Queen of Heaven I, Claudius

This programme contains some scenes of a sexual nature.

MUSIC PLAYS

Beautiful, Lollia. Where did you find her?

We saw her first in Antioch a year ago when Titus was on duty there.

We thought her so superb that I just paid for her to tour through the provinces,

and now, my dear friends, the entertainment is over.

She was w-w-wonderful, and a beautiful dinner.

Thank you, Claudius, but I wasn't inviting a compliment.

It's just that I have something to perform, and I brought you here

as some of our dearest friends to be with me when I do it.

What's this, Lollia? A surprise for me, too?

Yes, my dear, it is.

She never tells me anything.

Very naughty, my dear, to plan a surprise for 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!

-What have you bought? How much have you spent?

-Nothing.

For once I have spent nothing.

You may remember that a week ago tonight we went to a dinner at the palace given by the Emperor.

-Of course.

-You may also remember, although perhaps you didn't notice,

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.

A summons? You never told me.

No, 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 naturally I wouldn't let my daughter go alone, knowing his reputation.

So I went with her.

We were admitted into a room I imagine he keeps for such receptions.

I'd never been into that room before,

nor met anyone who had.

Walls were hung with what I suppose the Emperor imagines is erotic art.

They depict scenes of...

incredible beastliness.

Not fit for anyone to look at, let alone a young girl.

What's the matter with you? Why are you telling me 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 the wall to show her the paintings,

and talked about them as if they were works of art.

But when I objected and told him he should be ashamed of himself for

-trying to corrupt a young girl, he simply smiled and said, "And what about an old one?"

-He...

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.

I suppose in his twisted way he...

thought it might inflame my daughter's passions.

But Camilla burst into tears and begged to be allowed to leave.

He then pretended to be upset

and complained that she'd given a different impression on the night of the dinner.

He then turned to me and told me to go home.

-I won't have you repeat any more.

-No, Titus, please.

-Enough!

-Let me finish!

If I had 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 return.

-Lollia, please, 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 and 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 slaves of both sexes,

that mere prostitution seems like a blessed state compared to...

You must forget, Lollia, you must put it from your mind.

You've saved your husband and your daughter, that's enough.

No, Agrippina, that is not possible.

If there had been just one part of me befouled by his lust I should have come home and cut it out.

With this knife!

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 round me.

Nor feel the love he's had for me all these years without...

Without the memory of...

that beast

and his beast coming between us.

If I... could...

cut...

from my mind...

THUD

Lollia!

Lollia!

LOUD CROWD NOISES

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 affection and eagerness?

-Good day, mother.

-In a hurry, are you?

What is it, another treason trial? Who is it today?

-There will be no trials today, mother.

-Slipped up, have you? Run out of people to prosecute?

-Perhaps you'll have more time to spend with your mother.

-There is no need to shout, I'm not deaf.

You've been deaf to me for years.

Why did you refuse the ambassadors from Spain permission to erect a temple to me?

I will not discuss such matters in the street. Good day, mother. Move on. Good day.

It's my birthday next month.

What are you going to buy me?

I heard about Lollia - disgusting!

Your brother Drusus was worth 10 of you!

Thrasyllus!

Where is that damned astrologer?

-Coming, Excellency, coming.

-I want you to cast my mother's horoscope.

Your mother's... What for?

I want to know how much longer I have to put up with her, that's what for.

-Do you know the exact time of her birth?

-Of course not.

Then I can only do a rough calculation.

Why don't you ask her? It's her birthday soon.

-You could tell her her son wants to make her a present of her horoscope.

-She'd like that.

She's admired you ever since you prophesised she'd outlive her husband.

That was obvious. I could see she had every intention of doing so.

Still, I'll...go and ask her for an interview.

What is she? Leo!

That's helpful. There's a bad time coming up for Leos soon.

I'll go and see her.

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 am fortunate in you, Sejanus, you are my eyes and ears.

If it wasn't for you to relieve me of some of my burdens...

-What have we here?

-Verbatim reports of conversations taken down by my agents.

Some are merely vicious, others are treasonable.

Doesn't anybody in the city ever say anything that isn't either vicious or treasonable?

The last two years we've had more treason trials than the whole of the previous 10!

There is one I think you should look at.

-Silius Caecina?

-Mm.

Wasn't he the 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?

What he went on to say - that if his regiments had joined the mutiny, Tiberius would not be Emperor now.

He implies, of course, that you owe your position to him.

Well, he'd have too much wine.

These old soldiers like to fight over all their old battles after dinner.

I think there may be more to it than that.

-But perhaps it's not important.

-What do you mean?

