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him.’
    ‘And no one else knows that he’s there?’
    Sabinus shook his head. ‘So, are you going to tell me what this is about?’
    Vespasian shrugged and placed his cup down on the desk between them. ‘As I told you, I’m doing a favour.’
    ‘Who for?’
    ‘Domitilla’s future husband, Quintus Petillius Cerialis.’
    ‘Cerialis?’
    ‘Well, his older brother, actually.’
    ‘Caesius Nasica? Wasn’t he the one who defeated and captured Venutius in the first place with the Ninth Hispana? If he had him then why didn’t he ask him anything he wanted to know in Britannia rather than send him all the way to Rome? I’m sure they’ve got plenty of hairy beasts that are only too happy to rip chunks out of people there.’
    ‘I’m sure they have, and worse, as we both know. But the new Governor of Britannia wanted Nasica to get Venutius away from the province as soon as he could because he knew that Cartimandua would find a way to murder her former husband, even if he were kept in secure custody. She’s a woman who will never relent until she’s had her way.’
    ‘Why worry about her killing him?’
    ‘Because without him Governor Paulinus would have nothing to threaten Cartimandua with: if she doesn’t behave herself then he can replace her with an equally legitimate king.’
    ‘Even though Venutius has already rebelled once and now has a hunk of muscle missing from his chest and so would probably be looking out for revenge and therefore the first thing that he’d likely do as king is rebel again?’
    ‘Even then, because it won’t come to that as Cartimandua wouldn’t dare call his bluff for fear of actually losing her power. Don’t forget that, at present, Britannia is not viable as a province. It costs us far more to keep it pacified than what we claw back through taxes and it’s not even half conquered yet. We’ve got to keep as many tribes as we can subdued, by whatever means possible, in order to stand a better chance of defeating the others one by one and thus making the province feasible. There are certain people who feel that we should pull out of Britannia altogether for the financial good of the rest of the Empire; however, another ignominious retreat like that, a mere fifty years after the withdrawal from Germania Magna having been defeated by Arminius in the Teutoburg Forest, might give encouragement to other disaffected areas. Judaea springs to mind, Pannonia is often restless and there always seem to be disturbances in northern Hispania. If we still want to have an empire in fifty years’ time then, however misguided the original invasion was, we can’t afford to lose Britannia.’
    ‘Indeed; I understand. We keep Venutius safe in Rome as a guarantee that the Brigantes don’t cause any trouble whilst Paulinus struggles on with the rest of the conquest and Rome isn’t forced into a humiliating retreat with dangerous repercussions. But why the secrecy? It sounds to me as if you’re helping Paulinus and Nasica formulate imperial policy without reference to the Emperor; and even though Nero takes very little interest in policy unless it concerns the filling of his treasury or the boosting of his vanity, what you’re doing is dangerous.’
    Vespasian tapped the side of his forehead with his forefinger and leant across the desk, the flickering lamplight playing in his eyes and warping the shadows on his face. ‘Information, Sabinus; information buys patronage and Paulinus wanted to know something. We’ve now found out where Venutius’ money came from, which is something that we wouldn’t have been able to do if he was passed on immediately to the Emperor because Seneca would have intervened to protect his reputation. I can convey that information to Nasica, who will in turn tell Paulinus who will then have leverage enough over Seneca to ensure that he doesn’t have to pay a massive bribe if he desires another lucrative position after Britannia. Although how he suspected that the