Severa said, 'Oh, it's the same everywhere. You should see the apartment blocks in Rome. Some of them are piled so high I swear they would fall over if they didn't lean against each other. But you've made good use of the space, Karus.'

One small corner room was a shrine. The guests inspected Karus's idols and tokens, most of them dedicated to his own household gods. But Brigonius recognised a statue of Fors Fortuna.

Severa said, 'A soldier's god.'

'I'm no soldier,' Karus said, patting his broad belly. 'But most of my clients are. This is still a soldiers' town, Severa. It does no harm to seek the blessing of their goddess.' He led his guests onward.

Brigonius touched the wall. The surface was plastered and painted white, but in places the plaster had chipped away to reveal plaited wood stuffed with mud and straw. He felt increasingly cramped in this small, dark space. It was even worse than the stone-walled forts he had to visit when dealing with the army in the north. Here the thin walls didn't block out the noise from the busy alley outside, or the food smells from the restaurant down below. Not only that, this was Karus's territory, and the fat lawyer seemed to fill the narrow rooms with his talk.

Lepidina took his arm. 'Are you all right? You're like a bear in a cage.'

'I'm fine,' he said stiffly.

'No, you're not.'

'It's just-look, it's so different for me.' He waved a hand, trying to find words. 'It's the way all the walls are flat, the edges straight, the corners square. And the space is sliced up for different purposes. You sleep over there, you work over here.'

Severa was interested. 'And is that different from how you live?'

He tried to describe the house he had grown up in and where he still lived, its open round space a map of the cycles of time.

Karus was dismissive. 'Well, polite people don't need to live like animals any more.'

Brigonius bunched his fists, but Severa touched his arm. 'Your grandfather no doubt lived in such a house, lawyer,' she admonished Karus.

Brigonius deliberately relaxed. Karus nodded, which would pass for an apology, and the moment was over.

Lepidina watched this with wide-eyed glee. Brigonius was sure she knew that on a deep level, if the men had come to blows, it would have been over her.

'And another thing,' Brigonius said, determined to keep the initiative. 'Where do you cook your food?'

Now Lepidina laughed. 'Nobody cooks for themselves, silly!'

'They don't?'

'You have a lot to learn.' She grabbed his hand and began to pull him to the door. 'Come on. I'm hungry. Let's go see the town.'

'Not me,' Severa said. 'I'm weary, and could do with a nap. You two go and explore.'

Karus said quickly, 'Oh, let's make it three!'

He and Brigonius glared at each other. The women watched them, Lepidina with unconcealed delight, and Severa with calculation.

Lepidina led the two men down the stairs to the counter of the restaurant beneath Karus's home. After being so subdued on the road, she seemed in her element now they were in a town.

'Let's leave my mother plenty of time for her "nap",' she said heavily.

Karus frowned. 'What do you mean?'

'Oh, come on, Karus! You know what a gambler she is. Within the hour she'll be slipping out to find a bookmaker, and arguing about the odds on the next chariot race. She thinks I don't know about it. But I don't say anything, not as long as she keeps winning…Brigonius, you want to know how we eat? Oh, I have no money. Karus-'

With an elaborate sigh he produced some coins for her, and she turned to the counter.

Brigonius and Karus stood stiffly side by side. Then, as one, they turned to each other.

'Look, Karus-'

'Brigonius, I didn't mean-'

They laughed, broke off, and Karus started again. 'It looks as if we're going to be working together, perhaps for years if all goes well. So we shouldn't let a gorgeous but silly girl lead us both around like two stallions on heat. I mean, it's not to say that I wouldn't-if she chose-to tell you the truth I think I prefer the mother, now I've met her-that proud bust of hers, and the way she walks -' He stumbled to a halt. 'Isn't she marvellous?'

'We should keep love and work apart,' Brigonius said firmly.

'Or at least we can try,' Karus murmured.

Lepidina returned with a handful of food. 'Here,' she said, handing some of it to Brigonius. 'You see? You don't have to cook for yourself, you buy!'

The food turned out to be a patty of ground pork, stuffed in the middle of a slab of bread. The meat was well-cooked and flavoured with onions. Brigonius took a bite. 'Might be better if it was beef.'

Karus said around a mouthful, 'Oh, Romans don't much like beef. Or mutton. Barbarian foods, they say.'

'The soldiers at Vindolanda eat plenty of it.'

'They're probably all provincials themselves.'

Already Brigonius had finished his meal. 'Is that it?'

'I'll buy you more later. Come on, let's go to the forum and do some shopping.' Lepidina took his hand-then, judiciously, Karus's too-and they walked along the street.

The roads were paved, with gutters running down either side; the stonework was good, Brigonius noted. Along with the people animals thronged the streets-chickens, pigs, and many dogs. This was still a town for farmers. Most of the buildings were wattle and daub, like Karus's apartment building, though one or two of the grander houses were built in stone. Most buildings were one-storey private houses, but some had their fronts opened out, like Karus's restaurant, to reveal workshops where pottery was thrown, iron worked, glass poured, cloth woven.

Some of the images on the walls were there to show you what kind of workshop or store this was: cartoon potters turned their wheels, women displayed gaudy jewellery, and the taverns were marked by fat, merry drinkers. Even the brothels had their insignia, stick figures in remarkably inventive postures that Brigonius tried not to stare at. The lettering on the walls sometimes told you who lived here or what they did. Some of it, rougher carvings, was more casual, prayers, insults, curses. And some of it, lauding the Reds, Blues and Yellows, baffled Brigonius altogether. Karus said it was to do with support of the main teams of charioteers in the races. The various factions worshipped their heroes and loathed each other, and rioted on race nights.

Outside one store stood a large pot into which a burly man was noisily pissing; steam rose up from the pot's neck.

Karus watched Brigonius's expression with amusement. 'This is a fuller's; he will use the urine he collects from passers-by to fix his dye. I don't cook in my apartment, and neither do I piss.'

Brigonius grunted, unimpressed. 'And who collects your shit?'

Karus grinned. 'Funny you should ask that.'

They came to a locked door fronting an enclosed hall. Karus produced a low-denomination coin and dropped it into a slot. He pulled levers on the lock mechanism until the coin was swallowed up, and with a satisfying clunk the lock came free.

Karus opened the door to reveal a latrine. Over two rows of holes in the floor people sat on wooden benches, men, women and children alike. Some read letters on bits of wood, others talked, some gambled over dice on the floor between them. One man was bending over to wipe his arse with a bit of sponge on a stick. There was a predictable stink, but it wasn't as bad as Brigonius might have thought-and then he heard a gurgle of water coming from beneath the holes.

'Ah,' he said. 'A stream runs beneath to take the shit away. Cunning.'

Karus shrugged. 'More likely the water is piped here from the river to the north. Public water supply, you see. You'd have to ask an engineer; I'm no expert.'