The cool night air drifted through the open windows of the domus Augusti, disturbing the senatorial scrolls and causing Augustus to pull his bedsheets tighter around his shivering body. A beam of moonlight lanced through the darkness to illuminate his sleeping form.
The calm breeze suddenly turned into a harsh gust, tearing the soft linen sheets from Augustus's bed and hurling them against the wall. Wakened by the sudden blast of cold air, he lifted his head and cursed the fierce autumn winds. As the emperor moved out of his bed, joints popped and snapped. Grimacing, he lowered himself onto the marble floor.
Running a hand through his graying blond hair, Augustus groggily proceeded towards his displaced sheets. As he bent to pick them up a brilliant flash of light lit up the frescoed walls of Augustus's bedchamber.
"Lightning? That's odd - on such a clear night?" he said under his breath.
Yawning, Augustus closed his eyes and pushed his shoulder blades back to stretch his back as he turned. Reopening his eyes, he gazed upon a sight such as that which he thought he would never see. His hand lost its grip on the sheets and they tumbled gently to his feet. It took all the strength he could muster to keep his knees from buckling from under him.
A woman stood before him, but not just any woman. She was far more beautiful than any he had ever seen, so radiant that she cast a soft light on the bedchamber walls. She smiled at Augustus's obvious bewilderment. She had the air of…a goddess. Augustus's sharp mind was far ahead of his mouth, but he managed to ask
"Are, are you - ?"
"Venus?" she inquired before he could. He nodded, still too bewildered for words. Gazing at him with maternal eyes, she nodded slowly. Augustus's blue eyes widened, the recognition setting in. He was the Pontifex Maximus, and his religious revival was restoring Rome to a moral high ground. Still, Augustus worshipped the gods mainly out of tradition - to think that they actually exist! Doing what he thought he should, Augustus fell to his knees and began reciting a prayer, his palms held out, upturned to her. Venus, not in the mood for such a suppliant display, knelt beside the imperator.
"Augustus, stand up. I haven't come from Olympus to have you grovel at my feet. I need to show you things. Rome is in danger.", she said. Her soothing voice calmed his shocked nerves and slowed his heart's rapid pace. With his self-control regained, Augustus lifted his head to look into Venus's eyes. He noticed them for the first time. Her sea-green eyes were luminous, seemingly giving off their own light. Augustus had never seen anything like it before, and he found the eyes alluring, comforting, and soothing at the same time.
Augustus wondered why Rome's patron goddess had come to him, for what danger could be so great that she would have to reveal herself so blatantly?
"Rome? What danger could possibly be so great that it necessitates your intervention? There is peace, prosperity, and the Empire is expanding. Rome has no challengers to affect the balance of power, what so great a danger could befall Rome that it would precipitate this meeting?" Augustus asked, his cool, collected mind now fully back in possession of his speech.
"Come with me, behold the dangers for yourself. Your questions will all be answered." She said placidly. She stood and extended a hand to Augustus.
"Come, Augustus." She said in her soft, gently commanding voice, yet this time with a heightened sense of urgency. Augustus reached up, taking her small hand in his. It was astonishing how soft her skin was, how very smooth it felt. It seemed odd, and Augustus himself couldn't make sense of it, but as his hand was in contact with hers, he felt recharged, as though he were in his twenties again.
Venus led Augustus out of the house to his terrace, which overlooked the Circus Maximus and much of Rome itself. Under the full moon, he looked out over his city, still, after all these years, wondering at its mastery. Before his eyes he saw Rome expand outward, occasionally scorched by fire, but rebuilt in even more glorious Roman concrete. Then, things changed. Buildings crumbled, losing whole sides. Fires consumed the city, whole sections of it vanished. Rome, his beautiful city, had just become a scarred battleground. He turned to look at Venus.
"What is this?"
