A Body in the Bathhouse by Lindsey Davis

Author:Lindsey Davis [DAVIS, LINDSEY]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3, mobi
ISBN: 9780446556477
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Published: 2009-02-27T13:00:00+00:00

Verovolcus saw me riding off. I had selected a small pony, thinking Alla would be riding it. My boots were almost scuffing the dust. Verovolcus burst out laughing. I was causing happiness all around today. I just grinned feebly. We Romans are never keen on horseflesh. I was perfectly happy knowing I could apply a brake by just putting my feet on the ground.

I hit Noviomagus about midday. It seemed distinctly quiet. Maybe this was not the best time. Either I had missed the busy hour—or else there never was one.

I had been here when we first landed, but was then exhausted and disoriented after the weeks of travel. This was my first real chance to look around. It really was a new town. I already knew that the kingdom of the Atrebates had had to restore its fortunes when Togidubnus took over. Prior to his reinstatement at the Roman invasion, fierce Catuvellauni from the north had pushed in and raided the territory of this coastal tribe, nibbling into their farmland until they were squeezed back right against the salty inlets. The Romans rewarded Togidubnus for his support with the gift of increased tribal areas. He called this “the Kingdom,” as if other British tribes and their royalty did not count.

At that time, he must have adopted a new tribal capital. He had to build it too—but then he did love building. Being Romanized himself, he had probably found it natural to use the legionnaires’ supply base as his starting point. So the “New marketplace of the Kingdom” lay here, part enclosed by the curve of a small river, a little way inland. Perhaps abandoning the old settlement (somewhere on the coast?) had symbolized the King’s affinity with the new way of life that would come with Britain’s status as part of the Roman Empire. Perhaps the old settlement just fell into the sea.

Noviomagus showed how flimsy Romanization was. I knew there were towns that had developed from military forts, often with legionary veterans forming the main body of citizenship. Queen Boudicca burned several, but they had been rebuilt now. They were utterly provincial, though solid and thriving. Unlike them, Noviomagus Regnensis had barely acquired any decent masonry properties or a population worth counting. Even though it was the headquarters of the most loyal British leader, this was still backwoods country. Wattle and daub remained the building style in the narrow streets, where only a few house dwellers and businesses had so far ventured.

Main roads came in from Venta, Calleva, and Londinium. At a central point, they met the inbound track used by market traders. The crossroad had a large graveled area that masqueraded as a forum. There was no evidence of use for democratic purposes, or even for gossip. It did provide stalls for selling pensionable turnips and pallid spring greens. There were a couple of dark little temples, a piss-poor set of baths, a faded sign to the out-of-town amphitheater and short row of brooch shops producing ethnic enamelware.

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