Vespasian kept his expression fixed while Tincommius continued, ‘Hunger is not the only danger. There are some nobles who are less than enthusiastic about our alliance with Rome. Hundreds of our best warriors are fighting alongside Caratacus even now. Rome should not take the loyalty of the Atrebatans for granted.’

‘I see,’ Vespasian smiled faintly. ‘You’re threatening me.’

‘No, my dear Legate!’ Verica interrupted. ‘Not at all. You must pardon the boy. Youngsters are prone to overstatement, are they not? Tincommius was merely stating the possibility in the most extreme terms, unlikely as it might seem.’

‘Fair enough.’

‘Be that as it may, you should know that there is a very real threat to my position, one that might be exploited if you continue to let my people go hungry.’

There was a palpable tension between the three men now and Vespasian’s anger at the naked attempt to blackmail him threatened to erupt in a most undiplomatic flow of invective. He forced himself to suppress his feelings and reconsider the situation. It was bad enough that the Atrebatans were in two minds about their alliance with Rome; there was no point in making matters worse by fostering bad relations with those Atrebatans who still cherished the link.

‘What would you have me do?’

‘Hand over your food supplies,’ Tincommius answered.

‘Impossible.’

‘Then give us enough men to hunt down and destroy these raiders.’

‘That’s impossible too. I can’t spare a single man.’

Tincommius shrugged. ‘Then we can’t guarantee the loyalty of our people.’

The argument was going round in circles and Vespasian’s frustration was turning to anger once more. There had to be a way through this. Then an idea did occur to him.

‘Why can’t you go after these raiders yourself?’

‘With what?’ snapped Verica. ‘Your general permits me fifty armed men. That’s barely enough to protect the royal enclosure, let alone the ramparts of Calleva. What could fifty men do against the force that attacked your convoy today?’

‘Then raise more men. I’ll petition General Plautius to suspend the limit on your forces.’

‘That’s all very well,’ Tincommius said calmly, ‘but we have very few warriors left. Many chose to join Caratacus rather than lay down their arms. Some - though not many - stayed loyal to Verica.’

‘Start with them then. There must be many more who’d want revenge on the Durotrigans - all those whose farms have been destroyed by enemy raiders.’

‘They’re farmers,’ Tincommius said dismissively. ‘They know almost nothing about fighting. They don’t even have proper weapons. They’d be slaughtered.’

‘So train them! I can provide the weapons from the depot here - the moment we get permission from the general - enough for, say, a thousand men. That’s more than sufficient to take on those raiders . . . Unless the Atrebatans are too afraid.’