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Claudia wasn’t sure how to respond. She didn’t entirely disagree but the reality was not as simple.

‘I understand,’ she said instead. ‘I value your perspective.’

Greatness was strength, and greatness was protection. There were many powers who sought to usurp Rome’s position in the world; nations in which citizens enjoyed even fewer rights and endured even greater atrocities. Perhaps one day, the British would rule instead.

They passed through a lavish garden complex, paved in marble with trees and statues lined up in rows.

‘Would you have me imprisoned if I said I did not think there should be an emperor at all?’ asked Cassius.

‘Certainly not.’

‘Never was a fan, of the whole imperial thing.’

‘If democracy should rule Rome, all the better for it,’ she said.

‘But you…’ He gestured at her, confused. ‘You wear the crown. You sit on the throne.’

‘I cannot dismantle it all in my lifetime,’ she said. ‘Someone must turn the wheel, so we may all move forward, as we must.’

‘That is what they all tell themselves, I’m sure.’

Senators assembled in the curia nearby, and, other than one cordoned-off area at the scene of the crime, there was no sign that a famous murder had ever taken place.

‘I am not fool enough to think I could change your mind but I hope you will still be willing to help today, as agreed,’ she said.

‘I’m doing this as a favour to Gia, not for you or anyone else. I am doing it only because she asked me,’ said Cassius.

‘Understood,’ she said. ‘As Gia’s brother, you are welcome to stay here in the palace, whether you serve the empire or not. I am grateful for your assistance today, but I would not force you. You are family.’

‘No, Gia and I are family. You are a simply a beautiful stranger my sister met this summer past,’ he said. ‘And now she is your shield, swearing her life to protect you.’

It took Claudia a moment to acknowledge what he was saying.

‘You don’t approve,’ said Claudia plainly.

Cassius didn’t answer right away; she guessed that he was weighing up the benefits of lying versus telling the truth.

‘I came home to find my mother and brother dead, my city buried, and my baby sister serving the new ruler of Rome,’ he said. ‘How would you feel, if you were me?’

‘I see,’ she mused.

As they entered the theatre proper, the sound of the crowd surrounded them, smothering them. The noise hushed slightly at the sight of her arrival, as hundreds of eyes trailed them.

Claudia had sensed that Cassius had doubts about her, but she hadn’t expected him to speak so honestly.

‘I care for her too,’ she said.

‘Do you, though?’ he said, pulling a sceptical face. ‘What do you actually have in common?’

If only he knew.

She and Gia had mutually determined not to tell him the truth about their relationship, for his own protection, and theirs. Now, in this moment, she felt assured that it had been the right decision.

A considerable section of the crowd booed her entrance, their displeasure drowned out by the roaring of the all-woman Cult of Diana. Their adulation gave her strength, as always, even in the midst of this difficult conversation.

‘Is us being women in a man’s world not enough?’ she said.

‘There are plenty of noble women in Rome you could make your companion, if you’re so desperate for company. I’m sure you’d have much more to talk about. What do you and Gia even discuss together? Border treaties? Gladiator matches? The eruption?’