"This, Augustus, is Rome about 500 years from now. You just saw the next 500 years compressed into about a minute. Unless something is done right now, all of Rome's glory will reside only in memory. This scarred shell of a city will be all that remains of a once glorious civilization." Venus told him, tears choking her voice. It was seeing Venus's tears that drew attention to his own. Rome would fall, everything, all of it. Augustus grimaced. The mere thought of Rome's fall made him feel sick, and seeing it before his eyes added insult to injury.
Augustus's calculating mind kept turning nonetheless. He deducted that he must have some ability to alter the future, otherwise why would Venus inform him of Rome's eventual downfall? According to the myths it was not like the gods to taunt, every action had a hidden purpose.
"What is the chief cause for Rome's fall?" Augustus asked, seeking whatever clues he could. His mind kept working through the divulged information. No longer did Venus's presence intimidate him. To him she was now merely a tool; his mind had refocused itself on the preservation of Rome.
"A new, formidable foe? Civil war? Wrath of the gods?" he prodded.
"All are contributors, yes, but these are merely the leaves, the root cause has already begun." she turned to look at him with those luminous eyes, "Augustus, the emperorship will undo Rome."
"How can that be? Under my rule Rome has prospered to a degree the world has never before seen."
"No, Augustus, not you. Your imperium is a modest, reasonable one. You do not abuse your powers; you utilize them for the good of the empire. You are perfectly suited to the task, and never forget that Rome must come first and foremost. Others will not always be so. Lavish parties, power-madness, and societal stratification will slowly tear Rome apart from the inside. Emperors will sell the wives of Senators as whores, delusionally believe themselves Hercules, or install favorite chariot horses in high governmental positions. Augustus, the acquisition of power will far outweigh its effective wielding - Rome will become the emperor's toy! One will even turn his back on the Olympians and worship a false deity. In time the emperorship will be sold to the highest bidder, with the Praetorian Guard assassinating emperors who don't satiate their desires. Civil War will be common, as legates vie for the emperor's seat. These wars will leave the frontiers undefended, allowing barbarian hordes to invade the outer provinces, and finally Rome herself."
Augustus digested these words while he looked out across Rome. Flames licked at the old buildings and hordes of barbarians swarmed through the streets like so many rats. The desperate cries of women tore at his ears, their pleas for mercy at his heart. He looked back to Venus, whose cheeks were lined with the trail of tears.
"Rome is a great nation, Augustus," she continued, "well in the favor of the gods. No one wishes Rome's fall, yet the Fates foresee it. The institution of emperor must be terminated, Augustus, it must be terminated if Rome is to survive."
A bright flash blinded Augustus. Upon the return of his sight, he found that it was dawn, and that Rome was no longer in its death throes, but enjoying its early morning vibrancy. He ran his hand through his hair and peered down at the city below.
As he stood there looking down on Rome, it all seemed to make so much sense. The power of emperor was too great for most men. Without the Republican safeguards, how could one man be expected to resist the corruption that came with power? He could, yes, but what about his successor? Augustus recalled his great-uncle's reign as dictator. He had done his job well; he had brought wealth to Rome and treated his opponents with clemency. But for every Gaius Julius Caesar there was a Sulla or a Marius, ones who would ultimately let the power change them, pull them from their path. Venus's point was very clear now - Rome was too big for one man to rule, command of Rome too much power for one man to handle. The Republic must be restored. Augustus turned and headed back towards his house.
Arriving to the domus Augusti disheveled and dressed in his sleepwear, Augustus gave the Praetorians who were guarding the entrance a shock.
"How did you come to be outside, imperator?" one asked, fully confident that the man he was guarding was sound asleep inside.
"We've been here all night sir, and there is no way that you could have left without us noticing!" complained the other. The two men were boggled and humiliated - had they been so unaware as to let the emperor of Rome leave his house in the middle of the night and not even notice it?
"Do not worry over it, boys. But do me a favor and have the Senate called into meeting. And make it fast, there is much to be done."