The picture at the top of this post reflects the moment when a poor country boy, the orphan Pip, meets the lady, Miss Havisham, whom he believes, later in life, to have financed his "Great Expectations". In this scene, he has been brought to the big house for the first time to be the companion of a lonely girl, Estella. He is terrified and feels like a fish out of water.
I think it must have been like this for Vespasian when he was summoned to the Lady Antonia's villa to be a companion for Claudius. How did this happen? I ask because, unlike Pip, the Lady Antonia and her secretary Caenis did make Vespasian's career. Vespasian's "Great Expectations" were fulfilled as a result of this first meeting.
She looked him up and down, as if she was buying a slave. He looked older than 16 and was wearing his adult toga. Officially he was a man but under her gaze, he felt like a child again.
"I think this might work," she said, "has your mother explained everything to you?"
He told her that she had. Caenis reached out and took his hand. She turned it over and looked at his calloused palm. She smiled. "Yes, you'll do."
She led him along the corridor to the east wing, towards Claudius's apartments.
"Here's his study, he spends far too much time in here. Your job, young man, is to get him out into the real world."
She knocked on the door and, without waiting, opened it and ushered him in.
There, at a standing desk, looking at a book, stood the prince. He was a slender young man in his early thirties. Standing next to him was another red-head, a middle-aged man. It was Narcissus, Claudius's secretary.
Years later, Caenis told him her side of the story of that day. Feeling like a prisoner in Reate, Claudius had been desperately lonely. Knowing that he could never ask his mother for anything, he had come to Caenis for help. Her request to Antonia had nothing to do with Claudius' loneliness. Shrewdly, her observation was that Claudius was becoming too precious. What he needed, she told her mistress, was contact with a real Roman. Not an effete town Roman but the type of Roman who used to man Rome's Republican armies. In short, she meant a Sabine man. The type of man who knew what hard work was all about, who had a sense of humour, who was tough and direct. Claudius, she said, needed a Sabine tutor. Antonia bit immediately. All Caenis needed to do then was to find such a man.
Her steward provided the answer. He knew of a young man in a nearby household. He was the grandson of a Centurion. Even better, his mother's father had been a Camp Prefect, the highest post that a centurion could reach. (Equivalent to a Brigadier in a modern Army) He was going to stay at home and run a mule business while his older brother tried his hand in Rome. He seemed the perfect country model for the bookish prince.
There are a lot of assumptions in this short piece. Let's examine them.
Central to everything is that we know for certain that Vespasian had a lot of help in his early career from Caenis, Narcissus and Antonia.
There had to be a connection. My assumption is that Vespasian had been brought into the Reate household as a companion. At first this might have seemed to all parties as just a temporary expediency.
There was a large social difference between Vespasian and Antonia. The Flavians of Reate were just a cut above middle class. On the other hand, there was no one more aristocratic than Antonia. After the death of Livia, Augustus' widow in 29 AD, Antonia was the senior woman in Rome. She was also vastly wealthy in her own right. In particular, she owned many properties in Egypt. Remember her father was Marc Anthony. In later years the connection to Egypt will become pivotal.
From Antonia's perspective, this significant social difference between Claudius and Vespasian meant that there was very little risk down the road for this relationship. If Vespasian had been from another aristocratic family, all sorts of long term expectations and responsibilities might become involved. Avoiding such expectations was the reason why Emperors never employed other aristocrats in senior imperial offices. She could see that Vespasian was safe, just as she felt the same about Caenis and Narcissus.
The irony is that Vespasian did gain the complete support of her familia. How did he do this? I think the first answer is the simple one that Antonia's familia all grew to trust and to love him. Including the crusty Antonia herself. This ability to make strong friendships will be Vespasian's paramount characteristic. It will mean that by 69 AD and so the moment of choice to seek the purple, he will have the support of a critically important group of people.
When did he first meet Claudius?
We can work back from a key date. We know that in 27 AD, Vespasian left Italy for his first posting as a military tribune in Thrace. Such a posting for a man with no money, could only have been granted by influence. It could only have been Antonia's recommendation that would have given him this opportunity.
This means, to me, that this first meeting must have taken place shortly after he reached his majority aged 15 or 16 in year 24 or 25. It would surely have taken at least two years for the relationships to bind.
Now, a word about Claudius's disabilities. For these were the reason why his mother hated him and had him largely hidden away.
Her attitude was common for her time and even among rulers in modern times. In France, Talleyrand, who had been dropped as a baby and walked with a limp was shunned by his mother. The Kaiser who had a withered arm was treated very badly by his mother Vicky. Prince John, the 5th child of King George V's was kept apart in Sandringham. He had severe epilepsy.
Claudius might have drooled and had a speech impediment. He may have had a limp But Claudius was no fool. As Emperor, we will see that he was shrewd politically and a skilled administrator. Playing the fool kept him alive during the reigns of Tiberius and Caligula.
I think that Vespasian also learned a lot from Claudius. He also learned to hide his talents and played the country bumpkin in the reigns of Caligula and Nero. He saw how the smart men, like Corbulo, could sign their death warrant by being too successful.
What both men also shared was a sharp sense for a good friend. They had exceptional judgement in this regard. In the next post, we will explore the network of friends who emerged from Antonia's school for princes. This group are the seeds for the later success of both Emperors.
Finally for those who might wonder at how scary it might have been for the young teenage Vespasian to meet Caenis here is that scene in Lean's brilliant version of Great Expectations. See how daunted Pip is by Estella. Caenis at 25 would have been even more imposing and you will discover soon how dangerous Caenis could be.
