‘You could order him to disband the cohorts, and confiscate their weapons.’

‘That’s not very practicable. You don’t know these Britons like I do. About the most disrespectful thing you could do to a British warrior is take his weapons away from him. They treat them as a birthright. If we seize their weapons then there’s every chance we’ll have a revolt on our hands. We might even lose Verica’s loyalty into the bargain.’

‘It’s quite a mess,’ the tribune replied thoughtfully. ‘One wonders why it was permitted to occur in the first place. Narcissus will want to know.’

Plautius leaned across the table. ‘Then you tell your friend Narcissus to send me more troops. If I’d been given enough auxiliary units in the first place, we’d never have had to rely on Verica, or raise those two cohorts.’

‘Sorry, sir,’ Quintillus replied calmly. ‘It was an observation, not a criticism. I apologise if I gave the wrong impression. It’s a complicated situation.’

‘To put it mildly. Now you can see why I need a clear picture of what is happening in Calleva. I need to know if we can risk keeping the cohorts in existence. If you judge that they might present a danger to us then we’ll have to disband them, and take the chance that we can deal with the consequences. At the same time, I need to know if the Atrebatans will honour their treaty with us under a new king. If there’s any question of the tribe going over to Caratacus then we will have to act at once.’

‘That’s quite a job for one man,’ Quintillus mused.

‘You won’t be entirely alone. One of the local nobles is on our payroll. He’s close to Verica and can provide you with whatever help you need. I’ll give you the details later.’

‘Fair enough, sir.’ Tribune Quintillus looked closely at the general. ‘What authority will you grant me for this mission?’

Plautius reached to the side of his chair and handed a scroll to the tribune. The scroll was wrapped around an ivory rod, touched by the hands of Emperor Claudius, and bore the seal of the general. ‘In the first instance you are to observe, and then report to me. If you deem it necessary to act then you may invoke the powers of procurator. All Atrebatan lands will be ceded to Rome and administered as a province. You are empowered to order Vespasian’s forces to annex and garrison Verica’s kingdom.’

‘That’s quite a responsibility,’ Quintillus mused. ‘The legate won’t be a happy man when he hears about this.’

‘If we’re lucky he won’t ever have to.’

04 The Eagle and the Wolves

Chapter Seventeen