I call upon the noble Appius Junius Silanus to speak.
Senators, I was summoned here from Spain by our Emperor.
By our late Emperor.
(LAUGHTER)
I need hardly describe to you the feelings with which I journeyed.
A few months ago, hearing that a friend was sick, I went to sea him.
"What is it that ails you?" I asked him.
He smiled. "Appius Silanus," he said,
"I have bean summoned to Rome."
He meant, of course, that he was dying.
I arrived here yesterday.
Today, the Emperor is dead instead of me.
Let that notorious phrase - summoned to Rome - perish with him
from our language forever.
And let us return once again to the sanity of a republic!
(CHEERING)
Senators! Senators! Senators.
The Praetorian Guards have carried off Caligula's Uncle Claudius
and proclaimed him Emperor.
Did you hear me?
The Guards have proclaimed Tiberius Claudius Emperor!
Come on, sir. Drink up.
I d-don't want any wine.
Well. do you er...? Do you mind if I...?
Do as you like.
I'm y-your prisoner, not you mine.
No, no, you're not our prisoner. You're our Emperor.
I've told you a d-dozen times, I d-don't want to be Emperor.
You're a funny chap.
You're the only person in the country who doesn't want to be an emperor,
and yet here you are, chosen to be one.
Life's full of irony, isn't it?.
Hail. Caesar!
I've no right to that title and you've no business using it!
He's being very awkward. He's bean uncooperative all the way here.
Leave us.
You know, sir, I knew your brother, the noble Germanicus,
on the Rhine years ago.
We tried to make him Emperor when Augustus died, but he'd not have it.
Well. my b-brother believed in a r-republic.
That's all very well for the likes of you, sir.
Being members of the Imperial family,
you can afford the luxury of Republican sentiments. I can't.
I rose through the ranks.
Besides, I've got 4,000 men who need an Emperor
if they’re to be gainfully employed.
I need not remind you what might happen
if they’re let loose on the streets.
(KNOCKING)
Excuse me, sir. There's a chap here who claims to be the King of Bashan.
C-claims to be or is?
Well. I don't know. I didn't know there was a place called Bashan.
- Do you know him, sir?. - If it's Herod, of course.
L-let him in.
Congratulations, Caesar, on your election!
May you long enjoy the honours these brave soldiers have bestowed on you.
There you are, sir! And he's the King of Bashan.
You've come at the right moment.
Although we've elected him Emperor, Tiberius Claudius wants a Republic.
Perhaps you can persuade him to sea the consequences.
I wish you wouldn't keep taking it off, sir. It really suits you.
What is the matter with you, Herod?
Do you intend to go along with this farce?
Listen, old friend, and be thankful I arrived in Rome.
I know your views, so I know exactly what you're thinking.
You think of yielding up your power to the Senate at the earliest moment.
- Of course. - You mustn't!
First, it would be signal for civil war.
The Senate are a flock of sheep, but there are wolves among them,
all convinced they should be Emperor.
Secondly, the moment you relinquish your power, you're a dead man.
Why?. I b-believe in a Republic.
You're a danger to the assassins.
They’ve already killed Caesonia and the child.
- What?. - Don't you sea?
A Republic necessitates the death of all the Imperial family,
- not just Caligula. - And M-Messalina?
Oh, she's safe.
You must put aside your ancient prejudices, my friend,
and accept the reality that is.
If you do not, I cannot answer for the consequences.
These Protectors have bean sent to summon you to the Senate.
- What has happened to them? - They’re fortunate.
The Guards almost killed them.
Don't you know their persons are inv-violable?!
Sorry, Caesar. I didn't know they were coming.
It's a disgrace. What does the Senate want?.
- Pardon us, Caesar... - Stop c-calling me that!
The Senate would be obliged by your immediate attendance.
They’re anxious to know your intentions.
What, take our Emperor?. Not a chance. Dump them in the Tiber!
Get back, all of you!
Tell the Senate that our Emperor remains here.
And when he leaves, he leaves with 4,000 Guards behind him.
Give my compliments to the Senate.
Tell them I am unable, for now, to comply with their request.
Give them safe conduct back to the city.
