‘He struck me on the head with the guard of his sword. I was knocked cold. When I came to I was lying on the bodies of the other priests, my robes soaked in their blood. The Romans had gone. They had set fire to the priest’s quarters, and they had filled the temple with wood, palm leaves and oil and set it alight. The paintings on the wall, the sacred records of the temple, all burned away. It blazed right through the night and in the morning all that remained was a scorched hulk.’ Hamedes winced at the memory. ‘I was alone. The temple was gone. All that was left for me to do was come here and seek justice. That, or revenge. I swear, by all the gods of my people, that I will seek out and kill this Roman, this Prefect Cato.’

‘The man who attacked your temple is no Roman,’ Cato said firmly. ‘He is a slave, a fugitive, masquerading as a Roman. He has been murdering your people along the Egyptian coast for the best part of a month now.’

‘He was a Roman,’ Hamedes replied vehemently. ‘Do you expect me to believe that he isn’t? Were his men pretending to be Roman too? Was his ship pretending to be a Roman warship? What kind of fool do you take me for?’

‘The warship was real. And those were Roman uniforms he and his men were wearing. The man’s name is Ajax. He captured the ship and killed its crew. We have been pursuing him for some months now.’

Hamedes stared at Cato suspiciously. ‘I don’t believe you.’ Petronius nodded towards Cato. ‘Have you ever seen this officer before? Or the man sitting beside him?’

‘No.’

‘Be certain.’

‘I am sure of it. I have never met them until now.’

‘Then would it surprise you if I was to say that this man is Prefect Cato, and his companion is Centurion Macro?’

Hamedes shook his head. ‘What trickery is this?’

‘There’s no trickery,’ the governor told him. ‘Well, none here and now, at least. This man is Prefect Cato and what he says is the truth. The one who attacked your temple and butchered your companions was an imposter. He intends to provoke your people into rebellion. He aims to fill their hearts with a desire for revenge. And he has been succeeding admirably. Now you know the truth. I need you to help us, Hamedes.’

The Egyptian still looked bewildered and Petronius softened his voice. ‘You are a priest. Your people respect you and your word carries weight with them. I need you to tell them the truth. And not just them, but the Alexandrians as well.’

‘What do you propose, sir?’

‘I will summon the leaders of the merchants’ and shipowners’ guilds. I’ll give them an audience in the palace and you can tell them what you have learned here.’