“Actually, our meeting here was purely by chance,” said Hadrian. “But since Apollodorus happens to be here, and I happen to be here, I think perhaps the gods have brought us together. I take this as a sign that the time has finally arrived for me to show you something, Apollodorus.”
“Whatever Caesar has to show me, I will be honoured to view,” said Apollodorus. Marcus looked at the scurra, expecting him to exploit the opportunity for a lewd comment, but Favonius held his tongue. Hadrian had a notoriously slippery sense of humour, especially when it came to himself or anything to do with his appearance. In that regard he was quite unlike Trajan, who had seemed incapable of being offended.
This was not the first time Marcus had encountered Hadrian at the baths. It was Hadrian’s practice to see and be seen at the public baths, moving among the people as if he were simply another citizen enjoying the amenities of city life. Apollodorus thought Hadrian did this to demonstrate the common touch, something that came less easily to the “Little Greek” than it had to Trajan. Behind Hadrian’s back, Favonius had once suggested to Marcus that the emperor frequented the public baths because he enjoyed looking at naked youths.
Hadrian, his forehead beaded with sweat, suggested that the party move to the cool plunge. As they all stepped from the pool and made their way to the next room, Marcus noticed that Favonius used his drying cloth to conceal as much of his plump, pink body as he could, while Hadrian remained naked and allowed the boy who had been curling his hair to carry his drying cloth. The man certainly had no need to be embarrassed about his physique. At the age of forty-five, Hadrian’s broad shoulders, burly chest, and full beard, touched here and there with silver, suggested to Marcus the image of Jupiter as portrayed by the great sculptors of the past.
As they entered the room that had the cool plunge, Hadrian noticed a grey-bearded man leaning against the protruding corner of a wall and rubbing his back against it.
“What on earth are you doing, citizen?” said Hadrian.
The man hardly looked at him; clearly, he did not recognize the emperor. “What does it look like I’m doing? I’m massaging my back against this wall. I’ve got a terrible knot in my shoulder blade that won’t go away. Old war wound. This is the only thing that seems to help.”
“By Hercules, man, you look like a superannuated Ganymede performing an erotic dance! Get a slave to do that for you.”
“A slave? Ha! The only slave I own is an old woman who does my cooking, and her hands are too crippled to give anyone a decent massage.”
Hadrian pursed his lips. “A war wound, you say. You’re a veteran, then?”
“I certainly am. First Legion Minerva, Dacian campaign. Got this wound fifteen years ago.”
“In the back?”
“Not because I was running! Cursed Dacians ambushed us in the woods and attacked us from the rear. I took an arrow in the back and kept fighting until the last Dacian was dead. Sometimes it feels like that arrow is still in there.” He rubbed his back furiously against the corner.
“First Legion Minerva, you say. Yet you don’t recognize your old commander?”
The man stopped his movements. He took a closer look at Hadrian. His jaw dropped. “Caesar! Is that you? I had no idea! Sure, I recognize you now. You didn’t have the beard back then.”
“Let me see your wound.”
The man turned around. There was a dark scar on the inside of one shoulder blade. Hadrian reached out and pressed his thumbs against the spot. “Here?” he said
“Oh! That’s the very spot!” The man let out a groan.
Hadrian stepped back and called to one of his secretaries. “Some of the slaves who work here at the baths must be skilled at massage. Purchase a couple for this fellow.”
The veteran turned around and gaped. “Well, I never! You are truly a soldier’s friend, Caesar, to do such a thing for an old veteran of the Minerva. May all the gods bless you! But how am I to pay for these slaves’ upkeep? Slaves have to be fed, and I can barely afford to feed myself.”
Hadrian turned to the secretary. “Along with the slaves, give this fellow a monthly stipend for their upkeep.”
“How much, Caesar?”
“How should I know? Ask Suetonius for a figure. He knows that sort of thing.”
Hadrian walked on. The veteran gazed after him in awe. “Bless you, Caesar!” he cried.
After a brief soak in the cool plunge, Hadrian sent slaves to fetch everyone’s clothing. He put on a purple toga trimmed with gold, and those in his retinue wore togas, rather than the simple tunics that Marcus and Apollodorus found suitable for a visit to the baths. It was curious, Marcus thought, that the emperor didn’t mind being seen naked by half of Roma, but, when dressed, he wished for himself and those in his train to be seen only in formal attire.
After everyone was dressed, Hadrian led them to a suite of private rooms reserved for the emperor’s exclusive use. Marcus had seen these rooms when they were being built but had never been admitted into them since they were finished. The columns and walls were of the rarest marbles. The floors were decorated with extraordinarily detailed mosaics. The furniture was all of Greek design. The pillows and draperies were of silk. The paintings and statuary had been selected by Hadrian himself. There was no denying that the emperor had exquisite taste.
Hadrian called for delicacies and wine to be served. The conversation turned to the trip that Hadrian would soon be taking to visit the troops and talk with provincial magistrates along the Rhine and in Gaul and Britannia. Apollodorus ate little, Marcus noted, and drank his wine straight, without water. When Hadrian invited his guests to follow him into an adjoining room, Apollodorus called for a slave to refill his cup and carried it with him.
The room was dominated by a large table upon which architectural plans had been unrolled, the corners held down by marble weights in the shape of eagles’ heads. There was also an architectural model of a temple, made not of painted wood but with actual marble columns and steps, a gilded tile roof, and bronze doors. Every aspect of the model, even to the painted friezes in the pediments and the finely carved capitals of the columns, was rendered with uncanny detail.
Hadrian stepped back and studied his guests, gratified to see the looks of astonishment on their faces. “As you will have realized, these are the plans for the Temple of Venus and Roma. The architect Decrianus made this model for me – amazing, is it not? – but the plans were entirely my own. Because progress has been so swift, and because there’s no telling how long I may be away, I’ve decided to show these plans to you at last.”
Apollodorus slowly circled the table, studying the plans and the model. He raised an eyebrow. “But where is the front of the temple, and where is the back? I think Decrianus must have misread your plans. Or perhaps Caesar can point out to me what I’m missing.”
Hadrian smiled. “You see, Apollodorus, but you do not perceive. Decrianus was also taken aback when he saw what I had done, but soon enough he came to appreciate the novelty of it. Let me explain. This temple is situated at the very centre of the city – which means it is at the centre of the empire, and thus at the centre of the world. I ask you, can a centre have a front and a back? No. From the centre of something, one faces outwards, no matter what the direction.”
“Perhaps this should have been a round temple, then,” said Apollodorus.
Hadrian frowned. “That was my first conception, but the engineers were unable to guarantee that a dome of the span I envisioned could remain aloft. So this was my solution: a double temple, with a dividing wall running through the middle, which can be entered from either side. The side facing the Flavian Amphitheatre is dedicated to Venus Felix, Bringer of Good Fortune. The side facing the ancient Forum is dedicated to Roma the Eternal. There will be no front or back, but rather two entrances of equal importance. Within their respective shrines, the statues of Venus and of Roma will sit back-to-back, with a wall between them, one gazing east, the other gazing west. Here, I’ll show you. This is quite ingenious.”