‘That’s what Narcissus told us,’ said Cato. ‘And if Parthia should get its hands on Palmyra, then they’ll be able to march their army right up to the boundaries of the province of Syria. At the moment there are three legions at Antioch. Arrangements are being made to send a fourth, but therein lies the other problem.’

They had reached the limit of Florianus’ knowledge of the situation and now he stared at Cato intently. ‘What’s that?’

Cato instinctively lowered his voice. ‘Cassius Longinus, the Governor of Syria.’

‘What about him?’

‘Narcissus doesn’t trust him.’

Macro laughed.’Narcissus doesn’t trust anybody. Mind you, nobody in their right mind would trust him.’

‘Anyway,’ Cato continued, ‘it seems that Cassius Longinus has some contacts with those elements back in Rome who oppose the Emperor.’

Florianus glanced up. ‘You mean those bastards who call themselves the Liberators?’

‘Of course.’ Cato smiled grimly.’One of their men fell into the hands of Narcissus earlier this year. He gave up a few names before he died, including that of Longinus.’

Florianus frowned.’I've heard nothing from my sources in Antioch about Longinus. Nothing to arouse suspicion. And I’ve met him a few times. Frankly he doesn’t seem the type.Too cautious to strike out on his own.’

Macro smiled. ‘Having three legions at your back has a wonderful way of stiffening a man’s spine. Four legions even more so. To have that much power in your grasp must be quite inspiring to a man’s ambition.’

‘But not enough to turn him against the rest of the Empire,’ Florianus countered.

Cato nodded. ‘True, as things stand. But suppose the Emperor was compelled to reinforce the region with yet more legions? Not just to counter the Parthian threat, but to put down a rebellion here in Judaea.’

‘But there isn’t a rebellion here.’

‘Not yet. But there’s plenty of ill feeling brewing up, as you yourself have reported. It wouldn’t take much to incite an open revolt. Look what happened when Caligula gave orders for a statue of him to be erected in Jerusalem. If he hadn’t been murdered before work could begin then every man in the land would have risen up against Rome. How many legions would it have taken to put that down? Another three? Perhaps four? In addition to the Syrian legions, that’s at least seven in all. With that kind of force at his disposal a man could easily make himself a contender for the purple. Mark my words.’

There was a long silence as Florianus considered Cato’s proposition, and then he suddenly looked back at the young centurion. ‘Are you suggesting that Longinus might actually provoke such a revolt? To get his hands on more legions?’

Cato shrugged. ‘Maybe. Maybe not. I don’t know yet. Let’s just say it’s a sufficiently worrying prospect for Narcissus to send us here to investigate it.’