Caesar.
Out.
Get a move on.
Do nothing until you hear from me.
I shall arrange a meeting between you and members of the Senate,
but in the palace.
But make your mind up to it, Claudius.
For good or ill. they’ve made you Emperor.
If you don't accept, you won't survive - or any of your family.
If you do nothing else, accept. At least for the time being.
(TRUMPET FANFARE)
Senators, I understand you d-d-do not want another Emperor.
But it seams you've b-bean given one.
I sympathise with you.
I d-do not want to be an Emperor,
but it seams I have bean chosen one.
Perhaps you could t-take a little moment to sympathise with me.
Your appointment is unconstitutional
I agree, but there are 4,000 Praetorian Guards who d-do not.
And who created that Praetorian Guard?
You did in the reign of Augustus.
It's against the constitution. Only the Senate can appoint an Emperor.
It is also against the constitution to m-murder one!
If you hadn't done so, Marcus,
we shouldn't b-be here in this absurd position!
You're not fit to be Emperor.
I agree. But then nor was my nephew.
What difference is there between you?
He would not have agreed,
and by now your head would be on that f-floor for saying so!
There are those who say you cannot hear properly,
you cannot speak properly, and you've no experience of government.
And that I am, besides, half w=witted.
Senators, it's true I am hard of hearing...
but you will find it's not from want of listening.
As for speaking, again, it's true I have an impediment.
But isn't what a man says more important than how...
..long he takes to say it?.
It's true, again, I have little experience of government.
But have you more?
I, at least, have lived with the family who have ruled this Empire
aver since you so spinelessly handed it over to us!
I've observed it working more closely than any of you.
Is your experience better than that?.
As for being half-witted.
Well. what can I say except that I have survived to middle age
with half my wits, while thousands have died with all of theirs intact!
Evidently, quality of wits is more important than quantity.
I shall do nothing unconstitutional
I shall appear at the Senate
where you may confirm me in my position or not, as you wish.
But if it pleases you not to,
explain your reasons to them, not to me!
Now you may all leave my house except Marcus Vinicius and Asprenas.
And bring in Cassius Chaerea and G-Gaius Sabinus.
I feel a f-fraud.
You won't when you begin work.
There's much to do. Do it very well
Caesar, Gaius Sabinus is dead. He's taken his own life.
All the officers involved have bean arrested
and are awaiting trial and execution.
I cannot find it in me to condemn you for killing my nephew.
But you also murdered the Lady Caesonia and the child,
and you meant to murder me and my wife.
None of whom had aver done you any harm.
I did it for the Republic and I would do it again.
No. You did it more for the injuries to yourself than for the Republic.
But even that doesn't weigh with me.
What w=weighs with me is w=what I've heard -
that it was agreed among you that only Caligula should die.
But that you took it upon yourself to kill us all Is that true?
Why should I deny it?.
Your existence proves that only your death would have ensured a Republic.
Then you leave me no choice...
b-but to condemn you for the murder of Caesonia and the child.
- Take him away. - Congratulations, Caesar.
You've passed your first sentence of death.
How many more will you pass before they pass one on you?
Isn't that the way we've set for ourselves? Think about it, Caesar! Think about it!
The investigation into this affair is closed.
(CROWD SHOUTS) Hail. Caesar! Hail. Caesar! Hail. Caesar!
Oh, look. He's dribbling.
(BABY WAILS) Oh, chu chu chu.
There's no need to show him on the balcony every time you sea him.
No, but I like to show him. The people like to sea him.
Next to you, he's the most imp-portant thing in my life.
I can't thank you enough for him.
I am so v-very much in love.
And so am I.
I've given him to a foster mother to nurse.
You're not going to b-breast feed him?
No, my dear. I've thought a great deal about it.
Now, be honest, have I bean a help to you since you became Emperor?.
Of course. What would I have done without you? Oh.
What would I have done without her?.
Now, I want no small husbandly praises.
I asked you to let me revise the senatorial roll -
who should be left on and who taken off. Was I efficient?.
I was amazed at how much detailed knowledge you had of everyone.
And all the detailed work I did as Director of Public Morals?
