Tiberius spoke to her, he stroked the slave...
In his twisted way, he thought it might inflame Camilla's passions.
But Camilla burst into tears and begged to be allowed to leave.
He then pretended to be upset
and complained she'd given him a different impression at the dinner.
He then turned to me and told me to go home.
- No more! - No, Titus.
- No, enough. - Let me finish!
If I'd had this with me then, I'd have used it on him.
Instead, I begged a moment with him alone.
He granted it.
And there, I offered myself in my daughter's place.
Yes, Titus, my husband...
to save my daughter, I offered myself in her place.
And he accepted.
My dear, that was nothing for me to save her.
I took her to the gate...
and warned her not to say anything to anyone...
and then returned.
- Don't, Lollia, please... - I've nearly finished.
I said that to prostitute myself for my daughter was nothing.
What wouldn't we do to save our children?
I should have gone to the gate...
into the room, out again...
No one would have been the wiser.
I did go into that room.
I was there subjected to...
acts of...
such abominable filth...
to bestial obscenities...
with him and his solves of both sexes...
that mere prostitution seems like a blessed state compared to it.
You must forget, Lollia. You must put it from your mind.
You have saved your husband and your daughter.
No, Agrippina, that is not possible!
If there'd been just one part of me befouled by his lust,
I should have come home and cut it out!
With this knife!
But I can't live with the memory of what he did to me.
Nor can I get into my husband's bed again.
Nor have his arms around me.
Nor feel the love he's had for me all these years without...
without the memory of that beast...
and his beasts, coming between us.
If I could...
cut...
from my mind!
Lollia!
Lollia.
Make way, there! Move aside for the Emperor!
Don't block the road. Make way, there.
Stand aside. Clear the road for the Emperor!
Make way!
Well. well!
Is it my son who greets his mother with such affectionate eagerness?
- Good day, Mother. - In a hurry, are you?
Another treason trial? Who is it today?
- There are no trials today. - Ran out of people to prosecute?
You'll have more time to spend with your mother.
- Don't shout. I'm not deaf. - You've been deaf to me for years.
Why did you refuse the Spanish permission to build a temple to me?
I will not discuss such matters in the street. Good day. Move on.
It's my birthday next month! What are you going to buy me?
I heard about Lollia! Disgusting!
Your brother Drusus was worth ten of you!
Thrasyllus! Where is that damned astrologer?
Coming, Excellency, coming.
- Cast my mother's horoscope. - What for?
I want to know how much longer I have to put up with her.
- Do you know the time of her birth? - No.
I can only do a rough calculation.
Why don't you ask her? It's her birthday soon.
- It could be a present. - Yes. She'd like that.
She admires you since you prophesied she'd outlive her husband.
I could see she had every intention of doing so.
Still. I'll ask her for an interview.
What is she, a Loo? That's hopeful
There's a bad time coming up for Loo soon. I'll go and see her.
I wish I'd stayed in Rhodes. I wish I'd never returned.
Someone must govern.
Rome is fortunate that she has you.
Yes. And I'm fortunate in you, Sejanus. You're my eyes and ears.
If it wasn't for you to relieve me of some of my burden... What have we here?
Conversations taken down by my agents.
Some are merely vicious. Others treasonable.
Doesn't anybody ever say anything that isn't vicious or treasonable?!
We've had more treason trials in two years than the previous ten!
There is one I think you should look at.
- Silius Caecina? -Hmm.
Was he the corps commander on the Upper Rhine?
That's the point.
"Had it not been for the way I handled my four regiments,
"they would have mutinied too."
- He said that? - At a dinner party.
- What did he mean by it? - He went on to say
that if his regiments had mutinied, Tiberius would not be Emperor now.
He implies that you owe your position to him.
Oh, well. he'd had too much wine. You know what old soldiers are like.
They like to fight their old battles.
I think there may be more to it than that.
- Perhaps it's not important. - What do you mean?
Only that he went on to say, lower down,
that the regiments that did mutiny had been under your command.
He probably said it because Agrippina was there.
A compliment to her late husband whose regiments remained loyal
Agrippina was at the dinner? Agrippina!
The noble Gaius Caligula to see the Emperor!
What do you want? I'm busy!
I brought you a present.
A present? What sort of a present?
It took me a year to find it.
