Severa nodded solemnly. ‘But that’s the point. Brigonius, the Prophecy has already started to come true. The Prophecy is past, present and future, all combined into one document - and through it our families are united across generations.’

Brigonius frowned. ‘I’m not sure what you want of me, lady.’

‘Listen to what it says.’ And she read three lines from the Prophecy:

The trembling skies declare that Rome’s great son has come to earth
A little Greek his name will be. Whilst God-as-babe has birth
Roman force will ram the island’s neck into a noose of stone ...

Brigonius listened closely. ‘What does it mean?’

‘Why, I think it’s clear enough. Brigonius, the empire has grown huge, with long, unstable borders beyond which barbarians roam restlessly. The new Emperor is concerned to shore up those borders. He travelled to Germany, where he is building long walls of turf. Now here he is in Britain, where he will deal with the northern frontier. He intends to build another of his walls across Britain - in the north, where, I am told, two estuaries converge to make the island narrow. You see? Now, to the best of my knowledge this wall is meant to be of turf, like the German frontier. But I have some associates who hope to persuade him to build it of stone.’

‘Stone?’ Brigonius felt bewildered. ‘All the way across the country? Are even the Romans capable of that?’

‘Oh, they’re capable of a great many things, if they put their collective mind to it. And if we can persuade him to build in stone, then somebody nearby is going to have to provide that stone for him.’ She eyed him. ‘There will be handsome profits to be made, quarryman Brigonius.’

‘But how can you know the Emperor will build a wall at all, let alone choose stone over turf?’

She patted the leather packet. ‘Because the Prophecy says so. “A noose of stone” - what else could it mean?’

Lepidina seemed sceptical. ‘Yes, but what was all that about a “little Greek”, a “God-as-babe”?’

Severa was impatient. ‘Prophecies are always cryptic.’

‘You can’t just pick out the useful bits, mother! Don’t you wonder what the real purpose of the Prophecy is? Assuming it holds any truth at all. You want to use it to make money. Fine. But what was the purpose of God in sending it to us?’

Severa merely shrugged. ‘Does it matter?’

Brigonius, though, was impressed by Lepidina’s comment. Sometimes she showed surprising depths. He asked, ‘Severa - why are you doing this? You have a comfortable life in Rome. Why come all the way to Britain?’