He went on to say, as you'd have seen lower down, that the regiments that did mutiny

were the ones that were under your command.

But he probably only said it because Agrippina was there, an after-dinner compliment to her late husband

whose regiments of course remained loyal.

Agrippina was at the dinner?

-Uh-huh.

-Agrippina?

-The noble Gaius Caligula to see the Emperor.

-What do you want?

Can't you see that I'm busy?

I have brought you a present.

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? Can't you think of something?

That's nothing.

Wait till you see the others.

Where did you get this?

Elephantis. A merchant I know who travels

between Egypt and Rome told me about it and I asked him to get it for me.

It cost quite a lot.

To tell the truth, 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 would like you to examine the evidence to see if there's

a case for impeaching Silius Caecina in the Senate.

-On a charge of treason?

-Yes.

For insulting references towards the Emperor?

Why not?

Well, I agree, why not, but blasphemies against Augustus have been held to be treason, but against

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 to me 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 mud huts from which you came!

Never mind precedent, I want Silius Caecina impeached on a charge of treason.

He has a great war record and he has powerful friends, the Lady Agrippina, for one.

-Would you prefer if I found someone else to prosecute him?

-No, no...

Then you will take the case.

Of course. I was to some extent just clearing my mind.

Germanicus was never your enemy!

I tell you, he was my enemy.

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.

And he at least, unlike my son, 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 you see no one he doesn't want you to see.

He is the partner of my labours.

Yes, and soon he'll be your colleague, but even that won't be enough for him.

That man has an appetite 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, spent your days and nights whoring around the city, he worked to relieve me of some of my labour.

That's true, but if you think he's working for you, you're mistaken.

-He is working for himself, and how hard he works!

-Have you finished?

No, I have not finished!

His statue is now to be seen in Pompey theatre and replicas of it are to be found all over Rome.

He's built a network of spies that have spread like an infection 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 all 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 in nothing nowadays except treason trials and pornographic books.'

He had one with him. I think Caligula had bought it for him.

-They seem to get on well, those two.

-Yes, that young man gives me the shudders.

How Germanicus and Agrippina could have 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 think you're exaggerating?

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's grown to depend on 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 really 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.

-Is the fast asleep?

-Yes.

Quick!

No, wait.

Why are you in such a hurry?

It's much better if you were...

-Did you do as I say?

-Yes.

-You put it in his wine?

-Yes, it worked. He'll sleep until 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?

-Mm.

No! I couldn't bear it. I couldn't bear it if you go away again.

It's too much of a risk. If we go on like this we're bound to 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 begin to grow suspicious if he falls asleep every night.

Besides, his body will grow accustomed to it.

It'll gradually cease to have an effect. And then, 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 can't. I'd die if you didn't come into my bed every night.

Such a little step to take from making him sleep at night to making him sleep forever.

You'll need something stronger. Something that's used in small doses will never be detected.

-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 lovers for you then.

You'll have to behave.

And if I don't?

If you don't?

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 guard to stand in for me.

-Would you really?

-Yes.

How many?

Three or four.

I might not let them.

You'd 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!

-Castor!

-What's your hurry?

Look at this. It came this morning.

Lady Livia Augusta expects her dear grandson Tiberius Claudius Drusus

to dine with her on the occasion of her birthday. She hopes he's in good health.

-What could it mean?

-What it says, I imagine.

I'd take your own wine, if I were you.

Don't joke, Herod, I'm very nervous.

She never invites me.

We haven't even 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,

-"piss on it."

-I remember.

Your family are all lunatics. You know that, don't you?

In that case, why don't you go back to your own family in Judea?

Because I prefer the lunatics I know to the ones I don't.

-Where are you off to now?

-I must get a present for grandmother.

Well, what about one of these?

I know that face. Who is it?

He knows that face! Wonderful!

-Claudius, people know that face better than they know their own.

-Is it Sejanus?

It's a replica of the head of the statue they've erected to him at Pompey theatre.

-Everyone's buying them.

-Everybody had better buy them.

Here, have one.

No, thanks, I've got nowhere to put it.

Don't be obvious, Herod.

You're very tedious when you're obvious. I must go.

Castor, you're not looking well.

I don't feel well. I've not been well since I returned.

How's my sister? I invited her to a public reading of my work while you were away but she never came.

-Livilla's tastes have never been literary.

-You never came either!

That's because mine always were.

Herod, you're talented but dull.

I must go.

What a dear, divine fool my cousin is.

-How nervous everyone makes him.

-If I'd been asked to dinner with your grandmother, I'd be nervous, too!

He's right, you really 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 have 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!