When I heard about it, I said, "That is for my great uncle, Tiberius."
- Happy anniversary! - What of?
What difference does it make? Think of something.
That's nothing. Wait till you see the others.
- Where did you get this? - Elephantis.
A merchant I know told me about it and I asked him to get it for me.
It cost quite a lot.
It cost so much I had to borrow part of it from Uncle Claudius!
It's 200 years old.
It was very thoughtful of you.
I knew you'd like it.
In fact I'd like to borrow it myself some time.
I mean, when you're not using it.
I'd like you to examine the evidence
to see if there's a case for impeaching Silius Caecina.
- On a charge of treason? - Yes.
For insulting references towards the Emperor?
- Why not? - Well. I agree, why not.
Blasphemies against Augustus have been treasonable, but Tiberius?
There's no precedent for it.
The Emperor's noble son Tiberius Drusus Caesar!
Castor, how nice to see you. Welcome back.
I'm Castor to my friends, Sejanus.
I had hoped you'd count me among your friends.
- Perhaps you will one day. - That seems unlikely.
Your father doesn't wish to be disturbed.
Announce me, you filthy German pig,
or I'll have you flogged and sent back to the hut from which you came!
Never mind precedent. I want Silius Caecina impeached for treason.
He has a great war record
and he has powerful friends - the Lady Agrippina for one.
Shall I find someone else or will you take the case?!
Of course. I was just clearing my mind.
- Germanicus was never your enemy! - I tell you he was!
I know what his ambitions were. I have the proof here in the files.
And I know how his widow conspires against me now.
- Proof? From Sejanus? - Yes! From Sejanus.
He at least keeps me informed of what goes on in this city!
Oh, Father, open your eyes! The man is using you.
You know nothing he doesn't want you to know
and see no one he doesn't want you to see.
He is the partner of my labours.
And soon he'll be your colleague, but that won't be enough for him.
That man has an apatite for power unknown to you and me.
Envy! Envy!
You envy him because for years he worked
while you and that Judean friend of yours, Herod,
went whoring around the city!
He worked to relieve me of my labours!
That's true, but if you think he's working for you, you're mistaken.
He's working for himself, and how hard he works!
- Have you finished? - No, I have not finished!
His statue is now to be seen in Pompay's theatre
and replicas of it are all over Rome!
He's built a network of spies that have spread through the city.
Don't you see? He's building a prison here, stone by stone,
and one day, when you're gone, we'll wake up
and find the doors locked and the bolts down!
Did you have a report to make on the coastal defences?
- Yes. - Well. then, make it!
He's interested only in treason trials and pornographic books
He had one with him. Caligula had bought it for him.
- They seem to get on well - He gives me the shudders.
How Germanicus and Agrippina produced him, I don't know.
- Did you quarrel with your father? - We had an argument over Sejanus.
He's blind to that man's ambition.
- Don't you exaggerate? - No.
What can he aspire to - a commander of the guard?
I sometimes think he aspires to sit where my father sits.
He doesn't realise how much he depends upon him.
He seeks his advice on everything.
Why don't you go to sleep?
- I don't know why I'm so tired. - You've had a long journey.
- I came to say goodnight, Father. - Goodnight.
I'm glad you're back.
I'm sorry I was so tired. I can't keep awake.
You'll feel better in the morning. Goodnight, Mother.
Goodnight, Helen.
She's becoming very beautiful
Yes. Her skin's not all that it should be though.
- You too are looking beautiful - Thank you.
Why don't you stay?
Not tonight. You're tired. You'll sleep better alone.
Yes, you're right. I really can't keep my eyes open.
- Is he asleep? - Yes.
- Fast asleep? - Yes.
- Quick, please. - No, wait.
Don't be in such a hurry.
It's much better if you wait.
Did you do as I said? Put it in his wine?
Yes. He'll sleep till morning.
I thought you'd never get here.
- What are we going to do? - Do?
We're going to make love for the last time.
Last time?
No! I couldn't bear it.
- I couldn't bear it! - Livilla...
- He'll go away again. - It's too much of a risk.
We'll be discovered. It's too dangerous. Be sensible.
How can you be sensible? I don't think you love me, not really.
I love you too much to risk exposing you to a charge of adultery.
Don't tempt me, my darling. Help me.
- We could still meet. - How?
