Nest of Vipers

• About the Author
  
• Title Page
  
• Copyright Page
  
• Dedication
  
• Cast of Characters
  
• The new prophecies of Cybele
  
• PROLOGUE Portunalia August, AD 65
  
• THE PARTNER IN MY LABOURS
  
  • Mercuralia May, AD 20
    
  • Veiovia May, AD 20
    
  • The Nones of June AD 20
    
  • The Ides of June AD 20
    
  • Summania June, AD 20
    
  • The Kalends of July AD 20
    
  • Ludi Plebeii November, AD 20
    
  • Matronalia March, AD 21
    
  • The Kalends of April AD 21
    
• MY SOLACE IN THIS TIME OF WOES
  
  • Ludi Romani September, AD 21
    
  • The Day of Ill Omens October, AD 21
    
  • Saturnalia December, AD 21
    
  • The Kalends of March AD 22
    
  • The Nones of March AD 22
    
  • The Nones of April AD 22
    
  • The Nones of March AD 23
    
  • The Kalends of April AD 23
    
  • Lemuria May, AD 23
    
  • The Ides of April AD 24
    
  • Vestalia June, AD 24
    
  • The Nones of January AD 25
    
  • Agonalia January, AD 26
    
  • Carmentalia January, AD 26
    
  • The Kalends of February AD 26
    
  • The Nones of February AD 26
    
  • Septimontium September, AD 26
    
  • Ludi Romani September, AD 26
    
• IS IT WRONG YOU ARE NOT QUEEN?
  
  • The Kalends of October AD 26
    
  • Equirria October, AD 26
    
  • Sacramentum January, AD 27
    
  • The Nones of February AD 27
    
  • The Ides of February AD 27
    
  • Agonalia March, AD 28
    
  • The Ides of January AD 29
    
  • The Kalends of April AD 30
    
  • Megalesia April, AD 30
    
  • Equirria October, AD 31
    
  • Armilustrium October, AD 31
    
  • The eleventh day before the Kalends of November AD 31
    
  • The Kalends of November AD 31
    
• THE CHILD WILL RULE
  
  • The Nones of November AD 31
    
  • Veiovis May, AD 33
    
  • The Kalends of June AD 35
    
  • Terminalia February, AD 37
    
  • Matronalia March, AD 37
    
• Extract: Empress of Rome III: Stealth of Vixens
  
  • Epigraphs
    
  • Quinquatria March, AD 59
    
• Acknowledgements
  

Luke Devenish is a novelist, screenwriter, playwright and lecturer. He has written for some of Australia's best-loved television dramas, including
Neighbours
,
Home and Away
,
Something in the Air
and
SeaChange
. His plays have been staged by Melbourne's Malthouse Theatre, the Adelaide Festival, the Sydney Festival and the National Institute for Dramatic Arts. Luke teaches writing at the Australian Film, Television and Radio School, the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology and Monash University. A passionate gardener, he lives with his partner and pets in the Goldfields region of central Victoria.

Visit his website:
www.lukedevenish.com
.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted by any person or entity, including internet search engines or retailers, in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including printing, photocopying (except under the statutory exceptions provisions of the
Australian Copyright Act 1968
), recording, scanning or by any information storage and retrieval system without the prior written permission of Random House Australia. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author's and publisher's rights and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.

Empress of Rome: Nest of Vipers
ePub ISBN 9781864715897
Kindle ISBN 9781864716870

A Bantam book
Published by Random House Australia Pty Ltd
Level 3, 100 Pacific Highway, North Sydney NSW 2060
www.randomhouse.com.au

First published by Bantam in 2010

Copyright © Luke Devenish 2010

The moral right of the author has been asserted.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted by any person or entity, including internet search engines or retailers, in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying (except under the statutory exceptions provisions of the Australian
Copyright Act 1968
), recording, scanning or by any information storage and retrieval system without the prior written permission of Random House Australia.

Addresses for companies within the Random House Group can be found at
www.randomhouse.com.au/offices
.

National Library of Australia
Cataloguing-in-Publication Entry

Devenish, Luke, 1966–

Nest of vipers/Luke Devenish

ISBN 978 1 86325 623 0 (pbk)

Devenish, Luke, 1966– Empress of Rome bk 2

A823.4

Cover photographs by Image Source/Getty Images (
front
) and Shutterstock (
back
)
Cover design by Natalie Winter
Internal design and typesetting by Midland Typesetters, Australia
Printed in Australia by Griffin Press, on Accredited ISO AS/NZS 14001:2004
Environmental Management System printer

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

To Oliver, Mikaela and Alice, who all enjoy books
,
if not yet this one
.
Uncle Luke looks forward to the day when your
discovery of the ancient Romans sends your
eyebrows swiftly skyward
.

THE HOUSE OF LIVIA

THE HOUSE OF TIBERIUS

THE HOUSE OF CASTOR

THE HOUSE OF AGRIPPINA

THE HOUSE OF ANTONIA

THE HOUSE OF THE AEMILII

OTHERS

The son with blood, by water's done, the truth is never seen
.

The third is hooked by a harpy's look – the rarest of all birds
.

The course is cooked by a slave-boy's stroke; the fruit is lost with
babes.

The matron's words alone are heard, the addled heart is ringed.

The one near sea falls by a lie that comes from the gelding's
tongue.

The doctor's lad will take the stairs, from darkness comes the
wronged
,

No eyes, no hands and vengeance done, but worthless is the prize
.

One would-be queen knows hunger's pangs when Cerberus
conducts her.

One brother's crime sees him dine at leisure of his bed.

One would-be queen is one-eyed too until the truth gives
comforts
.

When tiny shoes a cushion brings, the cuckoo's king rewarded
.

Your work is done, it's time to leave – the sword is yours to pass
.

Your mother lives within this queen: she who rules beyond you
.

The end, the end, your mother says – to deception now depend
.

So long asleep, now sleep once more, your Attis is Veiovis
.