Yes, it was a revelation. You've bean a great help to me.
As Livia was to Augustus?
Yes.
My darling, I want to be Livia to your Augustus.
You know I have a brain, as she had.
I'll never be content just to be the mother of children.
Oh, of course I shall love them.
They’ll be yours - how could I not?.
But I must work alongside you
and relieve you of some of your small and petty burdens.
Will breast feeding my son interfere with all this great work of state?
How would you feel if you had to stop a Senate meeting
to go and breast feed a child - not once, but four or five times a day?.
Yes. I can hardly find time to f-feed myself.
Very well
All right. Now I shall leave you to rest.
And you too should rest. You've not stopped for a year.
When do I have time to stop?
Well. if you're not going to feed my son, I'll find you other work.
I told you he wouldn't be angry.
You are fortunate to have such an understanding husband -
considering that he's also Emperor.
Well. he loves me and I help him.
I don't know why you want to concern yourself with matters of state.
It's not a woman's place.
It may not be yours, Mother, but it's mine.
Do you not intend to have any more children?
No.
- Does your husband realise this? - Not yet.
How will you prevent it?.
Oh, Mother, you're such a mouse.
Do you think a wife must give in to her husband every time he insists?
And one of his age?
There are ways of being nice to a man without risking pregnancy.
Have you never thought of marrying again?
You're still an attractive woman.
I've thought of it.
Why?. Do you want to get rid of me?
Of course not.
On the contrary, I'd hope that you and any husband
would continue to live in the new palace.
Well. there's nobody who wants me.
Not even Appius Silanus?
Why did you say that?.
Weren't you fond of him once?
Oh, well.. What a memory you have. You were so young.
I remember him very well
He used to come to the house quite often.
That was a long time ago.
Besides, he was at Rome at the time of Caligula's assassination
but he never came near me.
Perhaps he lacked encouragement.
Well. he went back to Spain and I've no desire to live there,
so stop making plans in that busy little head of yours.
So Livia is a goddess at last?.
That will please her. She wanted that more than anything.
Yes, I've kept my promise, though I never dreamed I'd be able to.
But the Senate f-formally granted my request this morning.
Livia takes her p-place among the gods.
I should like to be there in Heaven when she arrives,
and the Divine Augustus takes her hand and shows her to all the gods.
Oh, how proud he'll be.
The Lady Messalina is excessively romantic.
Yes. I'm a l-l-lucky man, am I not?.
Shall we tell him?
Since he's going away, let him be the first to know.
- She's pregnant again. - So soon?
You sea, even Herod thinks it's too soon.
Well. love, it wasn't my fault.
Well. whose fault was it, eh?
Well. no... I mean, she gave our little son out to be nursed.
Well. I understood. She does so much work for me. It was inconvenient.
But it's well known breast feeding is a sure guarantee against pregnancy.
- When is it due? - In July.
I shall send it something very special indeed.
What will I do without you? Won't you change your mind and stay?.
No, Caesar, you don't need me any more.
Who's going to tell me how to borrow money
or what the corn factors are saying?
You have good people about you now who can tell you far more than I.
Messalina, make him change his mind.
He has kingdoms of his own to govern.
And you've given him several more than he had before.
Oh, yes. Yes, I mustn't be selfish.
But it's true, all your principal advisers are freedmen.
It would be good to find a nobleman to take the place of King Herod
- on whom you could absolutely rely. - Are you thinking of someone?
- Yes, my love. - You sea how she works for me!
Her mind is never still Who?
Appius Silanus.
But he's Governor of Spain.
Yes, and a man of immense experience.
He's wasted in Spain.
You should bring him to the palace and have him at your side.
- He has Republican sentiments. - Well. haven't I?
He spoke out against you in the Senate after the assassination.
Augustus n-never enquired into people's political beliefs.
He always said that was not his concern.
I shall always do the same.
Yes, but I'm not sure Silanus would like to live in the palace.
The new palace, which you've turned into offices.
I have a feeling the Lady Messalina is ahead of us.
What are you thinking?
It's only a suggestion, but my mother was fond of him once.
It would please her to marry again, and Silanus would not be adverse
to a connection with the Emperor's family.
