'In the pitch of battle I hardly noticed the wound, just a dull burning. It wasn't until late that night when I went to deliver a message to Crassus that I passed clear out. They say I was as white as marble and didn't wake up for two days. Oh, but that was over ten years ago, I was just a boy, really – couldn't have been that much older than you,' he said, punching Eco on the shoulder.

Eco smiled back at him crookedly and curiously examined Mummius for more scars, of which there was no shortage. Tiny nicks and plugs were scattered all over his limbs and torso like badges, easily discernible where they interrupted the general hairiness of his flesh.

He gathered a towel about his waist and gestured for us to do likewise, then led us from the changing room back into the great domed vault with the circular pool. The day was beginning to cool and the steam rose in great clouds from the water, hissing and smelling strongly of sulphur.

'Apollonius!' Mummius smiled broadly and strode to the far side of the pool, where a young slave in a green tunic stood at the water's edge, obscured by the mist.

As we drew closer, I was impressed by the slave's extraordinary beauty. His hair was thick and almost blue-black, the colour of the sky on a moonless night. His eyes were a vibrant blue. His forehead, nose, cheeks, and chin were perfectly smooth and followed the serene proportions from which the Greeks defined perfection. His full, bow-shaped Lips seemed to hover on the edge of a smile. He was not tall, but beneath the loose folds of his tunic he clearly had an athlete's physique.

'Apollonius!' Mummius said again. He looked back at me over his shoulder. 'I shall begin with the hottest pool,' he announced, pointing at a door across the way, 'followed by a vigorous massage from Apollonius. And you?'