- I could do what I did tonight. - Drug his wine?
He'll get suspicious if he falls asleep every night.
Besides, his body would grow accustomed to it and it would cease to have any affect.
And, my darling, one night - in your eagerness to see him sleep -
you might kill him.
Would a large dose really kill him?
- What are you saying? - I can't live without you.
I can't. I think I'd die if you didn't come into my bed every night.
It's a little step - from making him sleep at night to sleeping forever.
- You'll need something stronger. - Get it for me.
- Are you sure? - Yes! Yes! Are you?
- If you are. - And afterwards?
I'll divorce my wife and we'll get married.
And then I'll have you all to myself.
No more lovers for you, then.
You'll have to behave.
And if I don't?
If you don't? Then I'll lock you in a room without any clothes,
and I'll visit you three or four times a day.
Perhaps you'll be too tired. Perhaps you'll only manage once.
Then I'll send my guards to stand in for me.
- Would you really? - Yes.
- How many? - Three or four.
I might not let them.
- You'll be forced. - Against my will?
Yes.
- While you were there? - Yes.
I'd struggle and scream.
But no use.
You'd like that, wouldn't you?
Claudius!
Herod.
- Castor? - What's your hurry?
Oh, yes.
Look at this. It came this morning.
"The Lady Livia Augustus expects her grandson Tiberius Claudius Drusus
"to dine with her on her birthday. She hopes he's in good health."
- W-what can it mean? - What it says, I imagine.
I should take your own wine.
It's no joke, Herod. I'm very nervous. She never invites me.
We haven't spoken for seven years.
The last time she spoke to me was when Caligula burned the house down.
Then all she said was, "If you haven't got a bucket, p-piss on it!"
I remember. Your family are all lunatics, you know.
In that case, why don't you go back to your own family in Judea?
I prefer lunatics I know to ones I don't.
- Where are you off to? - To find a present for Grandmother.
What about one of these?
I know that face! Who is it?
He knows that face! Wonderful!
People know that face better than their own!
Is it Sejanus?
It's a replica of the statue of him at Pompay Theatre.
- Everyone's buying them. - Everyone had better!
Here, have one.
N-no, thanks. I've got nowhere to put it.
Oh, don't be obvious, Herod. It's very tedious. I must go.
Castor, you're not looking well
I've not been well since I returned.
How's Livilla?
I invited her to a p-public reading of my work, but she never came.
Her tastes have never been literary.
- You never came either. - That's because mine always were.
Herod, you're talented but d-dull I must go.
What a dear, divine fool my cousin is.
How nervous everything makes him.
If I'd been asked to dine with your grandmother, I'd be nervous!
He's right, you know. You don't look well
Oh, it'll pass. You worry so much.
Halt!
Silius Caecina. What's this?
I'm to be arrested, it seems.
- By whose order? - By order of the State Senate.
- On what grounds? - On the grounds of treason.
Gaius Silius Caecina is to be impeached before the Senate.
It seems I made some defamatory remarks about your father.
I don't recall them.
This must be some sort of joke, Varro.
You'll be laughed out of the house.
I don't think so.
Please stand aside, sir.
I'm on state business and may not be interfered with
even by the Emperor's son.
Forward!
O divine Augustus, take these offerings, poor as they are
and help me, your unworthy successor to rule wisely in your place.
And help me too, my father, divine ruler of the world...
to calm the raging spirit inside me,
and lighten the dark shadows of my soul..
and bring me peace.
Peace.
Hypocrite
Hypocrite.
You sacrifice to Augustus, but you persecute his grandchildren.
What grandchildren do I persecute that Augustus didn't?
I'm not talking of my brother Postumus. I'm talking of me.
Of me!
All my friends, one by one,
you either banish or you charge them with treason.
And their only crime is friendship for me.
Even Lollia, whom you could find nothing against,
you degraded and humiliated till she took her own life!
Now you've arrested Silius Caecina.
If you are not queen, have I done you wrong?
Why do you persist in this childish belief that I want to be queen?
Do you need to find reasons for the way you treat me?
- And how do I treat you? - You persecute me!
I will not be screamed at even by the granddaughter of Augustus!
Silius Caecina is charged with treasonable utterances.
Utterances?
What brings the Emperorship into disrepute
undermines the foundations of the state.