Have you added m-matchmaker to your list of careers?
- Of course. If you don't approve... - I was j-joking.
I think it's a very good idea. What do you think?
As from today, I cease to give advice on any subject!
Well. I'm tired. I shall leave you both to talk.
- Goodnight, my dear. - Have we tired you?
Of course not. Goodbye, King Herod.
If your people love you as much as we do,
you are a fortunate king indeed.
I shall be thinking of you in July.
- Goodnight. - Goodnight.
Am I not the most f-fortunate of men, Herod?
Now, why have I deserved such luck?
Oh, it's fool's luck, little marmoset.
You've always had it and you always will
One day, I'm sure, you'll be an Olympian god
when I am only a dead king.
You know, when I first came to Rome, you all seamed like gods to me.
Oh, I'm sure I never l-looked like one.
Yes, even you.
Do you aver think of those days at all. little marmoset?.
Lately I've bean thinking about them a good deal
And with a good reason.
I'm thinking of writing a book about my family.
What sort of book?
T-the truth.
Oh. Will you tell everything?
Everything. As an historian should.
Not great tales of heroic exploits as T-Titus Livy wrote, no,
but the plain facts, the kitchen details, even the g-gossip.
Why?. Why should you want to write such a book?
Eh? Why rake it all up?
Because I owe it to the others to tell the truth.
T-to Postumus and Germanicus.
Why?.
Because they’re dead,
and a man should keep faith with his friends even though they’re dead.
You sea, I've bean so very fortunate in my life,
when they, who were born more deserving, have not.
I've had only three real friends in my life.
Postumus and Germanicus were two.
The third one is you.
Listen, Claudius.
Let me give you a piece of advice.
Oh, I thought you'd finished with advice.
One last piece and then I'm done.
Trust no one, my friend, no one.
Not your most grateful freedman, not your most intimate friend,
not your dearest child, not the wife of your bosom.
Trust no one.
No one?
Not even you?
- Is it all right?. - Beautiful. Beautiful.
(BABY CRIES)
Is it a boy or a girl?.
Let us at least get the engineers to survey it.
We've always w=wanted a safe winter harbour.
Everybody's always said it would cost too much. Let us find out.
(KNOCKING) Caesar! The child is born!
- What?. - Caesar, your child is born.
But...?
The child is born. It's a girl
Oh, Lucina be praised! She's heard my prayers. I'm coming.
Let's have no more discussion.
Get the engineers to make that survey. Then we'll decide.
It'll cost ten million. More.
The more expensive it is, the less likely it is it will aver be built.
What are you suggesting? That we exaggerate the cost?.
Well. my dear Narcissus, you have money in corn. I have money in corn.
Lots of people have money in corn.
The more corn that can be landed in winter, the lower the price will be.
That worries me.
That could be construed as a very selfish point of view.
Is there less selfishness in wanting the price of corn to be low?.
There are more people who want it to be low.
Doesn't that add up to more selfishness rather than less?
That is sophistry. One cannot argue with you.
Let's get the report.
I'm sure the cost will take care of the philosophical considerations.
Oh.
I must have fallen asleep.
You're tired. You don't look well
You work too hard.
Yes, but so do you.
You're not so young as I am. What does your doctor say?.
Oh, what they all say.
I work too many hours. I should work less.
Well. they’re right. You should leave more things to other people.
I'm going to sea another doctor soon. G-Greek, recommended by Herod.
Do you think that wise? Our own doctors are so clever.
Well. I'll sea him. What can I lose?
How's my l-little daughter?.
Cutting her first tooth. The nurse showed it to me today.
Ah. Oh, that's painful Poor little thing.
I think I have the most adorable husband in the world.
He feels everything so deeply.
You have the m-most adoring.
What did you tell me were the three main pillars of the temple of love?
Frankness, kindness and understanding. Why?.
- I want to put them to the test. - What have you done?
Nothing.
But there's something I want to do and for which I must be frank.
And for which I must be kind and understanding?
Well. tell me.
Could you possibly allow me to sleep in a bedroom of my own for a while?
Oh, don't look like that or I shall hate myself forever!
