In his mind’s eye he saw the wicked glitter of Zabda’s knife as he presented it to Lucia. Not many women killed themselves with a blade. Like slaves, they tended to use poison, or hang themselves. One summer, when Valens had been a child at the family villa on the Bay of Naples, a slave girl had drowned herself in the well. His mother had been upset, and not just by the loss of her property. She had been fond of the girl. The reaction of his father had been anger. He had fulminated against her selfishness. It would be an age before water could be drawn from the well. The foolish superstitions of the other slaves would make them reluctant ever to use it again. He had insisted repeatedly that the girl could have had no reason for the act, no reason whatsoever.

After the murder of his parents, the thought of taking his own life had occurred to Valens in the depths of his misery. Insane sects like the Christians might claim that pre-empting the will of the gods was a sin, but there were many sound Roman precedents. In the old days of the free republic falling on one’s sword had been honourable. Facing defeat, rather than endure the shame of being taken prisoner, many a soldier had turned his blade on himself. His initial attempt foiled by his friends, Cato the Younger had ripped out the stitches binding his wounds, and with bare hands had torn out his own innards. Even such agony had been better than the shame of being executed by Caesar, or, much worse, enduring the ignominy of being pardoned.

The rule of the Emperors had raised the rituals of self-inflicted death to the status of a cult. A condemned man invited his friends to a meal. Over the food he calmly discussed weighty and relevant issues, such as the immortality of the soul. After taking leave of his companions, with the same composed and cheerful demeanour, he retired to a bath. There a slave opened his veins. The steam and warm water were said to lessen the pain. Some would order the incisions temporarily bound up, so that they could dictate a short work of improving philosophy, before their lifeblood drained away.

Of course, such deaths were done for the family. If a man pre-empted trial and conviction, it was possible that the Emperor would not confiscate his estate. If you took your own life, your wife and children might not be reduced to destitution, might not be judged implicated in your real or imagined treason.