augustalis. He cannot be a member of the ordo because although he has chosen a Roman name he is not a Roman citizen, nor ever will be. But as one of the priests of the temple he enjoys great honour among certain of his people and even influence in the Roman community.’
‘He must be a very fortunate man.’ Despite himself, Valerius was impressed. He considered the Celts rough tribesmen. A martial race of hut dwellers. Yet here was a Briton who had adopted Roman ways and already contributed to the new society that a Roman Britain would become.
‘Fortunate?’ Petronius gave a quiet belch. ‘He has a villa on his farm on the hill yonder,’ he waved a hand in the vague direction of the river, ‘and he owns property in town. So, yes, I suppose he could be called rich.’ He smiled and turned towards the neighbour on his left, leaving Valerius to study the figure across the table.
The appellation ‘portly’ could have been coined for Lucullus, but he carried his bulk in a way that told you he took pride in it; that it was, in some way, a measure of his success and position in life. He was short and rounded, with a fringe of mousy hair which circled the back of his head like an untidy laurel wreath. Valerius noted that he shaved his face in the Roman fashion, yet it shouted out that it would never be complete without the moustache his people habitually wore. Lucullus met his eyes and raised his cup in salute. His smile took on a sad, almost resigned aspect. Valerius had seen the look before in clients he had represented in minor court cases — the clients who inevitably lost. In that instant something like pity replaced the natural disdain he felt for the Trinovante. He raised his own cup in reply and wondered what Lucullus was thinking. He didn’t have to wait long to find out.
‘You must come and visit my estate,’ the little man offered loftily in a clipped, unnatural Latin which had a curious singsong lilt. ‘The hunting is good. No? You are not a hunter, then? Perhaps a man of culture. I have many fine pieces — from Rome itself, and even from Aegyptus. The man who painted these walls painted my own. I have a copy of the surrender in my atrium.’
Valerius knew he should decline the offer, but a beautiful face flashed into his head. She would be there, and this time she wouldn’t be able to run away. ‘If my duties permit it I would be happy to visit you.’ He became aware of a change in the atmosphere, as if a shutter had been opened to allow in the sun. The fixed smile disappeared and a different Lucullus emerged; a Lucullus whose eyes twinkled with surprise and genuine pleasure. ‘My estate manager will arrange it, then.’
For the rest of the meal, Valerius found himself the hub of attention for the members of the ordo. Was it true that his soldiers were to waste their time building roads when they had so much to complete in Colonia? How did he think the town compared with Londinium? What was the latest news from Rome? There was a rumour that Burrus might be out of favour. Had he heard the druids were returning? It was true: Corvinus had it from a trader, who had it from a merchant, who had it from a customer, who had it from…
He fended off the questions with polite, harmless non-answers until Falco concluded the proceedings. The banquet broke up with men leaving in pairs, one or two clinging to each other as a result of the effects of the wine. Valerius was surprised to see Lucullus walk out deep in conversation with Petronius.
Falco insisted on accompanying him back to the camp. ‘Then I will guide you to the townhouse where you will stay while you are with us. It is owned by Lucullus, and very comfortable, but the ordo will provide the slaves. Better to be spied on by a Roman, eh?’ He laughed.
‘I thought your charter denied the Celts the right to own property in the town?’
Falco gave him a sideways look. ‘The charter was drawn up in different times. Much has changed. It is true that technically no Briton should own property here, but if a man has money there are ways such technicalities can be circumvented. Third party agreements, for instance.’
‘And who would the third party be in this case?’ Valerius knew he was pushing the boundaries of their short acquaintance, but even the small amount of wine he had drunk had loosened his tongue.
The look again, longer this time. ‘Let us just say that Lucullus would do well to be wary of his business partners.’ The militia commander laughed. ‘Of course, I am one of them. Lucullus provides transport for me. He has the largest wagon business in the province.’
‘Julius told me you were a wine merchant.’
Falco’s lips pursed as if he wasn’t sure what he was. ‘I suppose I am. I have a monopoly to supply every legionary mess and public office from here to Isca and from Noviomagus to Lindum. A shipload of amphorae in from Ostia every two weeks. How else would a simple soldier be able to afford to break bread with the likes of Petronius?’
