(Lands of the Silures, Britannia [modern southeast Wales], Dies Lunae, Kal. Ian. DCCCVI A.V.C. [Monday, 1^st January 53 AD])

I was for the second night running sitting in the biggest roundhouse I had ever seen in my life. The construction was so large that I genuinely wondered how the thatched roof, which had a hole in the middle to allow smoke from the central fire to escape, managed not to collapse on top of me and the others present.

I was far from alone in the roundhouse, which belonged to the King of the Silures tribe. Also sitting cross-legged on the matted floor, in a large circle surrounding the warming central fire, were the host and his allies, the chieftains of the Catuvellauni and Dobunii, respectively Arviragus and Eisu, and other local Britannian notables. Additionally present were Aulus Didius Gallus and his escorting decurion, both of whom had been allowed to retain their weapons, plus Gaius, Hylas and Agricola.

Agricola was sitting to my left, whilst Gaius was on my right. On the other side of my beloved was Hylas, also known as Anted, with his father, King Eisu of the Dobunii, next to him.

The King of the Silures was hosting a sumptuous feast, prepared in another roundhouse and brought into ours by slaves, as slavery is sadly as much an institution in supposed barbarian Britannia as in civilised Rome. The food was washed down either with locally brewed beer or imported wine. The people inhabiting this part of the world might still be resisting Roman rule but they obviously had no objection to foreign viniculture.

Arviragus had never had much taste for dishonouring the previous day’s parley arrangements, which had been mainly promoted by his ally, Eisu of the Dobunii. The latter had joined with the Catuvellauni and Silures in resisting the Romans, who in response had beaten them in battle.

Eisu has escaped from the battlefield but not in the direction of his tribal capital, as the way had been cut off by the Romans. By the time that he did eventually return to the settlement by a lengthy circuitous route, the place had been destroyed by the enemy. His first wife had also been killed and his young son by her, Anted, had been captured, enslaved and sent to Rome.

The Romans went on to destroy many Dobunii hillforts and other settlements, in the process massacring or enslaving many of the inhabitants. Given such personal and tribal loss, Eisu rather naturally chose to continue his resistance with a few equally vengeful tribal followers in order to try somehow to exact retribution. However, most of the survivors amongst his people chose to elect other leaders who were prepared to accept the suzerainty of the invaders in return for being allowed to resettle their lands.

Given such circumstances, Eisu’s ready inclination to dishonour the parley conditions agreed with Aulus Didius Gallus came rather easily, as did his desire to assassinate the new Roman governor of Britannia. However, he had been overruled regarding the speedy killing of the Proconsul by Arviragus, who believed that initially capturing him instead would reap better rewards.

The unexpected discovery by Eisu of his long-lost son amongst the Roman gubernatorial party had then caused both Kings to terminate their original treacherous intentions, helped to do so by not only Hylas’ presence but also the boy’s stinging criticism of their planned action. The challenge to their honour by the 10 year-old Dobunii prince had caused a rapid rethink and reversal of strategy.

Arviragus had actually even diplomatically apologised to Aulus Didius Gallus for arriving in force. The King then invited the Governor, who was now quickly recovering from the shock of falling into a potentially deadly trap, to conduct talks in the more comfortable surrounds of a principal Silures settlement on the other side of the Sabrina Fluvius [modern River Severn].

Aulus Didius Gallus accepted. I remain unsure whether he did so because he felt that he had no choice, given the strength of Arviragus’ contingent of warriors, or because he genuinely accepted that there was no longer any danger.

The journey to the large fortified Silures’ hilltop settlement took several hours and included being ferried with our horses across the Sabrina Fluvius. When we eventually reached the place, Aulus Didius Gallus and his party, including Hylas, Gaius, Agricola and me, were then treated with not only respect but also great hospitality. A feast was arranged and decent sleeping accommodation was provided for us in comfortable roundhouses.

As I subsequently slept overnight with Gaius under a warm assortment of furs and hides, I commented to my beloved "This brings back memories of my early boyhood." Thoughts of my late father, mother, brother and sister, with whom I had shared the family roundhouse in my home village, then induced some melancholy, which the young man from Volsinii dispelled by holding me tightly and comforting me with words expressing how much he loved me.

