Hamedes nodded. ‘He told the priest that he was acting under the orders of the governor at Alexandria. The officer announced that a new edict had been issued confiscating all the gold and silver held in the temples. He demanded that the high priest show him where our vault is. The high priest refused. He was angry. He told the officer that the temple was sacred ground and that the Romans were defiling it. He ordered the officer to take his men and withdraw. Instead the officer told his men to bring him one of the junior priests. Then he drew his sword and beheaded the man. He asked the high priest where the vault was again, and killed another man when he did not get a reply. He continued killing us, one by one, until finally the high priest spoke. He cursed the Roman, then took him to the vault. The Romans made four of us carry the caskets of gold and silver coin to his ship. Then, when we had finished, he began to kill the rest, starting with the high priest.’ Hamedes paused, and when he spoke again there was a tremor in his voice. ‘I saw the blood run down the steps and into the Nile . . .’

‘Did you try to escape?’ asked Cato. ‘Did you hide perhaps?’

‘No. I was too scared to move. I think we all were. Before I realised it, I was the last one alive. He came close to me, closer than we are now, and stared at me in silence for a while. I was sure that he would kill me, so I turned to the west to offer one final prayer to Ra, most wise and merciful—’

‘Yes, thank you,’ Macro interrupted. ‘I think we can take that as read. Get on with it.’

Hamedes glared briefly at Macro. ‘I prayed, then he grabbed my shoulder and pulled me round to face him. He said that Rome had had enough of the insolence of our priests. He said that the Emperor had decreed that it was time for the old religions to be erased. He told me that I had been spared so that I might spread the message. The officer said that I was to remember his name, and that he was acting according to the orders of your Emperor, Claudius.’

‘Most wise and merciful,’ Macro muttered, and shook his head apologetically as Cato frowned at him.

Cato turned back and fixed the priest with a steady eye. ‘And what was the name of this officer?’

‘As I told your scribe,’ Hamedes said to Petronius and then nodded towards the corner. ‘He said he was a prefect. Prefect Quintus Licinius Cato.’

‘Are you certain?’

‘Yes. He made me repeat it.’

‘And then?’