Oh, I should never have suggested it.
D-do you not l-love me any more?
I could understand that. I am so much older than you.
Oh, my dear! I love you more than I aver did.
Don't you know that?.
I just don't want to risk a third pregnancy in so short a time.
Don't you sea what it could do to our marriage?
To our love for one another?.
My love, I would never force myself upon you.
Do we have to sleep apart?.
Couldn't we at least s-share the same bed?
Don't you sea how much more it would hurt our marriage
if you felt passionate to me and I felt I had to refuse you?
And if I did not, then how remorseful you would feel after?.
Oh, I've hurt you.
- I should never have mentioned it. - No, no, no.
Oh...
How l-long would you want the s-separation to last?.
Oh, not long. Well. let's sea how it goes.
You know I couldn't keep away from you forever.
I shall slip into your room now and then when you least expect it.
I think that could be even more fun, don't you?
Pardon me, Caesar,
but you asked me to let you know when Appius Junius Silanus arrived.
- He is here. - I'll sea him shortly.
No, wait. I'm leaving. Let him come in.
Well. he's had a long journey.
Very well. my love.
If you think it would be good for our m-marriage to be apart
for a little while.
Women know more about these matters than men.
I'll have the servants arrange another bedroom.
There's no need for that.
Since you've agreed that it's a sensible proposal.
let's do it properly and remove temptation.
I'll move into a suite next to my mother in the new palace.
My offices are there too. It'll be much more convenient.
The noble Appius Junius Silanus, Caesar.
- Hail. Caesar. - Did you have a good journey?.
Excellent. The roads were good.
Do you know my wife, the Lady Messalina?
Only as a girl You are even more beautiful now.
I'm so glad you're here. You shall be a great help to my husband.
I'll tell my mother you've arrived.
- Perhaps we can all meat at dinner?. - I would like to sea her again.
Your ayes are inflamed, but I'll give you a lotion to bathe them with.
Slight retraction of the eyeballs.
- You've had infantile paralysis? - Yes.
There's nothing I can do about that.
The rest of your body is fairly sound.
You've developed good strong arms to compensate for your legs.
- Were you a premature birth? - Yes.
I thought so. And you've had measles, colitis, erysipelas.
And scrofula. Can you tell all that just by looking at me?
And using my brains.
Your food is not digested from yesterday.
We had a wedding yesterday. Appius Silanus married my mother-in-law.
I probably ate too much.
You must stop that. Never get up from a table without wanting more.
- I suppose you get wind? - Well..
If you do, let it out. It does great injury to the stomach.
I don't mind which end you let it out.
A man who puts good manners before good health is a fool
Is there any point in prescribing exercise?
No. What time do I get for exercise?
Massage will have to do.
You can get up now.
Now, Caesar, listen. You work too many hours.
I know that all important people think they’re indispensable,
but read as little as possible - get your secretaries to read to you.
Rest for an hour after your principal meal
Don't go rushing off to the law courts after dessert.
And have 20 minutes massage twice a day.
- I've got a good masseur. - Get rid of him.
The only good masseurs in Rome are mine. I'll send one to you.
What about the cramps in my stomach?
If you will eat large meals quickly in a state of nervous excitement,
you must expect cramp.
I'll give you some medicine for them.
Ah, medicine. Some secret preparation, I suppose?
Can I get that here or shall I have to send away?.
You can find it on any piece of waste ground. It's bryony.
What, common bryony?.
I'll leave instructions on how to prepare it.
- What about the prayers? - What prayers?
Don't you prescribe special prayers to be used when taking medicine?
Caesar, as High Pontiff and the author of a book on religion,
you are more qualified to prescribe prayers than I.
Do you Greeks believe in nothing?
I've told you what I believe in - bryony.
Hail. Caesar.
- You asked to sea me? - Yes.
I too wished to sea you. I've not spoken to you since the wedding.
Which, I understand, I owe to your good offices.
Yes.
You have done me a kindness and, I hope, your mother.
Let me speak with you for a moment.
Come and sit beside me.
I love you. I've always loved you, aver since I was a girl
No. No...don't say anything.
