CUNOMINUS One of the Brigantian warriors in the irregular unit commanded by Ferox.

DOMITIUS (CAIUS DOMITIUS CLEMENS) The son and grandson of soldiers, Domitius comes from the Roman colony at Berytus, so has lived in a military atmosphere most of his life, even before he joined the legions. A good soldier, he rose to the rank of optio ad spem – i.e. a centurion’s deputy with the promise of promotion to centurion when a vacancy arose. At some point he became a Christian, but it was much later before he was denounced for belonging to this illegal cult. At the start of our story, he is a deserter, trying to cross the frontier and leave the Roman Empire.

DUCCIUS A tesserarius (with the optio and signifier, one of the key sub-commanders in a century) who happens upon the misbehaviour of one of the legion’s pickets.

FELIX, JULIUS A young legionary serving in VIIII Hispana. He is one of the trio caught out in misconduct while on picket duty.

FEROX, TITUS FLAVIUS Born a prince of the Silures, his father was killed fighting against the Romans, so that he was raised by his grandfather, the ‘Lord of the Hills’, who was the closest thing the Silures had to a king. When the tribe finally gave in after decades of war against Rome, Ferox was sent to be educated in Gaul and later in Rome. At the age of eighteen he was granted Roman citizenship and commissioned as legionary centurion, serving in the wars against Dacians, Sarmatians and Germanic peoples on the Danube under the Emperor Domitian. Thus began a chequered career, which saw him often decorated for valour and as often in disgrace for his staunch and frequently inconvenient adherence to the truth. Involvement in the investigation after the failed coup by Saturninus left him bitter and depressed, not helped when the woman he loved vanished. Sent to the area around Vindolanda, because he was a nuisance everywhere else, he was forgotten because he had ceased to hold any political importance as hostage. In the years that followed, he encountered Vindex, Crispinus, Cerialis and Sulpicia Lepidina. Since then, he has served against the Dacians and in many other provinces as well as beyond the frontiers. V, ES, B, TF

GELLIUS EXORATUS, CAIUS The prefect in charge of cohors IIII Callaececorum Lucensium equitata, Exoratus is an equestrian from Spain and probably the only Spaniard in this regiment originally raised there, but long since posted to the eastern provinces. Although, in his first posting, he is a capable young officer.

HADRIAN* (PUBLIUS AELIUS HADRIANUS, Roman emperor (117–138)) Like Trajan, Hadrian came from the elite of the city of Italica in Spain. His father was Trajan’s cousin, and when he died at a young age, Trajan became one of the young Hadrian’s guardians. Hadrian served as senatorial tribune with the legions, held a number of other posts, accompanied Trajan to the First Dacian War (101–102) and commanded a legion and then a province during the Second Dacian War (105–106). However, the favour shown to him by the emperor stopped well short of marking him out as a likely successor, and the relationship between the two men appears to have lacked warmth. After time in Athens, where he served as city magistrate, Hadrian played some limited role in Trajan’s eastern expedition – hence the pretext for our story – and by 117 was legate of Syria. When Trajan’s widow announced that the dying emperor had adopted him, Hadrian acted swiftly and ruthlessly to secure power. As emperor, he governed well and spent much of his reign travelling to visit almost all the provinces of the empire. He never succeeded in winning the affection of the senatorial order. TF