The Nero Prediction by Humphry Knipe

exact."
    "So she chose the day for herself, not Claudius?"
    "Of course. For her and the boy. Today's Sun, which represents the adopted Nero's new father, Claudius of course, is in conjunction with Agrippina's Mars. That means he'll die by her hand."
    "Does Lucius ... Nero know?"
    "Of course not."
    "Why are you telling me this?"
    "So you may learn how implacable Fate is, and how infallible astrology."
    "Then you do believe in astrology?"
    Euodus seemed irritated by the question. "Of course. Only fools like Cicero who follow Carneades don’t."
    I knew of Cicero, the orator, of course. I’d forged copies of his letters for the Copy Master in Alexandria. But I’d never heard of Carneades.
    “Who’s Carneades?”
    “A Greek, I’m ashamed to say. He said there is no such thing as Fate. That men have something called free will. Can anything be more absurd?”
    I made a mental note to read up on Carneades. “When did he live?” I asked.
    “About two hundred years ago. Of course he’s been thoroughly discredited.”
    “Why is what he says absurd?”
    “Simple. Everything that happens is caused by what happened just before it and so on until the beginning of time. Where is the room for free will in that?”
    “But surely people are free to chose between good and evil. Otherwise why punish criminals?”
    “Men do evil because they are destined to do evil. They are punished because they are destined to be punished. Is that so hard to understand?”
    "Tigellinus believes in Fate as well?"
    "Everyone does nowadays. Fate has us trapped inside its circle, there is no escape. Why do you ask?"
    The free will idea clung to me, stubborn as a burr. "I was wondering if Fate can be manipulated."
     "That would be as impossible as changing the course of the planets. Not even the gods can do that. What is not fated to happen is impossible.”
    I thought this over for a while. “You’re saying that the planets somehow reach down and move us around like pieces in a board game?”
    “Oh no, it’s much more wonderful than that. All events that happen on earth, all events that happens in the heaven, are parts of the same divine machine which was set in motion during the first moment of time and will run until the end of the universe. That’s why by reading the ever-changing relationships between the planets we are also reading the ever-changing relationships between ourselves. We are one with the stars.”
    "So Agrippina isn’t manipulating Fate?"
    "Just the opposite. She’s in perfect harmony with Fate. Look!"
    A rim of fire knifed into the eastern sky, swelling rapidly into a vast orb, blotched and bloody like the yoke of a half-incubated egg: the full Moon.
    "That's her, Agrippina his mother," said Euodus, "now that she's risen she'll confer her benediction. He turned his back on the ghastly apparition. "See!"
    As the Moon swelled two figures appeared on a balcony that faced east, a woman and a boy. When I recognized them a delicious chill rippled through me flushing away the burr of doubt. 
    For a lingering moment Agrippina gazed at the bloated Moon. Then she threw her arms around the boy who had been Lucius, kissing him on both cheeks and then on the mouth. "Nero, my lovely son!"
    "Nero," he said as if he were tasting the name. "Yes I do like it. I like the way the 'o' rolls off the tongue. Much more poetic than Lucius which sticks to it like glue. Nero Claudius Drusus Caesar. Thank you mother, I'm used to it already. In fact I'll be very annoyed if anyone ever calls me Lucius Ahenobarbus ever again."
     

 
    Hail Nero Caesar!
    June 9, 54 A.D. – October 13, 54 A.D
     
     
    I discovered Nero’s interest in music a few days after Messalina’s death. “I want you to visit my son,” Agrippina had said after I’d read her extracts from an interview she’d just had with Pallas, Claudius’s financial secretary. Pallas hinted, quite broadly, at the amount of money she would need to spend to match the gifts the other contenders