Avenger of Rome Read Online Free PDF

the compliment as his due. ‘Thank you, sir. And it’s almost true. My father was legate of the Fifteenth Primigenia and later the Eighth Augusta, so my brother and I grew up in military headquarters on the Rhenus and in Moesia. We loved him, of course, but he was a man of little imagination and our education was limited to basics such as grammar and rhetoric. He was very insistent that we should be self-sufficient in every way, so we trained and exercised with the soldiers each day. The armourer first fashioned me a small sword when I was four years old, I believe, and apart from the occasional childhood illness I have held one every day from that to this.’
    He was interrupted as the curtains of the tent fell back and the lady Domitia Longina Corbulo took her place at the head of the table. She had exchanged red for blue, a long flowing gown that bared the unblemished flesh of her shoulders and was low enough to give a hint of shadow between her bound breasts. Dark, piercing eyes took in each of the guests in turn. She could only have been seventeen at most, but the way she carried herself reminded Valerius of an Egyptian princess, slim and lithe and at one with herself and her destiny. Confident, but not arrogant. Clear of mind and clear of purpose. Tulia, the freedwoman, emerged to sit on a second small bench. The younger of Domitia’s slave girls, a pretty dark-skinned child who looked about fourteen, led Aurelius to the longer bench on the hostess’s left before returning for Tiberius and the two young naval commanders and finally Valerius, who ended up sitting closest to Domitia in the place of honour to her right.
    The general’s daughter waited until they were settled before she spoke.
    ‘You must forgive me for the unorthodox seating arrangements, honoured guests, but this is an unorthodox occasion. I hope you will not find it too upsetting not to recline. I fear our couches are so narrow that we would all end up falling to the deck – that is what we call the floor of the ship, is it not, master Aurelius?’ She said it with a smile and Aurelius answered with an embarrassed grunt which Domitia gracefully accepted as agreement. She clapped her hands twice and the slave girls appeared with silver cups and a jug of wine. ‘I have taken the liberty of watering it, but only slightly, because it is very fine, and fine wine deserves not to be adulterated too much, do you not agree, tribune?’
    The question was directed at Valerius, but the wine and the ability to answer seemed to stick in his throat. It was a few seconds before he was able to speak and when he did the banality of his words horrified him. ‘I am afraid my acquaintance with wine of this quality is so fleeting as to deny me an opinion, my lady Domitia, but …’
    Tiberius saved him. ‘A Falernian, I think, brother Valerius,’ he interrupted. ‘And perhaps aged ten years, but I’m sure you would have outed it in the end. The sweetness is the key; nothing that came off those slopes could generate so much honey in less time.’
    Valerius heard a snort of annoyance from the far end of the table.
    ‘I am afraid Tulia disapproves of our gathering,’ Domitia explained. ‘As she disapproves of much that I do. But surely it is not right to be confined to our quarters on an adventure such as this? It will be the first time in two years that I shall have seen my father. In any case, I wished to congratulate you on the condition of your ship, captain Aurelius. I had heard sea voyages were arduous and dangerous, but apart from Tulia’s constant complaining this has been most pleasant.’ Aurelius bowed his shaggy head. ‘May I ask how long it will be before we reach Antioch?’
    ‘We are at the mercy of the sea gods, lady,’ the sailor ventured. ‘But with good fortune we will reach Syria in just over a week. In a few days we will call in at Creta to resupply and take on cargo.’ He produced a rare smile. ‘Timber, olive oil and cloth will offset