Tiberius...
perhaps I do you wrong in thinking you persecute me through my friends.
But you do me wrong in thinking me ambitious.
I'm tired.
Since Germanicus died, I've hardly known what to do with myself.
All I want is to be left alone...
and...
And?
- Be good to my children. - Have I not been good to them?
To Caligula, perhaps,
but to Nero and Drusus, you're cold and never enquire after them.
Oh, Tiberius, let's not fight one another all the time.
As for your children, they are guiltless of any crime.
I will look upon them as friends.
As for you...
I will never forget what you made me do to Piso.
Tiberius Claudius Drusus Nero Germanicus.
Happy b-b-birthday, Grandmother.
Oh, is that for me?
Yes. It's a v-v-vase. From India.
How very pretty. And from such a distant place.
It's a pity we never got that far.
So many things we could have got cheap. Sit down, my dear, and eat.
- C-Caligula. - Uncle.
T-t-to you, Grandmother.
Staking everything on one throw, Uncle Claudius?
Hold your tongue.
That was a gesture of confidence in me and was much appreciated.
Have you had l-lots of lovely presents, Grandmother?
Several. my dear. Thrasyllus has drawn the most detailed horoscope.
Such work has gone into it. Amazing.
A horoscope full of incident and prophecy. I was amazed at it myself.
It was a present from Tiberius.
He wanted to know how much longer I'm going to live.
- I assure you... - Oh, shut up.
It's a foolish mother who doesn't know her son.
- And d-did he find out? - Yes, yes. I shall die soon.
Next year some time. My son will be relieved.
I shall tell him nothing. It would be a breach of professional ethics.
You're a liar. Like all good astrologers, you're a liar.
You can go now. They tell the truth about the future,
but lie their way out of the present.
Let me reassure you, I could be wrong.
If you're mistaken over the exact time of your birth by a fraction,
it could mean another ten years.
You see, he can't resist it.
They’re all insecure, astrologers. They all want to be loved.
Go away, Thrasyllus, you'll get no love here.
What are you grinning at, monster? You are a monster, aren't you?
Whatever you say, Great Grandmother.
Did you know he was a monster, Claudius?
Is he old enough to have acquired that t-title?
He started very young, didn't you, monster?
I seerched his room one day and I found a little green talisman
that told me a very remarkable story -
or confirmed one I'd heard from another quarter.
A g-green talisman? Like my brother wore?
The one your brother wore.
Do you think it's safe that Uncle Claudius should be told my secret?
Or are you going to poison him?
Oh, he's quite safe.
And remember this, monster,
your Uncle Claudius here is a phenomenon.
Because he's sworn to protect his brother's children,
he will never harm you. And remember this too.
Thrasyllus has prophesied that he will avenge your death,
so you cannot harm him.
I didn't think much of that.
Never mind what you thought, just remember it.
Now you may go. I want to talk to Claudius in private.
Goodnight, Great Grandmother.
Goodnight, Uncle.
My body fascinates him because it's so old.
You'd think it would repel him.
Why do you allow him such f-f-familiarity?
Because it pleases him.
And because he will be the next Emperor.
You don't believe me, do you?
If you say so, Grandmother.
You know I don't concern myself with high p-politics,
but what about Castor? And Caligula has two older brothers.
Castor is ill Thrasyllus says he won't recover.
He also says that Tiberius will choose Caligula to succeed him.
Why?
Vanity.
Tiberius wants to be loved - at least after his death if not before.
And the best way to ensure that...
Is to have someone w=worse to follow him. Well. he's certainly no fool
He's the biggest fool in my family.
I always thought that was you... but I think now I was wrong.
Grandmother, after all these years,
you didn't invite me to dinner to tell me this.
Wine has made you bold.
You kept in with Caligula because he is the next Emperor.
- Lost your stutter too. - But if you're dead,
what difference can it make to you?
Oh, it makes a lot of difference.
And that's really why you're here.
I want to be a goddess, Claudius.
Thrasyllus says he's sure I will be,
which means he's not sure, he just thinks I will
Why are you so anxious to be a goddess?
Oh, don't you understand?
Do you believe that the souls of criminals suffer eternal torment?
Certainly.
But that the immortal gods are free from fear of punishment?
