As the boat turned to head back under the bridge a final time the wind shifted, gusting stronger. The tribune almost fell as the boat lurched, and Claudia squealed and Lepidina gasped with surprise as the wind struck them, their dresses ballooning up over their knees for an all too brief instant.

‘Lovely the virgin seemed as the soft wind exposed her limbs, and as the zephyrs fond fluttered amid her garments, and the breeze fanned lightly in her flowing hair,’ Piso intoned.

‘She seemed most lovely to his fancy in her flight,’ Hadrian continued the quote. ‘And mad with love he followed in her steps.’

‘Quite,’ Piso said.

‘They’re married, you know, else they would not be here.’ Like the mention of Apelles, having his broad stripe tribune quoting Ovid was another sign that the man was not without learning or wit.

‘Since when did that matter?’ Piso said hungrily, and he smiled at the ladies’ embarrassment, becoming once again the crude, feckless young aristocrat. ‘The chase makes it worthwhile.’

‘You ought to be careful,’ Hadrian told him. Whatever his feelings for this man, what Piso did during his time with the legion would reflect on his own reputation. Hadrian needed to make the man useful, and if there was a mistake or worse, show to the world that he was not to blame for his tribune’s folly. ‘Daphne was turned into a tree to save her from Apollo’s lust.’

‘That’d be her problem not mine. Still, the blonde might be easier to run down. Less speed on her by the look of it.’

‘If you must be a fool, do not get caught while you are with my legion,’ Hadrian kept his voice low, so that even Ephippus could not hear, but made his tone as menacing as possible. Piso was not required to like him, and what mattered was that he obeyed.

‘My lord,’ Piso said, giving that familiar frown of earnest concentration.

Ephippus was drawing his attention to the breakwaters once again, explaining matters Hadrian already understood, but it was better to turn to this. Yet something Piso had said had let him see clearer than before, and a name for Claudia came to mind and would not go, seeming less absurd with every moment – amazon. He laughed at the thought, and still it was there, like the red hair, utterly absurd if all someone saw was the chattering, rather silly young woman.

After heading back under another arch they were to row to the far bank and stay in the fort at Dobreta for the night. The troops who were to accompany him had been ferried across the Ister during the day, along with the baggage, and all the impedimenta brought by the ladies. He could see the last load being carried across. As they came out from under the bridge, he saw the top of Dobreta’s new amphitheatre. Pontes already had one, and it was surprising how swiftly these garrisons were developing into substantial towns. When the bridge was finished they were bound to grow even more.