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Chapters (76)
  1. Title Page
  2. Copyright Page
  3. I
  4. II
  5. III
  6. I - INVADER AD 43-70
  7. I
  8. II
  9. III
  10. IV
  11. V
  12. VI
  13. VII
  14. VIII
  15. IX
  16. X
  17. XI
  18. XII
  19. XIII
  20. XIV
  21. XV
  22. XVI
  23. XVII
  24. XVIII
  25. XIX
  26. XX
  27. XXI
  28. XXII
  29. XXIII
  30. XXIV
  31. XXV
  32. XXVI
  33. II - BUILDER AD 122-138
  34. I
  35. II
  36. III
  37. IV
  38. V
  39. VI
  40. VII
  41. VIII
  42. IX
  43. X
  44. XI
  45. XII
  46. XIII
  47. XIV
  48. XV
  49. XVI
  50. XVII
  51. XVIII
  52. XIX
  53. XX
  54. XXI
  55. III - EMPEROR AD 314—337
  56. I
  57. II
  58. III
  59. IV
  60. V
  61. VI
  62. VII
  63. VIII
  64. IX
  65. X
  66. XI
  67. XII
  68. XIII
  69. XIV
  70. XV
  71. EPILOGUE
  72. I
  73. II
  74. III
  75. IV
  76. Afterword

Nepos glanced at Tullio. ‘Prefect? Will this do?’

Tullio shrugged. ‘The northern walls of the forts will be vulnerable—’

Annius said cheerfully, ‘You can fix that. A few pits with stakes would do the job. But this will cut the number of crossing-points in the Wall. The locals will resent it.’

Nepos eyed him. ‘The locals just tried to burn the Wall down, soldier. Let them resent.’

Tullio growled, ‘Sir, you told me to bring this project in on time, within your governorship. We already had to make compromises - the turf sections for a start. Now to build these new forts - how many, tribune?’

‘Twelve,’ the Roman said smoothly.

‘Twelve, then—’

Sabinus added, ‘And I’d advise rebuilding the turf sections in stone while you’re at it. A mix of turf and stone in the long run will only invite attacks along the more vulnerable turf section.’

Tullio laughed. ‘Yes, let’s chuck that in too! Look, governor—’

Nepos said, ‘I know, Tullio, I know. Before we accept the inevitability of a rescheduling, is there any way we can speed things up? What if we reduce the width of the stone curtain, for instance? Does it have to be ten feet? What if were eight feet, or six? Wouldn’t that do? ...’

They began to talk around such time-saving compromises. Sabinus expertly made himself the centre of the technical discussion, excluding Xander and his sponsor Severa. Xander rolled his eyes in mute horror at this destruction of his vision.

Brigonius was more interested in Severa. As the scope of the project changed before her eyes, she was clearly losing any control over events she might once have had. Not that anybody had any sympathy for her; she had made too many enemies for that. But Brigonius wondered what was going on behind her cold, bitter face.

At last Nepos sat back. ‘Well, I think we have a solution, for all but one of our problems: the timescale. Tullio?’

Tullio sighed. ‘I don’t imagine the Emperor will assign me the Rhine legions to finish the job?’

Nepos smiled. ‘You’re an honest man. I don’t want you to commit yourself until you’re ready. But we’re talking of years more, aren’t we?’

‘I’m afraid so, sir.’

Nepos tapped his teeth. ‘So whatever the future holds the Wall will no longer be my problem - or my glory. Well.’ He stood stiffly. ‘I had better begin composing my letter to the Emperor. Good day to you all.’

As he left, the others gathered up their belongings. Everybody was silent, sullen.

But Tullio slapped Brigonius on the back. ‘I don’t know why you’re looking so serious, Brittunculus,’ he said. ‘Seems to me the governor has just ordered an awful lot more of your stone.’

XVIII

XVIII

It took another month for the final act of the rebellion’s aftermath to play itself out.