Of course. Jove deposed his father, killed one of his grandsons
and married his own sister. He's the greatest god of all
I've done many terrible things, Claudius.
No ruler could do otherwise.
But I've always put the good of the Empire above all else.
Who saved Rome from civil war again? I did.
Augustus would have plunged us into it time and again
with his ridiculous favouritism.
He set Agrippa against Marcellus,
Gaius against Tiberius, Tiberius against Postumus.
There was no end to his follies.
And it fell to me to...
remove them - one by one.
Don't say you never suspected. That's why I tolerate Caligula.
He's sworn, if I keep his secret...
he'll make me a goddess as soon as he becomes Emperor.
You too must swear that you'll do all you can to see it happens.
Don't you see?
If he doesn't make me a goddess, I'll be in hell. Hell
Suffering torments day and night, year after year after year.
Grandmother, p-please don't distress yourself.
Of course I'll do what I can.
- Thank you. - On one small condition.
You see, there's so much I want to know.
I'm an historian and I want to know the truth.
When people die, so much dies with them,
and all that's left are pieces of paper that tell lies.
Lies, lies.
He wants to know the truth and he calls it a small condition.
Grandmother, who killed Marcellus?
I did.
The Empire needed Agrippa more than it needed Marcellus.
And then I poisoned Agrippa later
because I knew that his wife was in love with Tiberius,
and if Tiberius married her Augustus would make him Emperor.
My son botched that up, of course.
And J-Julia's sons by Agrippa. How did they die?
Gaius I had poisoned when he was in Syria.
You have a long reach.
The Empire's very large. I need one.
Lucius was drowned in a boating accident
arranged by his friend Plautius.
And Postumus?
- You were fond of him, weren't you? - Yes, Grandmother.
He was useless. I had to get rid of him. He was a threat to Tiberius.
Besides, he knew I'd had his mother banished.
And what about my father, who was your son,
and Germanicus, who was my dear brother - did you poison them?
No.
Your father died of his wound.
Plancina poisoned Germanicus without instructions from me.
But I'd marked them both down for death.
Why?
They were both infected with that disorder known as republicanism.
- So was I. - Yes, but you didn't count.
If I ever had the opportunity, do you know the first thing I'd do?
Restore the Republic.
Then you are a fool. after all
And what about Augustus? Did you poison him?
Yes.
Yes, I did.
I smeared the poison on the figs while they were still on the tree.
I had no choice.
He would only eat them if he'd picked them himself.
It took me all night to do it.
How could you have done that, Grandmother,
when you'd lived with him for so long?
Yes. That was hard.
Very hard.
That was the hardest thing I ever had to do.
Oh, you've made me tired with all your questions. You must go away.
Take this.
Read it some time.
That is a collection of Sihylline verses rejected from the official book.
Why?
Because it's prophesied there that you will one day be Emperor.
Yes.
You.
Anything you say, Grandmother.
- You won't forget your promise? - No, I won't.
If I can become Emperor,
you can certainly become the Queen of Heaven!
Tiberius Claudius Drusus Nero Germanicus
Claudius, dear fellow. How nice to see you.
I w=was on my way to see Castor. I'm told he's v-very bad.
Yes, but he'll recover, I'm sure. Your sister is taking care of him.
Actually, I wanted to have a word with you.
What about?
This may seem an odd question to put to a husband,
but did you know your wife was pregnant?
No.
N-n-no, I d-didn't.
- How do you know? - I know.
Well. it's n-nothing to do with me.
We haven't even s-spoken for a long time.
- You'll have to divorce her. - What for?
You can't be married to a woman who's bearing someone else's child.
Your uncle will expect you to divorce her.
Oh. Well. of course I'll d-d-divorce her.
- Whom will you marry? - M-marry? I'm getting d-divorced.
But you won't want to live alone.
I was l-living alone when I was m-married.
Then it doesn't matter whether you marry or not.
- I'd rather not. - Nonsense.
I have just the woman for you.
Beautiful. independent - she'll leave you alone when you like.
- W-who is she? - My sister. Aelia.
Well. she w=wouldn't w=want to marry a lame, sick fool like me.
She wouldn't mind.
You're the Emperor's nephew. That's a good alliance.
And on your side, you'd be my brother-in-law.
I've spoken to the Emperor. He's given his consent.
