Gallo was so blunt and straightforward he could have just come from reading a tract on republican values. What happened to criminal deviousness? The direct furrow he ploughed here from the Esquiline would have impressed Romulus. Why muck about? He came to pick up their man. When Gallo arrived at a vigiles barracks, his aim was to walk away with what he wanted, plus a sack of compensation money. His lawyers were mouthing that dire speech about ‘loss of reputation’ and ‘mental distress’. They hadn’t even seen the physical damage yet. As soon as they did, they would be charging double for consulting their lexicon of indignant adjectives.

Aelianus, Faustus and I stood back in silence to watch how Scaurus dealt with this. Doubts must have been running through all our minds. I was sure the useless slob of a tribune would either cave in just to save himself bother, or he would be influenced by gain. When Gallo asked ‘How much?’ that seemed to be the clincher.

But Gallo was about to be caught out by a technicality. The Rabirii did not extend their criminal reach to the Aventine, so they had never bought off Cassius Scaurus, tribune of the Fourth. As a result, he could pretend to a high-mindedness that was, for those of us who knew him, a revolting spectacle.

‘Gallo, when I want to have a sweetener slipped into the contingency fund, I can get it from my own despicable crooks – if I let them. The Second may like you all cosied up under one blanket, but the Second are stupid bastards and I don’t run their kind of show. Shove off, Gallo!’

This was the way Rome kept a degree of control over chaos, with no single group of villains able to take over the whole city. Each criminal gang would have to buy off not only its own local cohort, but six others. It would be too expensive and not worth the bother.

The fancy lawyers spoke up again, earning their keep in front of Gallo. I could not bear to listen. I knew Scaurus would happily let them bleat all day without him getting a sweat on. Camillus Aelianus, being a lawyer himself, stubbornly wanted an argument, so I tipped the wink to the aedile to stay with him and ensure my uncle did not resort to libel, or even to thumping the opposition. Aulus was chunky, more muscular than his brother, and what happened to Quintus had made him genuinely angry.

I took myself across to the Esquiline to oversee the local search.