‘Arrest?’ For a moment Cato was struck by the dreadful thought that his friend’s role in the prisoners’ escape had been discovered, and, for what it was worth, he tried to bluff it out. ‘What’s he been arrested for?’

‘Macro refused an order to carry out reprisals on the natives.’

‘Reprisals?’

‘Yesterday six of your men were butchered, right in front of us. Maximius ordered Macro to kill sixty villagers in return. He refused. So, Maximius placed him under arrest and handed his century over to an optio, Cordus, a right nasty piece of work, who was only too happy to carry out the order.’

Cato looked at him. ‘You’re serious?’

‘Deadly. But quiet now!’ For an instant Tullius leaned closer to whisper. ‘We’ll talk later. Too many ears close by.’

They marched on in silence, until they reached the lean-to shack that sat over the fort’s latrine channel. The odour, as they approached, was overpowering - even after the stench of the pen in which the Britons had held them prisoner. Tullius made for the wooden trapdoor that covered the channel between the latrine and the grate through which the sewage trickled out into the drainage ditch that led directly down the slope away from the walls of the fort. Grimacing, he lifted the hatch and threw it back against the wall of the latrine.

‘Get in.’

Cato looked down into the disgusting dark sludge below and shook his head. ‘No.’

Tullius sighed, and turned to the escort, but Cato grasped him by the arm.

‘We saw the heads down by the track leading into the marsh. What’s been going on here?’ Cato could see the older man was wavering. ‘Tell me.’

Tullius glanced round nervously before he replied.’All right. He’s like a madman - Maximius. He’s been slaughtering the natives like he was on piece work.’ Tullius rubbed his chin. ‘Never seen anything like it. It’s as if the man’s possessed . . . mad. That’s what Macro reckoned. Like Maximius was taking revenge on the locals for all the shit that’s happened to the Third Cohort.’

‘Maybe,’ Cato replied, and paused a moment in thought. ‘But I wonder why the legate sent the cohort here. Has to be more to it than just hunting us down.’

‘What are you saying?’

‘Think about it. We lost contact with Caratacus. The general had to find some way to lure him out into the open. Now it’s happening.’

‘But how could the general know that Maximius would go crazy and provoke Caratacus into an attack? He couldn’t have known.’

‘Yes he could . . .if he ordered Maximius to start slaughtering the locals.’

Tullius shook his head.’No. There’s no method in what he’s been doing. Just madness.’