Oh divine Augustus,

take these offerings, I beg, poor as they are, and help me,

your unworthy successor, to rule wisely in your place.

Help me too, oh my father, divine ruler of the world,

to calm the raging spirit inside me

and lighten the dark shadows in my soul.

And bring me peace...

peace.

Hypocrite.

Hypocrite.

You sacrifice to Augustus but you persecute his grandchildren.

Grandchildren of Augustus do I persecute that he himself did not persecute?

I am 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?

Oh, why do you persist in this childish belief that I want to be Queen?

-Is it because 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 because of my friends.

But you too 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?

Oh, 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...vase.

-From India.

-How very pretty.

And from such a distant place.

It's a pity we never got that far.

So many fine things we could have picked up cheap.

Sit down, my dear, and eat something.

C-C-Caligula...

Uncle.

T-T-To you, grandmother.

-Staking everything on one throw, uncle Claudius?

-Hold your tongue.

It was a very polite gesture of confidence in me and was much appreciated.

-Have you had lots of lovely presents, grandmother?

-Several, my dear.

And Thrasyllus has drawn me the most detailed horoscope for my birthday.

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.

Wasn't that nice? Of course, what he really wants to know is how much longer I'm going to live.

-Are you sure...?

-Oh, shut up.

It's a foolish mother who doesn't know her own son.

-And d-d-did he find out?

-Oh yes.

Yes. I shall die soon.

Next year sometime.

My son will be relieved.

I shall tell him nothing. It would be an unforgivable 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 they lie their way out of the present.

Lady, let me reassure you, I could be wrong.

If your mother was mistaken over the exact time of your birth

by so much as a fraction, it could mean another 10 years of life.

You see? He can't resist it.

They're all so insecure, these astrologers.

They all so 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 your nephew was a monster, Claudius?

Is he old enough to have acquired that title?

Oh, he started very young.

Didn't you, monster?

I searched his room one day and I found a little green talisman that told me a very remarkable story.

-Or rather confirmed one I'd heard from another quarter.

-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.

He's so old-fashioned that 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 prophecy.

Never mind what you thought about it, just remember it.

Now, you may kiss me and 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, wouldn't you?

Why do you allow him such f-f-familiarity?

Because it pleases me.

And because he will be the next emperor.

You don't believe me, do you?

If... if you say so, grandmother.

You know I don't concern myself with high politics.

But still, what about Castor?

And Caligula has two older brothers.

Castor is ill and 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 worse to follow him, naturally.

He's certainly no fool.

He's the biggest fool in my family.

I always thought that that was you.

But I think now I was wrong.

Grandmother, after all these years, you didn't invite me to dinner just to tell me this.

-Wine has made you bold, hasn't it?

-You said you'd kept in with Caligula

because he was to be the next emperor.

-Lost your stutter too, I see.

-But if by then 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 at all.

He just thinks I will.

Why are you so anxious to become a goddess?

Oh, don't you understand?

-Claudius, do you believe that the souls of great criminals suffer eternal torment?

-Certainly.

But the immortal gods, whatever crimes they've committed, are free from any fear of punishment?

Of course. Jove deposed his father, killed one of his grandsons and incestuously married his own sister.

He's the greatest god of all.

I've done many terrible things, Claudius.

Well, 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 that if I keep his secret,

he'll make me a goddess as soon as he becomes emperor.

Now you two must swear that you'll do everything you can to see that it happens.

Don't you see?

If he doesn't make me a goddess I will be in hell.

Hell. Suffering torments day and night, year after year

after year.

G-G-Grandmother... please, don't distress yourself.

Of course I'll do what I can.

On one small condition.

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 is just pieces of paper. They're 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 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 is very large, I need one.

Lucius was drowned in a boating accident arranged by his friend Plautius.

And Postumus?

You were very fond of him, weren't you?

-Yes, I was.

-He was useless.

I had to get rid of Postumus, he was a threat to Tiberius.

Besides, he knew I'd had his mother banished.

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,

and Plancina poisoned Germanicus without instructions from me.

But I had marked them both down for death.

Why?

They were both infected with that infantile 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?

It would be to restore the Republic.

Then you are a fool after all.

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 picked them himself.

It took me all night to do it.

How could you have done that, grandmother?

You 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.

Take this.

Read it some time.

That is a collection of Sibylline verses rejected from the official book.

Why?

Because it is prophesied there

that you will one day

be emperor.

Yes.

You.

You're making it easier, grandmother.

You won't forget your promise?

No, I won't.

If I can become emperor, you can certainly become the Queen of Heaven!

'The noble Tiberius Claudius Drusus Nero Germanicus.'

Claudius!

