‘Bullshit. You think you are the first officer to make a mistake?’

‘Mistake is hardly the term I’d use for this.’ Cato waved a hand towards the casualties. ‘Bloodbath, more like.’

‘Shedding blood is our stock in trade,’ Macro responded. ‘When there’s a fight, soldiers get hurt and killed. That’s the way of it.’

‘But if men die needlessly, then their commander should be called to account.’

Macro puffed his cheeks in frustration. ‘For fuck’s sake, Cato, I’ve seen worse cock-ups. So have you. Sometimes a fight goes your way and sometimes it doesn’t. The enemy gets the better of every commander from time to time, even the very best of them. You have to accept that.’

‘So you agree that I failed my men.’

‘Sure, you screwed up,’ Macro said frankly.

‘Thanks . . .’

‘Cato, I respect you well enough to tell you the truth. If you don’t want to hear it then say so.’

‘I’m sorry. Speak on.’

‘All right.’ Macro collected his thoughts. ‘The truth is that you are a fine officer. As good as any I have met. I’ve watched you rise from optio, to centurion and now prefect. I’d wager you’ll go further still. You’ve got the brains for it, and the guts, and though you look like a long streak of piss, you’re as tough as old boots. But you lack something.’ Macro frowned as he tried to clarify his explanation. ‘Not experience - you’ve had plenty of that, no question about it. No, it’s something else . . . Perspective, perhaps. That sense a soldier has once he has served long enough to see generals come and go. Maybe you have been too successful. You’ve won promotion before you’ve developed the right temperament for the job, if you see what I mean. You need to learn to accept that making mistakes from time to time - failing - is part of the job. How a soldier copes with failure is every bit as important as how he deals with success.’ Macro smiled fondly. ‘Do you remember Centurion Bestia?’

Cato nodded as he recalled the scarred veteran in charge of training the recruits when Cato had joined the Second Legion nearly seven years before. Bestia had died during the invasion of Britannia, fatally wounded in an ambush.