Whilst Agricola slumbered nearby, soundly but alone, as Hylas was sleeping overnight in his own father’s allocated roundhouse, I naturally later provided Gaius with his due reward for comforting me. We subsequently awoke at dawn, by which time the central fire in our own accommodation now just consisted of glowing embers.

"Feliz ano novo!" I whispered to Gaius, who returned the greeting. We then celebrated the New Year by again making love before the day now scheduled for the serious peace negotiations began in earnest.

Later, on the evening of New Year’s Day, I attended another feast in the huge roundhouse. On this occasion, the event celebrated not only our arrival but also the successful conclusion of talks between the Kings of the Catuvellauni, Dobunii and Silures on one side and the new Roman Governor of Britannia, Aulus Didius Gallus, on the other.

I am happy to be able to say, without hopefully being too boastful, that I contributed significantly to the success. Aulus Didius Gallus now did listen to my advice, which was regularly whispered to him during the negotiations. The Governor appeared to have learnt a lesson from the events of the day before, namely that recommendations based on local knowledge were worthy of serious consideration during the talks. He also treated me much more amicably and with far greater respect than previously.

The revised proconsular attitude could be considered by sceptics to be attributable to a hope on the part of Aulus Didius Gallus that I would not report his debility of the day before back to Rome. However, I eventually came to a different conclusion, namely that he had genuinely learnt the lesson about the need seriously to weigh insightful advice.

I later discovered that Aulus Didius Gallus was actually no coward. He already had a distinguished military record, for brave and victorious campaigning in Chersonesus Taurica [modern Crimea], and he would prove to be a competent Governor of Britannia.

I therefore subsequently concluded that Aulus Didius Gallus’ feebleness on New Year’s Eve had been attributable not to cowardice but to trauma emanating from the fact that he had judged a situation so badly. He had apparently never previously been so wrong whilst ignored advice had been so right. His temporary paralysis had resulted from the shock of this realisation and the resultant grave danger in which he had placed not so much himself but instead others and his mission.

Now, Aulus Didius Gallus’ first mission in Britannia had been at least partially achieved. The basic philosophies of the two sides relating to the actual Roman presence in my homeland were too divergent to achieve a permanent settlement. However, a form of temporary truce had been agreed to give both parties time to recover from earlier hostilities and reflect on the future.

Meanwhile, insurgent Catuvellauni and Dubonii would be allowed to return unmolested to their lands if they did so peacefully and accepted Roman suzerainty, which quite a few did. No attempt to capture the others would be made if they remained in Silures territory, from which the legions would keep clear for now.

I am sure that both sides appreciated that the truce represented temporary not permanent peace between them and that hostilities would probably sometime restart. However, a breathing space had been created, during which those who were now weary of warfare and homesick would be afforded the opportunity to retreat honourably from the conflict back to their lands.

As I chewed some venison at the celebratory feast, I listened to some of the conversations around me. In one, I heard Gaius smilingly comment to the boy whose Roman slave name was Hylas, which is derived from the mythical young beloved of Heracles, "You didn’t tell me that you were really a prince of the Dobunni called ‘Anted’." "I didn’t believe that my background in Britannia was relevant to my situation in Rome," the 10 year-old answered, rather maturely for his tender age, "and anyway my memory of my early life is very faint."

"You recognised your father easily enough," Gaius retorted. "Yes, I did," Hylas remarked in reply, "but probably only because my recall of him going to fight the Romans in his chariot just before my capture was the most distinct remembrance of my early boyhood in my mind."

"Well, my boy," Gaius asked, not entirely without seriousness, "what am I to call you now: ‘Hylas’, ‘Anted’ or ‘Your Majesty’?" The 10 year-old’s extremely pretty face blushed at the question.

Nevertheless, the boy still managed to answer "I’m not now Anted, a Dobunni prince, but Hylas, your slave, and that’s what I want to remain." "I thank you for your loyal devotion," Gaius replied with sincerity, "but I don’t believe that your father, King Eisu, will agree and, as he and his warriors and allies outnumber us Romans in this settlement by about a thousand to one, I don’t propose to argue the point with him!"

