‘You all right, sir?’

Ferox gasped for breath and nodded as he was helped away. Sabinus was there, and more men milling around. ‘Get them to work,’ he just managed to say. ‘Sabinus, take a dozen more men and all the equipment you have and tear down that barrack block. Julius, you help the legatus with the granary.’ He stood up, pulling free and waving them away. ‘I’m fine. Now go!’

He doubled up, panting for breath, and heard the roaring as the second granary was devoured and some of the roof collapsed in a great flurry of sparks. Looking past it, he could see a wide stretch of bare rafters where the men were yanking off as many of the shingles as they could. That reminded him and he headed off to make sure that they were not simply building a bridge for the flames. He was relieved when he reached the alleyway to see that men were already clearing it of the tiles and other debris pushed out as men hammered and hacked at the side wall. There were great gaps in this already, and another team was fastening hooks around one of the timber uprights, while a dozen others waited at the ropes to pull it down.

‘All clear,’ a deep voice shouted from inside.

‘All clear,’ a man answered.

‘Then one, two, three, pull!’

Ferox joined the men on the ropes as they hauled. The rope took the strain, and men grunted as they used all their strength without shifting the timber again.

‘Again! One, two, three!’ Two more men added their weight and at last there was the slightest of movements.

‘Nearly there, boys.’ Hadrian joined them, and Ferox realised that he had been the one giving the orders. ‘One more time. One, two, three, heave!’ The timber cracked and with a jerk they almost fell as the top half pulled away from the rest.

‘Come on, we’re winning.’ They dragged again and pulled the timber free. ‘Get the axes.’ The legatus of I Minervia seemed to be enjoying himself, and Ferox noticed for the first time that he was wearing delicate sandals, suitable for dining, but not for demolition. ‘We’ll be fine,’ Hadrian told the centurion. ‘You check on the others.’

‘Sir.’ The alley was fiercely hot as the fire spread throughout the second granary and he wondered whether the firebreak would work. The third building was one of the ones packed with artillery, which meant plenty of wood, ropes and grease to burn if the fire got a hold. He was pleased to see that they had already started to pull down the end of the barrack block opposite the second granary, while the one opposite the first was now a ruin. Barracks always tended to be less sturdily built than the towering granaries, whose raised floors only seemed to fuel the fires once they started.

Something fell onto the top of his head. He stared up at the clouds and another drop of rainwater splashed onto his chin. More came, pattering all around him.