Oh, in that case, anything you say, Sejanus.
Good! Well. that's settled.
That's very decent of you, Sejanus. Thanks a lot.
He's dying. Dying.
I asked to see the Emperor to convey my sympathies on his son's death.
He sent word he never wanted to see me again.
A nod is as good as a wink from there!
Where will you go, Herod? Back to Judea?
No, no. To Edom. My grandfather, Herod the Great came from there.
It was your father, Mark Antony, who made him King of the Jews.
He did them no favour. He did my grandfather no favour either.
The Jews drive all their rulers mad.
What will you do in Edom? I understand there's nothing there.
Oh, I shall.. You know.
Grandfather's domains were divided among his three surviving sons.
That he had three left is a miracle for he murdered the rest.
- I think he overlooked them! - A colourful character.
If black is colourful. he was colourful
From there, I shall decide which of my three uncles is the safest touch
- and make my plans accordingly. - You must marry.
- I have someone in mind. - A Roman?
No, Lady. We Jews believe in marrying only among ourselves.
- You're a very arrogant people. - Practical
There are so many things we can't eat! No Gentile woman would stand it!
What's this, Claudius, about your marriage?
For Claudius? He's already married.
But he's getting a divorce to marry Sejanus' sister.
Is this true?
Well. I...
S-S-Sejanus t-t...
Oh, get it out!
My wife, Urganalilla, is apparently having a baby and it's not mine.
- It wouldn't be. You never see her. - That's the p-point.
So Sejanus suggested I divorce her and m-m-marry his sister.
I've never heard anything so monstrously wicked in all my life.
You're a bigger fool than I thought.
Well. w=what difference does it make to me? I shan't see her either.
Fool Germanicus would have had no patience with you.
P-probably.
Can't you see the vile ambition that drives that man?
It's just another step on the way.
By this marriage, he relates himself to the Imperial family.
Then does he plan to marry Livilla?
- What has he to do with Livilla? - He's her lover.
Sejanus is married with children!
What kind of world do you think we're living in?!
I'm sorry. I'm upset.
Castor's dead.
Silius Caecina committed suicide even before the trial had ended.
One by one my friends vanish.
Where will it end?
- You've betrayed us! - Oh, Pina...
Why did you agree to it?
Well.. He asked me.
Is that all you can say? You blockhead!
No. He's not a blockhead.
It's we who are the blockheads.
If Sejanus had come to us with a proposal like that,
we'd have said no, but Claudius knows better.
Claudius sways and bends with each little wind that blows.
- You mean he's weak and cowardly. - Perhaps.
But at least he's still here!
But at least he's still here.
Yes Still here.
And they've all gone, every one of them.
it's like a dream -
dreamed by Livia sleeping fitfully down in hell
No. Livia is dying.
Dying.
The mother of the nation is dying.
Livia is dying. She's sent for you.
She wants to see you. Why, I can't imagine.
- Dying? - Yes.
But it was only a cold.
It's settled on her lungs. She's sinking fast.
She's asked to see you.
Well. are you going to sit there all night?
I hear you're dying, Great Grandmother.
You won't forget your promise, will you?
To make you a goddess?
What makes you think a smelly old woman could become a goddess?
I don't need you any more, you see, Great Grandmother.
My secret will die with you.
You're going to stew in hell for ever and ever.
Let me tell you something.
Thrasyllus has made another prophecy.
He told Tiberius.
He said one who is going to die soon
will become the greatest god the world has ever known.
No temples will be dedicated to anyone but him in the whole world.
Not even to Augustus.
And do you know who that one is?
Me.
I shall become the greatest god of all.
and I shall look down on you, suffering all the torments of hell.
and I shall say...
"Leave her there.
"Leave her there for ever and ever and ever."
Goodbye, Great Grandmother.
How are you, Grandmother?
D-don't cry.
He was here...
Caligula was here.
He said he wouldn't make me a goddess.
I'll see that he does, Grandmother.
He said...
He said he'd leave me to stew in hell
I want to be a goddess, Claudius.
I deserve it.
You shall be the Queen of Heaven.
I promise you.
- Really? - Yes.
Go on playing the fool. Claudius.
Stay with me till I go.
Put a coin in my mouth...
to pay the ferryman...
for the journey.
Goodbye, Grandmother.
Safe journey.