"Coward!" Hylas joked before retorting with clear conviction "Anyway, your timidity is irrelevant, as I think that my father will agree with me." "Why are you so sure?" Gaius enquired.

"Because a eunuch is no good to him as a son," Hylas advised in a whisper, as his father was sitting to his right, "or to the Dobunni as a prince!"

(Lands of the Germanic Bructeri tribe, unconquered Germania, east of the River Rhenus [modern North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany], same time)

Despite being dusk, large crowds of excited men, women and children had gathered in the centre of the Bructeri settlement to greet the warriors, who were returning with another interesting captive from the much-hated Romans.

The now rather dishevelled and dirty Pliny was, like Axenius over 2 months previously, removed from his very uncomfortable and undignified position on his horse. Still with his hands bound and mouth gagged, he was then compelled by spears prodding his rear to walk through the crowds towards a tall wooden tower that dominated the settlement.

The outrageously bearded leader of the warrior band that had captured Pliny then shouted up at the tower once he and his men and captive had arrived in front of the edifice. In response, a beautiful and immaculately presented 16 year-old girl appeared at one of the upper windows.

Soon afterwards, Pliny found himself lying flat downwards in an act of prostration on the compressed soil comprising the ground inside the lower tower. He then experienced the further profanity of being dragged to his feet by his hair.

Pliny, however, was not now feeling humiliated, frightened or anguished. Another intense emotion was instead pervading his form, which he could not express verbally because of his effective gag.

Pliny was currently experiencing immense relief because standing next to the young priestess, as she examined the latest captive, was a person who had accompanied the girl down the stairs from the upper floor of the tower.

The person concerned was Axenius.

(Lands of the Silures, Britannia [modern southeast Wales], same time)

Hylas whispered to Gaius that his father had originally gone berserk on the previous evening when they had been alone together after his son had confessed to him that he had been castrated in Rome. Eisu had also stood up in the roundhouse in which they were conversing and collected his weaponry and armour.

"I’ll kill every Roman here," Eisu swore vengefully in rage, as he unsheathed his long sword, "and every one in Britannia too for doing that to my son!" However, his acute anger was fortunately then soothed by Hylas.

"No, father," Hylas had begged, "please don’t vent your fury against the Romans here." The boy then went on both in conversation to embarrass the inherently very modest Gaius with his next words but, as he truly meant them, he did not care.

"Gaius Musonius Rufus," Hylas had advised his father with clear conviction, "is not only my master but also one of the best people you’re ever likely to meet. He saved me from abuse and has often asked me since to become his adopted son, which I’ve declined because I want to continue to be his servant."

"Meanwhile," Hylas had added, "Gaius Musonius Rufus’ fellow Roman, young Gnaeus Julius Agricola, is my close friend and murdering Aulus Didius Gallus would be both unjust and unwise. He had no connection with my castration and any assassination of the new Governor surely would destructively set the full might of the legions once more against our people."

"Please calm, father," Hylas continued, "for what is done is done. Vengeance reeked against innocent people will not bring either justice or satisfaction!"

Despite such early wise words from the sweet rosy lips of Hylas, who was again demonstrating maturity beyond his tender age, Eisu needed many more before he was prepared to cool down and accept the boy’s arguments. However, the Dobunii King eventually did regain his composure, albeit at the expense of more tears, shed as he again hugged his son.

Eisu even finally accepted Hylas’ assertion that the boy should eventually return to Rome with Gaius. "My place is at my master’s side there," the 10 year-old had argued, whilst his father still hugged him tightly, "or anywhere else he goes."

"I’ll always love you father," Hylas had contended, "but I’m now thoroughly Romanised. I know only Roman ways, as I can recall virtually nothing about my early life amongst the Dobunii. I’ve even forgotten the language of our tribe, hence our need to converse in Latin. You will also realise that I’ll be stigmatised amongst our people because of my castration."

"You’ve told me that my mother was killed during the Roman invasion," Hylas reasoned, "and that I was her only child. Other than you, I therefore have no real connections here, and by your second wife you have other sons, as well as daughters, who can someday inherit your responsibilities. In the circumstances, it would be best if I returned with Gaius to Rome, which is now my true home."

Hylas recognised that his father had surrendered to the boy’s argument when, whilst still hugging his son, the man’s normally strong shoulders slumped in desperate despair, whilst his grip became even stronger and his tears more profound.