Valerius had a feeling the older man was anything but a simple soldier, but he risked another question. ‘When Petronius talked of the Brittunculi I had the impression he was referring to Lucullus.’
Falco nodded. ‘It is a term that has become popular among a certain type of Roman; a term that is meant to belittle the Celts. For myself, I believe we must live and work with them, and that to insult them only stores up trouble for the future.’ He paused, and Valerius knew enough to hold his tongue. ‘Things were done, when Colonia was founded, that do none of us credit. Land fever, greed and envy all played their part. Our colonists are good men. They fought for Rome for twenty-five years and knew nothing but hardship. Who could deny that they deserved this land their Emperor had given them? But when a legionary sweating to dig up tree roots in parched ground looked across his boundary and saw a Celt picking rows of fine vegetables while his cattle drank sweet water from a dew pond, what was he to do? He was the victor, they were the vanquished. He took what he believed should be his. And if a Celt died,’ he shrugged his shoulders, ‘it was no real matter.
‘Now people like Petronius look at Colonia and see the glory of Rome; invincible and sustained by the power of four full legions. And he has a point. We have had eight years of peace since Scapula stirred up his hornet’s nest by attempting to disarm the tribes. Our farms and estates prosper and grow, and with them the town prospers and grows. The local Britons, those such as Lucullus who are prepared to work and trade with us, have done equally well, but…’ He hesitated, and his face took on a troubled aspect. ‘But I fear we take advantage of their good faith.’
It was the temple.
‘Six years ago, when work began on the temple, Colonia was not the place you see now. Claudius was generous with his grant of land in the territorium around the city and each of us had our pension, but a farm needs investment and a town needs businesses and such things would drain the resources of even a rich man. Yet, when the Emperor was declared divine and we knew this was to be the centre of his cult in Britain, we were proud. He was our Emperor. But we reckoned without the priests. Those they sent from Rome created a Roman institution, with Roman rules and a Roman bureaucracy, to be run on Roman lines and to make a Roman profit. But Britain is not Rome. Colonia is not Rome. There is no old money here. No great fortunes garnered from hundreds of years of slaves’ sweat on grand family estates. To accept the role of augustalis would mean ruination. Did you know that Claudius himself paid eighty thousand gold aurei when he entered the priesthood during Gaius Caligula’s time?’ He shook his head, as if the sum was beyond his wildest imaginings. ‘Only one class could be persuaded… no, flattered, into accepting nomination: the British kings and aristocrats who had supported the invasion and therefore had the most to gain from being magis Romanorum quam Romanorum — more Roman than the Romans. King Cogidubnus, who rules the Atrebates and the Regni, was the first. One taste was enough for him, but he had set the precedent. Others followed, and now Lucullus, a prince of the Trinovantes who once held these lands.’
‘But surely Lucullus could not…’
‘No, of course Lucullus could not afford such sums. But there are those in Rome prepared to lend them, even the Emperor himself, and members of his court; Seneca for one. It was he who loaned Lucullus the money to buy into the priesthood and provide the community with the theatre you see yonder. It should have been enough, but Lucullus believes he is a man of business. Where another might have seen the jaws of a trap he saw opportunity. He borrowed more to buy his wagons, which was a good investment. And more still to purchase six insulae in Colonia, which may or may not be. He pays commission to a Roman partner who nominally owns the buildings, who collects and passes on the rents. Like Bellator, though neither would thank me for making the comparison. On the surface, Lucullus is one of the richest men in Colonia. In reality he is rich only in debt. We are here.’
The townhouse stood in a street close to the Forum and not far from the legionaries’ camp, which Valerius knew Falco, ‘simple soldier’ that he was, would have insisted upon. Part of him wished he had refused the offer to sleep beneath a solid roof in a soft bed, but refusal would be seen as bad manners. He would live with the guilt. It wouldn’t make the men any more comfortable in any case.
Double doors opened on to the atrium, which in turn led to an open courtyard surrounded by a covered walkway, from which further doors gave access to other dwellings that no doubt shared the courtyard. He sensed a stillness to the place that spoke of lack of inhabitation, which suited Valerius perfectly but did not bode well for
