They were all invited to dinner at the praetorium that evening, and with Claudia Severa visiting along with her husband, there was a determined effort to avoid serious talk. Sulpicia Lepidina wore a dark dress and Ferox hoped that this was not a bad omen for their journey. Yet the sight of her lifted his spirits, as did the ease with which she helped steer the conversation and involve him in it to a degree appropriate to his status without ever making him feel awkward. In the lamplight she seemed to glow, enriching them all merely by her presence, and he thought how strange it was that fully clothed she was far more arousing than the naked twins, for all their smooth beauty. He was disappointed that Cerialis did not ask his wife to play and sing for them. Instead, the prefect invited the men to bathe, apologising for the poor facilities.

‘My predecessor did not consider a proper bath necessary, and there was a limit to what could be done in the house.’ The timber praetorium did not lend itself to the underfloor and flue heating possible in a stone house, so the prefect had had a work party of his soldiers dig a circular pool reinforced with stone and lined with concrete, a deep shelf raised up from the floor so that bathers could sit and soak. A broad pipe brought heated water from a collection of big coppers hanging over open fires, and another pipe could be opened to let it drain. Ten people could cram into the pool, and with just five it was comfortable. Steam filled the air, but did not make the first shock of the hot water any less and Ferox let out a hiss and blew out. The others stared at him in amusement – the barbarian centurion reverting to type.

Once he was used to it, Ferox sat, arms outstretched on the lip of the pool, and let the warmth seep into him. He had last had a bath at Flora’s, and he could see that this was very similar, apart from inoffensive paintings of dolphins and other sea creatures on the plastered walls and ceiling. There were three slaves, and Cerialis insisted that they wait to be oiled and scraped clear rather than doing it for themselves.

‘There is a cold shower in the next room, for afterwards,’ he told them, but Ferox did not plan to use it. He felt drowsy and content and had forgotten how refreshing so simple a thing could be.

Two nights later they were at Coria, and were given several hours when the big bath-house outside the fort’s ramparts was set aside for their exclusive use.