In all the years since you stopped coming to our house,
I have never once gone to sleep at night without thinking of you.
Not once.
Can you understand that?.
Not one night have I slept without thinking of your arms about me.
I've burned inside thinking of you.
And now you're here.
Here.
I don't understand.
Oh, my darling. I've arranged all this to have you near me.
I've dreamed of nothing else.
Then I must tell you that these are the fantasies of a young girl
They’re the sort of dreams we put aside when we grow up.
But I have not put them aside, nor will I.
Am I to understand that my marriage to your mother -
which you brought me here to...
That was a farce?
It was in order that you and I could sleep together?.
- My mother is not important. - And your husband?
Claudius?
Why, do you think I'd arrange all this without his consent?.
Why do you think we sleep apart?.
Those are his arrangements, not mine.
Not that I mind. His sexual practices are abhorrent to me.
Why has he agreed to your sleeping apart?.
Because he now wishes to practise them with the wives of Senators.
He wants me kept amused while he does, and he expects you to do it.
That's why you're here.
Then let him tell me that himself!
Oh, you simpleton!
Do you think he would tell you himself?.
He'll deny it, of course he will
You disappoint me.
I thought you more sophisticated
than to confront him with an arrangement he agrees to,
but would proffer not to discuss.
Are you all so brutally obvious in Spain?
Everything is arranged, my darling.
You're right. I am a simpleton!
Having lived through the reigns of three Caesars,
and seen the depths to which Rome has sunk beneath them,
I should have known better than to believe a fourth could be different.
I have a granddaughter nearly your age.
I won't deny that I'm of an amorous disposition -
I have bean all my life.
But I wouldn't touch you, Lady, for all your beauty...
with a ten-foot pole!
You forget who I am!
Not the girl you once teased and joked with, but the Emperor's wife!
I have only to raise my voice and tear my clothes
for you to be executed on the spot!
I give you one weak to come to me of your own accord and on your knees!
If you do not, I shall tell my husband that you refused me...
and in refusing his wife, you will have insulted him.
He's become very vain, you know.
You're wasting your time, Lady.
I've lived too long to become the bedtime toy of a 17-year-old girl
Your threats are wasted on me.
- We shall sea. - Yes, we shall sea.
And Rome shall sea how easy it is to straighten one's back
and hold one's head high when the will is there.
Well. w=what is it?.
A plan for rebuilding the harbour at Ostia.
Of course it is! Whose is it?.
It was made in the time of the Divine Julius.
- Where did you find it, Caesar?. - In the archives.
It's identical to the one Tortius has just produced. Look, Silanus.
What's the matter with you? Are you ill?.
- No, Caesar. - What relevance have these plans?
Well. the engineers working under the D-Divine Julius
estimated this rebuilding would take four years
and cost four million gold pieces.
The estimates presented to me are for t-ten years
and 15 million gold pieces.
But those estimates are 90 years old.
Are there less days in a year now than there were then?
There's bean an increase in costs.
Prices have risen by no more than a quarter.
How, then, do you explain my chief engineer's estimate?
- Well.. - I will explain.
Everywhere you underestimate the amount of earth
that one hundred men can move in a day.
I mean, are men weaker now than they were then?
The topography remains unchanged,
yet on the Divine Julius' plan they were cutting through earth.
In yours, you claim we were cutting through r-r-rock.
- I can't understand it. - Let me explain it.
Your surveyors have bean taking bribes from the corn factors.
- Caesar! - Sh-sh-shocking, isn't it?.
Well. I-I can't think why they should.
I can. To keep up the price of corn.
Wouldn't you agree, Silanus?
Yes, Caesar.
Well. Tortius. You will begin work on the basis of these estimates,
revised for the difference in prices.
Even so, Caesar, where is the money to come from?
We shall get the first million on loan from the corn factors.
A million? They can't raise that much.
You'll be amazed, Pallas, at what they can raise
in return for my agreement not to begin an inquiry
into allegations of b-bribing my officials.
Yes. It's very late. You may all go.
We'll visit the harbour tomorrow.
I should like a word with you alone, Caesar.
Oh, very well Come and look at these plans, Silanus.
