I can see Privatus is raking it in."

Privatus hasn't even started," moaned Petronius. He wants to redevelop the whole bloody town. So tell us, Falco, was there any unacceptable pushing and shoving at this fire you witnessed?" I guessed he and Brunnus would like to collect evidence of bad behaviour to pressurise the vigiles management into ditching the builders as fire-fighters.

Now Lucius, old pal, if you're so keen to jump out of bed with Privatus, why did you ever agree to be put up here in his house?"

Rubella." Rubella was the tribune of the Fourth Cohort, Petro's chief. Rubella knew that Petronius Longus was a damn good officer, but suspected him of subtle insubordination. Rubella would not usually provide letters of introduction.

Rubella's a joke to you!" Petronius pretended to have a nervous tic, brought on by stress due to mention of his senior officer. But then he said, Have to admit, he fixed me up very nicely."

What's he up to?"

Official initiative to improve relations with the builders. Rubella asked me to fraternise."

So where have you been fixed up to socialise?" I asked, turning to Brunnus.

We're not that fraternal. I have to rough it at the station house." There was a pause, during which we all fraternised mentally with the wealthy Privatus by swigging more of his fine wine. Go on, Falco what upset you about the bastards on fire duty?"

Well, be fair; they were rough lads and it was an emergency situation."

Being rough was justified?"

All they really did was jostle the donkey Gaius was riding." Petro and Brunnus looked at one another and laughed. Jointly they decided that this was acceptable. to find Gaius Baebius in your way counted as provocation. The vigiles would probably have shoved his donkey backwards all the way to the Marine Gate," scoffed Petro.

With Gaius Baebius tied upside down under it," elaborated Brunnus. Petronius had gone quiet, watching me. You think we need to watch those builders, Falco?"

I do." We let the subject drop. r

The naval man was older than I expected, a white-haired, fussily dressed type, with a meticulous way of speaking. He looked like a freedman who had previously worked as the Emperor's wardrobe master. when the Emperor was not the old soldier Vespasian, but one of the dissipated young divinities, Nero or Caligula, who liked incest and murder. The marine came laden with hostess-gifts to beg forgiveness for his late arrival; he carried in a whole armful of garlands for our womenfolk, who were unimpressed.

Charming," I murmured to Petro, who grumbled back under his breath. Caninus was the sea biscuit's name. We were not surprised that a contact recommended by Brunnus turned out to be a liability. Caninus obviously arrived hours late everywhere he went and believed a few blossoms would absolve him. Maia was barely polite as she passed the floral gifts straight to a slave; Junia sneezed loudly; Helena had a defiant glint. Only the children fell screaming with excitement on the long streamers of roses, which would be torn apart in moments. At last we could eat.

I hope the cook can find you something that's still warm," Maia called after us sarcastically.

Your sister's a dour piece!" observed Caninus, too loudly.

Bit of a drink habit," Petronius lied, in a more cautious undertone.

Try bringing her a half-amphora of Falernian next time…" Unfortunately for him, Maia had not disappeared yet, but was leaning on a faux marble column with a purse-lipped intensity that reminded me of our mother as she overheard the libel. It was a good dinner. I let Petro enjoy his food without telling him what trouble from my sister lay ahead. When the slaves removed the serving tables after three elegant courses, we signalled that we would pour our own wine now; they left us plenty, being well trained from times when the builders" guild settled down for a long night discussing measured rates for waterproof concrete and how to fix the voting for the next guild elections.

We hear you're a pirate specialist." Petro was hoping to pick Caninus" brains, then shed him. No such luck; he liked to talk too much.

Oh I'm your man!" Caninus intoned, flinging his right arm madly towards the ornate figured plasterwork of the ceiling and its coving above, like some slurred orator in the afternoon court session. He was left handed. I noticed that. He kept his left hand clamped firmly round his goblet, so the brimming wine barely rippled, despite the frenetic posing. My physical trainer, Glaucus, was a devotee of keeping your main body still while exercising legs and arms until your eyes watered; he would have loved Caninus.

Naturally, it depends how you look at it," Caninus raved. Let us land and beat up the locals. you are a pirate; I am a heroic warrior with expansionist pretensions on behalf of my city-state… Goes back at least to Athens."

The Greeks. Great seafarers," Petro agreed. From him this was no compliment. Caninus seemed not to notice. Piracy was the fast alternative to diplomacy. Same with the damned islands. Rhodes, Crete, Delos Delos in particular, nothing more than enormous free markets where plunderers could sell off their booty, no questions asked. Think of the Delos bloody slave market, ten thousand souls shifted daily, in peacetime or war. They say prisoners are sold as soon as a captain unloads them, and nobody asks were these once free men and women, who never ought to be in chains."

Still?" I managed to get in.

Still? What do you mean still, Falco? Has some joker told you the slave trade ever stopped?"

No, Rome's enormous appetite for slaves has kept the Delos market going."

With donkey bells on!"

Tingaling! I meant, are pirates still the slave merchants who supply the bodies?"

Who else?" Caninus slammed down his cup. He could do this in safety because it was now empty. Brunnus, who had introduced him to us, was starting to look nervous at the man's capacity. At least seeing Brunnus sweat made the evening worth while. We have the Pax Romana, Falco. No war, no prisoners of war." To save his host's wine cellar Petronius tried ignoring the empty goblet, so Caninus poured his own. In fairness, he was not selfish; he poured for all the rest of us too. Drink up, young man," the nautical lush chivvied Petro, as if to a novice. Fortunately my old drinking partner could pretend to be tolerant.

Tell us more," I croaked, although I was now so drunk I had lost interest in research. Caninus obliged happily, like some awful philosopher groaning into the next part of a three-hour lecture. Let us have some definitions. piracy, characteristics of

We can send out for a slate if you need to do diagrams." Brunnus stopped taking this seriously. Caninus ignored him. Risk; violence; plunder; death. The four pillars of organised sea theft. Death is the best one, for your average sea thief. Raids on land, setting on merchant ships, they all involve robbery with violence and part of the thrill is He stopped himself, puzzled that he could have overlooked a vital element. Thrill… Risk, thrill, violence, plunder, death, the five pillars." Brunnus had a lamp table beside him, on which he carefully arranged three apples, a fig and a half-eaten hard-boiled egg to represent the crucial quincunx. Quincunx was his word, and I was frankly surprised that he knew it, or was capable of summoning it from his bleared brain.

Especially death," intoned Petronius. He was lying on his back on the dining couch he shared with me, inspecting the ceiling. Petro's dough-coloured tunic with the rope patterned braid, his favourite off duty wear, had crumpled around the armpits. He had a glazed expression that I had not seen since our last night in Britain, the night we left the army. A story in itself. I felt sick. I told myself it would pass.