Pilate's Wife: A Novel of the Roman Empire Read Online Free Page A

idea--"
    "Come now, she means well. The girls often show me pretty things she has given them. Only today Marcella showed me a very pretty tunica."
    "Cast-offs! You're a man, a soldier, how could you understand? Sometimes I wonder if men and women really suit one another. Perhaps we should just live next door and visit now and then."
    Tata chuckled. "That would never work. Your house would be in Rome."
    "And yours an army tent." Mother laughed too. "I suppose we'll just have to muddle through." She moved to his couch and made a place for herself close him. "But you see," she touched his cheek, "I want something more for the girls. Marcella's manner is provocative. You can hardly blame the young men for responding...and now that she's a woman--"
    "A woman!" Tata looked startled.
    "A woman," Mother repeated firmly. "It is time we took steps to secure her future. You men see only the surface. That girl charms people--women as well as men. She leaves them pleased with themselves. Such a wife would be an asset to anyone...why not Caligula?"
    "I don't like that lad. Never mind those damn boots, there's something not quite right about him. He's not at all like his older brothers, and nothing like his father."
    "All the better," Mother argued. "Let his brothers risk everything on war, dragging their wives from camp to camp. Marcella could have a marvelous life at court."
    "Tiberius's court?"
    "Why not? It's the center of the world. Why shouldn't she enjoy all it has to offer?"
    "Perhaps...if she has the stomach for intrigue." Father's face cleared. "Why are we even talking about it? Agrippina will want someone rich for her brat."
    "I'm well aware of that," Mother admitted, "but she is fond of Marcella. The boy is so spoiled. When the time comes, he'll marry whomever he chooses--dowry or no. After all, it's not as if he will ever be emperor."
    My hands clenched as Caligula's image appeared in my mind's eye. Oh, but he will. I saw him commanding the emperor's dais, Marcella nowhere in sight. Where was she? And Drusus, Nero? If Caligula was emperor...where were they? I shook my head, not wanting to see more.
    Father shrugged his shoulders. "Time enough to talk of this after the spring campaign. Germanicus has vowed to cross the Rhine again." His face brightened at the prospect.

     

    B UT T ATA WAS NOT TO HAVE HIS BATTLE . T IBERIUS FORBADE IT . Suddenly, unexpectedly, the emperor called Germanicus back to Rome. "You have sacrificed enough for your country," he wrote. "It's time the people honored you. A triumph is scheduled to commemorate your victories."
    Rome was charmed by Tiberius's generosity. In Gaul we knew better. The emperor was jealous of his relative's military success and the immense popularity that it had brought him. The only way to curb the hero worship was to bring the hero home, toss a triumph at him as a bone to a dog, then assign some new, more obscure posting.
    Germanicus sent letter after letter, each a plea for time: "Give us one more year to complete Germania's subjugation."
    Tiberius was adamant. "Your triumph will be held on the Ides of August."
    Germanicus, Tata, the officers, and most of the men were despondent. The women made no effort to conceal their delight. Rome was all that anyone could think or talk about. I'd left the city as an infant and was full of questions that no one had time to answer.
    Soon we were on the road, a cavalcade of chariots, wagons, carts, and horses. By day there appeared no end to the line of marching legionnaires. At night the light from many campfires created a field of stars. Once, just before dawn, Tata and I climbed a hill to survey the landscape together. Looking down at the flickering lights illuminating the darkness, I felt transported to Mount Olympus. Surely this was earth as only the gods saw it.
    Cultivated lands and small towns, laid out in the Roman manner with a public bath, a forum, gymnasium, and theater, gave way to angry, ruptured earth as our ascent through