You didn't take much notice of them.
The Divine Julius knew what he was about.
Yes. They are remarkable.
In many ways, better than the ones T-Tortius has produced.
The only thing they leave out
is the building of the island between the two moles.
Come and look...
Help! Get off me!
Help me!
Help me! Help me! Help me!
Wait! Wait!
Get up! Get up!
What happened? Caesar! You're hurt!
- I'll fetch the doctor. - Silanus tried to kill me.
Why?. Why?.
Let me have him, Caesar. He'll talk.
Why, Silanus, why?.
Tyrant!
Tyrant?. I don't understand. What harm have I aver done you?
I brought you back from Spain, I made you a minister.
I connected you by marriage with my family.
Yes! To put me in bed with your wife and service her like a bull!
What do you mean?
- W-what do you mean? - You're all the same.
Don't toy with me, Caesar. Do what you have to do.
I ask you again, w=what do you mean?
You know what I mean!
How predictable you Emperors are.
All your reigns begin and end the same.
From vices timidly concealed to vices openly displayed.
One follows the other as sure as decay follows death.
Fetch the Lady M-Messalina, and her mother!
We've seen this play before, don't make us sit through it till the end.
You will explain that calumny on my wife and on her mother.
And if you do not or will not to my satisfaction,
you will surely die for this attempt on my life!
What is it?. What's the matter?.
Appius Silanus has tried to kill the Emperor.
Silanus? But why?. Why would he do such a thing?
I don't know. I thought perhaps you could tell me.
What have you done? What do you know about this?
I know nothing. Nothing! Do you think I plot to kill my own husband?
There's no time to discuss it now.
You must support everything I say, do you understand?
Mother!
I will do nothing to incriminate Silanus. He's my husband.
Oh, you fool! Do you think I brought him back from Spain for you?!
I love him. I've always loved him.
You are monstrous!
(KNOCKING)
You will tell my husband what I tell him, understand?
If you do not, I shall say you were part of it all
I'll say you agreed to it.
Oh, my dear. What's happened? Are you all right?.
Yes, yes. I'm all right.
Silanus tried to assassinate me, but I'm all right.
I want you to look at him.
I want you to look into his face.
Now, repeat to her what you said to me.
Let's finish with this. Get it over.
- Repeat it. - For whom?
For her, who told me what I told you?
- Or for you, who knew it all?. - Repeat it!
I told your husband what you told me.
That he had arranged my marriage so that you could become my mistress.
That he had done it so you could be kept amused
while he took his own perverted pleasures elsewhere.
It was there and then that I decided to kill him.
To strike a last blow for Rome and end this plague of Emperors!
Well?.
Oh, Silanus...
How could you?
He is sick with love, my dear, for me.
I should have told you.
I should have come to you at once but I thought it would pass.
Apparently, he has loved me aver since I was a little girl
I had no idea. How could I?
Since he returned, he has pestered me day and night.
Sometimes pleading and sometimes angry and violent.
I think, perhaps, in his mind,
he does in some way believe what he told you.
That I had arranged his marriage for our convenience.
You poor deluded man.
How could you think there was anyone dearer to me than my husband?
When he came to me today, he was so violent
that I said I would come to you and have you send him away.
That's when he threatened to kill you!
I never in my wildest dreams imagined he would carry out such a threat!
Bravo! Beautifully played!
That performance should be enshrined in drama.
Is this t-true?
Yes. His passion for my daughter has turned his wits.
Have you anything to say?.
Only that what I did I'd do again.
Then you leave me no choice!
No! Oh, no!
Please, my dearest, I beg you!
I couldn't bear for him to die because of his love for me.
No, no. Banish him. Banish him. But let him live.
(PALLAS) He must die, Caesar.
No! NO!!
An attempted assassination cannot be punished with banishment.
Such a precedent would serve only to encourage others.
What a soft heart you have.
Even after all the lies he's told about you.
But P-Pallas is right.
The heart cannot rule the head in these matters.
I cannot do it, even for you.
I sentence you to die, as you sentenced me.
- Take him away. - May you rot in hell!
And that she-wolf with you!
Now, leave me, all of you.
I'm tired.