‘Really?’ Boudica shot him a curious look. ‘I would have thought that a wife would be most content at her husband’s side.’

‘It’s different for Roman women.’

‘Not so much fun, you mean.’

‘They have a profound sense of duty. They are prepared to wait for their husbands to return from active service and keep the home ready for them.’

‘Oh yes.’ Boudica nodded. ‘I can see why your Julia would prefer to do that. I mean, she wouldn’t want to endure too much excitement in her life, would she?’

Cato bristled. He did not like this prying into his marriage. There were enough doubts already plaguing him on that front. He decided to turn the tables. ‘So, what about you? Are you happy in your new role? Is Prasutagus?’

Boudica’s smile faded and she turned to look ahead, at the broad shoulders of her husband riding at the head of the party. ‘He became King only two years ago.’

‘Lucky Prasutagus,’ said Macro.

‘Hardly. It was a choice between exile or accepting the title. Apart from being the placeman of Rome, Prasutagus has had to accept the presence of a line of forts along the frontier of our lands and give free passage to Roman patrols. Worse still, Ostorius has insisted that Prasutagus honour the debts of the old King, Bodominius, who had borrowed a fortune from Roman money-lenders. Now our people are taxed to the hilt to pay them back, and we are obliged to provide five hundred young men a year to serve in your auxiliary cohorts. I tell you, if this is how Rome means to treat the tribes of Britannia, it is only a matter of time before there is an all-out revolt.’

‘The Iceni paid the price of defying Rome,’ Macro said evenly. ‘They were only one tribe. What could they hope to achieve?’

‘The only tribe to rise up, yes. But not the only one with a sense of grievance. Our neighbours, the Trinovantes, have it even worse since the governor founded a veterans’ colony at Camulodunum. Your men have been given the surrounding land and they have taken even more for themselves. Anyone who tries to complain is given a beating. Some have even been killed. Then there’s the temple dedicated to Claudius that is being constructed in the heart of the town. I had no idea he was a god,’ she sneered. ‘He didn’t look like much of a god when I saw him during his brief visit to Camulodunum.’

‘Careful,’ Cato warned. ‘That kind of talk is dangerous if word gets back to Rome. Immortals have rather unpleasant ways of reminding others of their mortality.’

‘That may be so, but threats tend to lose their sting if you push people too far. The Trinovantes are already aggrieved about having their land taken from them. But to make matters worse they are being taxed to pay for the construction of the temple. Can you imagine? Being bled white to provide the silver to pay for a monumemt to your own oppression? If this is the Roman peace, then I fear your governor is going to have a hard time persuading the tribes of its value. I can see nothing good coming of this meeting.’