‘Whatever you say, Caesar. Still, that leaves you with the problem of this man, Brixus, and his followers. What do you intend to do about it?’

‘Just as I said. I intend to track them down, as well as every other band of rebels and runaways. Those we don’t kill I will at least be able to sell.’ Caesar pursed his lips. ‘So there might be some benefit to be gained from this damned sideshow.’

Marcus felt his blood surge in his veins. Much as he had come to admire Caesar, the man was still a Roman through and through, which meant that he regarded slavery as a natural part of his world. He paid no attention to the suffering and humility of the slaves he encountered. For Marcus, who had been born free, the loss of his liberty had been the most terrible thing that had happened to him. It had meant the loss of his home, the man who had raised him, his mother, everything that had any value. After that he had become simply one item amid the possessions of his owner, Lucius Porcino, the lanista of the gladiator school.

There he had been brutally treated, had Porcino’s brand burned into his chest and been beaten and bullied by both the trainers and some of the other slaves. The memories of those days still haunted his dreams so that he sometimes woke with a start, bathed in sweat and trembling. One dream particularly troubled him: a recurring claustrophobic nightmare in which he relived his last fight as a slave. Then he had faced another boy from his school, Ferax, a youth from Gaul who was the leader of the boys who had made Marcus’s life a misery.

In reality Marcus had won the fight, and Ferax had been knocked to the ground and forced to admit defeat. But when Marcus’s back was turned the Gaul had leapt to his feet and tried to kill him. Only Marcus’s fast reflexes had saved him and killed Ferax. But in the nightmares it was Ferax who triumphed, thrusting his sword again and again and again into Marcus’s body as his brutal features twisted into a savage, spitting snarl.

Marcus hoped that it was the last such fight he would ever be involved in. But while Caesar had granted him his freedom, his former master still expected Marcus to continue with his training so that he might one day return to the arena and win fame and fortune as a professional gladiator. As the man who had paid for his training, Caesar would win the support of the Roman mob. Meanwhile, Marcus served under Festus in the bodyguard and had been required to swear that he would serve and protect Caesar for as long as he was his servant. It was Marcus’s understanding that as soon as Caesar’s agents had located his mother and arranged for her to be set free, then his obligations to his former master would be fulfilled.