My dear fellow, how nice to see you.

I was on my way to see Castor. I was told he is very bad.

Yes, but he will recover, I'm sure.

Your sister is taking such good 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-d-didn't.

-How do you know?

-I know.

Well, it's nothing to do with me.

We haven't even spoken for a long time.

You'll have to divorce her now.

-Why?

-You can't be married to a woman who's carrying someone else's child.

How eccentric you are!

Your uncle will expect you to divorce her.

Oh!

O-o-of course I'll divorce her.

-Whom will you marry?

-M-m-marry?

I'm just getting d-d-divorced!

Yes, but you won't want to live alone, will you?

I was living alone all the t-t-time I was married.

Then it doesn't matter whether you marry or not.

I'd rather not.

Nonsense.

I have just the woman for you.

She's beautiful, independent, she'll leave you alone as much as you like.

W-w-w-who is it?

My sister.

Aelia.

Would she... Would she want to marry

a...

-fool like me?

-Oh, she wouldn't mind.

Besides, you're the Emperor's nephew. That's a good alliance.

On your side,

you'll be my brother-in-law!

I have spoken to the Emperor and he has given his consent.

Oh, in that case,

yes, Sejanus.

Good, well, that's settled, then.

Very decent of you, Sejanus.

Thanks a lot.

Ti?

Ti?

..to see the Emperor to convey my sympathies on the death of his son.

He sent word he never wanted to see me again.

A nod is as good as a wink from that direction.

Where will you go, Herod? Back to Judea?

No, to Edom. My grandfather, Herod the Great, came from there.

It was your father, lady, Mark Antony, who made him king of the Jews.

He did them no favour, believe me!

On the other hand, he did my grandfather no favour either,

-for the Jews are a quarrelsome people and drive all their rulers mad.

-What will you do in Edom?

I understand there is nothing there!

Oh, I shall... you know?

My grandfather's remains were divided among his three surviving sons.

That he had three left is a miracle, for he murdered all the rest.

Can only think he overlooked them.

Sounds 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, Herod.

-I have someone in mind.

-A Roman?

-No, lady.

We Jews believe in marrying only among ourselves.

-Then you're a very arrogant people.

-Well, practical.

There are so many things we can't eat, no gentile woman would stand it for a moment.

And what is this, Claudius, about a marriage for you?

Claudius? He's already married.

He is getting a divorce to marry Sejanus's sister. Isn't that right?

< Is this true?

Well...

C... C... C... Sejanus...

Oh, get it out!

Well, my wife is apparently having a baby and it is not mine.

I shouldn't think it is. You never see her.

That is the point, so Sejanus suggested I divorce her and marry his sister.

I have never heard anything so monstrously wicked in all my life.

You are an even bigger fool than I thought.

What difference does it make to me?

I shan't be seeing her either.

You're a fool, Claudius and Germanicus would have had no patience with you.

-Probably.

-Can't you see the vile ambition that drives that man?

Can't you see it's just another step on the way?

By that marriage he relates himself to the imperial family.

And then what, Livilla? Does he plan to marry her?

- What is he to do with Livilla? - He's her lover!

But Sejanus is married and has two children!

For heaven's sake, what kind of world do you think we're living in?

I'm sorry.

I'm upset.

Castor's dead.

Silius Caecina committed suicide this morning even before the trial had ended.

One by one, my friends vanish.

Where will it end?

You've betrayed us!

Oh...

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 given him his marching orders.

But Claudius knows better.

Claudius sways and bends with each little wind that blows.

By which you mean he's weak and cowardly.

Perhaps, but at least he's still here!

Mm, but at least he's still here.

'Here, still here,

'and they've all gone, every one of them.

'It is like a dream.

'Dreamed by Livia sweeping fitfully down into hell.

'No, Livia is dying.

'Dying.

'The mother of the nation is dying.'

Livia is dying.

She sent for you.

She wants to see you.

Why, I can't imagine.

Dying?

Yes.

But it was only a cold.

It settled on her lungs. She is sinking fast

and 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?

You mean to make you a goddess?

And what makes you think that a filthy, smelly old woman like you could become a goddess?

I don't need you any more, you see, great-grandmother.

My secret will die with you.

You are 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 Roman world.

Not even to Augustus.

But you know that one is?

Me.

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?

Don't cry!

He was here.

Caligula was here.

He said...

..he wouldn't make me a goddess.

I will see that he does, grandmother.

He said...

He said...

he would leave me to stew in hell.

I want to be a goddess, Claudius.

I deserve it.

You shall be 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 ferry man.

For the journey.

G-Goodbye, grandmother.

Safe journey.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd, 2006

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