(Lands of the Germanic Bructeri tribe, unconquered Germania, east of the River Rhenus [modern North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany], same time)

Axenius, mischievously displaying an inscrutable expression, whispered something into Veleda’s young ear whilst the gagged and frustrated Pliny watched. The girl’s own face immediately broke into a broad smile and she viewed the latest captive with increased interest.

Over 2 months previously, Axenius’ life had been saved because the humiliating shredding and stripping of his clothes had revealed him to be a eunuch. This discovery had given his warrior captors much amusement, at least until their holiest priestess and prophetess, Veleda, had silenced their chortling.

Veleda did so by declaring Axenius to be a gift of the gods, sent to serve her. She added that no males were allowed to be her acolytes and venture into the upper reaches of her sacred tower but that eunuchs could not be described as true men or boys.

Axenius might have been deeply insulted by Veleda’s insult, if the slur had not saved his life. He learnt shortly afterwards from the girl herself that the alternative to serving the young priestess was being fatally impaled.

Axenius was able to communicate with Veleda because, in addition to losing his gag, he discovered that she could speak the language of the Chatti, to whom she was also a cherished priestess and prophetess. The girl was in turn honoured to find out that her proposed new acolyte was the grandson of the great Arminius, scourge of the Romans.

Veleda could not, of course, now insist that the grandson of the revered Arminius should become her permanent acolyte. However, she did secure the young eunuch’s agreement to grant her the honour of serving her temporarily until after an impending important festival celebrating the dark Germanic gods.

Axenius was too relieved and grateful at his surprise rescue from being sacrificed horribly to deny Veleda her wish. The current skeleton impaled on a stake in a nearby clearing in the forest, which was that of another unfortunate traveller, a Romanised Gaul who had been captured a few months earlier, was gruesome evidence of what might have befallen him.

The same fate would have befallen Pliny too if Veleda, at Axenius’ whispered behest, had not intervened. "Release the captive from his bondage," the young priestess had commanded of the Bructeri warriors in their local tongue. "He might be a Roman legionary officer," she added in explanation, "but he’s also a friend of Arminius’ grandson."

"Our gods," Veleda suggested, "will not want a friend of Arminius’ grandson to be sacrificed to them!" The disappointed warriors reluctantly but immediately complied with their holiest priestess’ command.

The warriors had been looking forward to impaling Pliny.

(Circus Maximus, Rome, next day)

Nero watched with apprehension as the four-horse chariot careered at great speed around the huge oval hippodrome of the Circus Maximus. However, he was virtually alone as a spectator.

Aulus Plautius sat next to him in the temple-like Imperial box but otherwise the pulvinar was deserted, as too were the impressive ranks of banked terracing all around. They were the only people in the Circus Maximus apart from a few slaves performing maintenance work and the charioteer and his trainer and groom. The latter pair had positioned themselves amongst the statues and other ornate decorative structures on the central spina, wanting to view the practice run from as close as possible, partly to be readily at hand in the advent of an accident.

Suffuscus, however, thankfully suffered no accident, as he raced round the oval circuit, handling his four horses, which included Bucephalus, with commendable skill and aplomb for a 15 year-old boy. Dressed in the colours of a member of the Greens racing factiones, he proved particularly adept at speeding round the dangerously tight bends at the turning posts, or ‘metae’, located at each end of the spina.

Nevertheless, the four concerned spectators only felt able to shed their worries when Suffuscus eventually successfully concluded the seven anti-clockwise laps of the circuit that would have constituted a normal competitive race and brought his horses to a halt. The boy’s competent trainer, who was naturally from the Greens, subsequently commented to Aulus Plautius that his adopted son appeared to be a natural charioteer.

Aulus Plautius, however, had aspired to hear the opposite and so be able to put an early end to Suffuscus’ dangerous fancy. He was instead therefore compelled to place his hopes on the notion that his adopted son would not actually want to perform competitive racing.

Such a pastime would be entirely inappropriate for a boy of Suffuscus’ patrician class to become involved. However, Aulus Plautius did also experience a fearful feeling that his determined adopted son would wish someday to defy snooty convention.