again.'
'Rome is a popular city.'
'So it is, Claudia, but Theodore has a description, he can give that to you, you will distribute it, among the gangs which swarm in the Suburra, the poorer quarters. Perhaps Theodore can look around that great midden-heap near the
Flavian Gate.'
'You mean the place where I live.'
'I am sorry.' Helena rubbed her eyes. 'I am tired. Well, no, I'm angry!' She took her hands away. 'I don't like being lectured about law and order and its breakdown. Rome has never been an easy city to govern, but to cut to the chase, when you are finished here, take Theodore with you.' Helena rolled the wine goblet between her hands and glanced up sharply. 'One further thing. This may not seem important, but it is to my son. As I have said, Aurelian and Constantine served together in Britain. Twenty years ago that province teetered on dissolution and destruction. The Great Wall to the north, which protected it from the Caledonians and Picts, was breached time and again. It was the Season of the Pretender, the Usurper. The Empire itself was under threat. My husband and son were drawn into the storm. Consequently, for my son, myself and our supporters such as Aurelian, that province and anything associated with it is special! Especially the men who served us. Soldiers who at a time of mutiny defined their allegiance and declared for us.' She clicked her tongue. 'One such group was an ala, a much-depleted wing of the Catephracti serving in a mile fort along the Great Wall. They called themselves the Fretenses, the Wild Boars, and did sterling work, not only in holding the fort and supporting my husband and son, but at the time of crisis in trapping and annihilating a powerful Pictish war band. They achieved all this with the loss of only one man, their centurion. Once order had been restored in that province, members of the ala received medals, decorations and piaemia, financial rewards, together with full Roman citizenship. As a group they were given honourable discharge and decided to settle in Rome.' Helena pulled a face and shrugged. 'Some died, five still live, or did until two weeks ago, when one of them, Petilius, was brutally murdered in his chamber; another died last night in the Street of Abundance near the House of the Golden Cupids. Nothing was stolen, but the manner of their murder was truly grisly. A stab wound to the belly, their throats cut, and,' Helena added, 'both victims were castrated, their penises sliced off and placed in their hands.'
'What?' Murranus exclaimed.
Claudia remained silent. Murranus always surprised her. He was shocked, but she wasn't; just mystified, as always, at the sheer cruelty of men.
'There are as many ways of killing a man,' Helena continued, 'as there are dogs in Rome, but this is different. I have spoken to Aurelian. The first victim, Petilius, had been to Aurelian's villa recently. The General had decided, like all soldiers do,' she raised her eyes, 'to have a reunion. Since then, Petilius had returned on a number of occasions, pestering Aurelian's stewards and freedmen for an interview with the General, who was too busy to meet him. Anyway, Aurelian has petitioned my son, the Emperor,- he wants these deaths investigated. You, Claudia, will do that. Aurelian now regrets that he did not give Petilius an audience; the castration puzzles him, because that is exactly what the Picts did when they caught a Roman. They always killed him, cut his throat, ripped open his belly, sliced off his testicles and, as a gesture of contempt, left them in the dead man's hand. Three members of the ala still live; they meet as a funeral club calling themselves the Vigiles Muri, the Guardians of the Wall, in the Lucia Gloriosa tavern. They'll be there tonight. I think you should meet them. Well,' Helena rose to her feet, 'I'm sure you have questions, but they'll have to wait. Burrus, my furry shadow,' she added, 'bring more stools, some fresh wine and sweet biscuits, then we'll meet our
'Rome is a popular city.'
'So it is, Claudia, but Theodore has a description, he can give that to you, you will distribute it, among the gangs which swarm in the Suburra, the poorer quarters. Perhaps Theodore can look around that great midden-heap near the
Flavian Gate.'
'You mean the place where I live.'
'I am sorry.' Helena rubbed her eyes. 'I am tired. Well, no, I'm angry!' She took her hands away. 'I don't like being lectured about law and order and its breakdown. Rome has never been an easy city to govern, but to cut to the chase, when you are finished here, take Theodore with you.' Helena rolled the wine goblet between her hands and glanced up sharply. 'One further thing. This may not seem important, but it is to my son. As I have said, Aurelian and Constantine served together in Britain. Twenty years ago that province teetered on dissolution and destruction. The Great Wall to the north, which protected it from the Caledonians and Picts, was breached time and again. It was the Season of the Pretender, the Usurper. The Empire itself was under threat. My husband and son were drawn into the storm. Consequently, for my son, myself and our supporters such as Aurelian, that province and anything associated with it is special! Especially the men who served us. Soldiers who at a time of mutiny defined their allegiance and declared for us.' She clicked her tongue. 'One such group was an ala, a much-depleted wing of the Catephracti serving in a mile fort along the Great Wall. They called themselves the Fretenses, the Wild Boars, and did sterling work, not only in holding the fort and supporting my husband and son, but at the time of crisis in trapping and annihilating a powerful Pictish war band. They achieved all this with the loss of only one man, their centurion. Once order had been restored in that province, members of the ala received medals, decorations and piaemia, financial rewards, together with full Roman citizenship. As a group they were given honourable discharge and decided to settle in Rome.' Helena pulled a face and shrugged. 'Some died, five still live, or did until two weeks ago, when one of them, Petilius, was brutally murdered in his chamber; another died last night in the Street of Abundance near the House of the Golden Cupids. Nothing was stolen, but the manner of their murder was truly grisly. A stab wound to the belly, their throats cut, and,' Helena added, 'both victims were castrated, their penises sliced off and placed in their hands.'
'What?' Murranus exclaimed.
Claudia remained silent. Murranus always surprised her. He was shocked, but she wasn't; just mystified, as always, at the sheer cruelty of men.
'There are as many ways of killing a man,' Helena continued, 'as there are dogs in Rome, but this is different. I have spoken to Aurelian. The first victim, Petilius, had been to Aurelian's villa recently. The General had decided, like all soldiers do,' she raised her eyes, 'to have a reunion. Since then, Petilius had returned on a number of occasions, pestering Aurelian's stewards and freedmen for an interview with the General, who was too busy to meet him. Anyway, Aurelian has petitioned my son, the Emperor,- he wants these deaths investigated. You, Claudia, will do that. Aurelian now regrets that he did not give Petilius an audience; the castration puzzles him, because that is exactly what the Picts did when they caught a Roman. They always killed him, cut his throat, ripped open his belly, sliced off his testicles and, as a gesture of contempt, left them in the dead man's hand. Three members of the ala still live; they meet as a funeral club calling themselves the Vigiles Muri, the Guardians of the Wall, in the Lucia Gloriosa tavern. They'll be there tonight. I think you should meet them. Well,' Helena rose to her feet, 'I'm sure you have questions, but they'll have to wait. Burrus, my furry shadow,' she added, 'bring more stools, some fresh wine and sweet biscuits, then we'll meet our
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