‘That seems sensible.’ Axiochus picks up a silver beauty-set from the desk and inserts a tiny spoon in his left ear. ‘So, what’s the problem?’

‘The first pair of builders I hired were supposedly reputable. They erected scaffolding and started to strengthen a wall in the garden that helps support the upper storey. But when the wall was only half-finished, they vanished. Apparently they’re now working for the Vettii.’

‘I hope you didn’t pay the full price up front.’

‘No, only the first instalment.’

‘And did you draw up a contract?’ Axiochus puts away the ear- scoop and chooses the toothpick from his beauty-set.

Amarantus hangs his head. ‘I meant to, but then things got so busy at the bar.’

Axiochus says something in Greek, which makes Amarantus lose his train of thought.

‘What?’

‘Festina lente.’ This time Axiochus says it in Latin as he picks his teeth. ‘More haste, less speed. One of Augustus’s favourite sayings…'

Amarantus nods. A fly buzzes in his ear and he swats it away. ‘The first builders left a small mountain of lime powder in one corner of the wine-garden …’ he begins.

‘Which you can use …’

‘Which I can use. And they left the scaffolding. Anyway, I managed to find another builder, a Greek named Diogenes. He lost everything in the quake and said he would do the work for a set of tools, plus room and board. But “board” turned out to be wine rather than food and it took him a month to finish walling up the wine-garden pillars.’

‘It sounds as if all you have to do now is block access to the upper floors. Have your tenants left?’

‘Yes, but …’ Amarantus nervously fingers his lucky amulet. ‘But what?’

‘Vatia takes office in three days and our reserves are depleted. I’ve got no cash.’ He doesn’t tell Axiochus that he has already borrowed five hundred sesterces from his neighbour Petronius Saturninus. Since the earthquake, the banker Saturninus is afraid to leave the insula. He now works from home, loaning money at high interest rates. He employs a terrifying freedman called Faustus to collect overdue payments.

Amarantus feels a trickle of sweat run down his spine. ‘I tried to finish the building work myself,’ he continues, ‘with the help of a friend and a slave. But we don’t have the strength or skill.’

He takes a deep breath. ‘I need either a loan of money to hire workers, or better yet, two strong and dependable slaves. Can you provide me with either of those?’

Axiochus examines the tip of his toothpick. ‘Why should I?’

The reply is like a slap in the face. ‘What?’ says Amarantus.

‘If you’re deeply in debt it means you haven’t been managing the bar very well.’

‘It was Superbus’s fault,’ says Amarantus. ‘He left huge debts. He was addicted to dice.’

‘That was his father’s downfall, too,’ says Axiochus. Amarantus frowns. ‘Camillus didn’t gamble.’

‘Not his grandfather. His father. Pompeia’s husband Fortunatus. It started with small wagers but as he tried to recover his losses he bet more and more. I remember because I was Camillus’s steward at that time, and Fortunatus kept asking my master for loans. Camillus refused. Finally, Fortunatus bet their entire house. He lost it and three days later he dropped down dead. That’s why Pompeia and her children had to move back to live with her father.’

Amarantus nods slowly. He remembers young Fabia weeping when they moved in several years before.

‘I never knew that,’ he says. ‘I thought they moved back because they were lonely.’

‘Not at all. Pompeia is one of the most capable women in Pompeii. But her husband ruined her and now her son may have done the same.’

After a pause, Axiochus says, ‘So how do you intend to make the bar profitable again?’

Amarantus leans forward. ‘I’ve been serving exotic wine and snacks,’ he says. ‘And it’s been working. Instead of gamblers and drinkers we’ve been getting a better class of clientele. Last week the magistrate who witnessed my manumission stopped by. He loved the imported wine I served. And the exotic snacks. He said he would tell all his rich friends in Stabiae and Surrentum to stop by on their way to Naples.’

Axiochus puts down the beauty set. ‘What imported wine?’

‘It’s from a place called Gaza,’ says Amarantus. ‘I tracked down the dealer, a man by the name of Valerius Abinnericus …’

‘Unusual name.’

‘A Syrian, I think. I’ve ordered four amphorae from him. They should arrive any day.’ Amarantus swats at a buzzing fly. ‘In the meantime,’ he says. ‘I need to block up the doors leading to the upstairs rooms, one on the street and one in the house itself. It’s not impossible but I need it done by the Kalends, the day after tomorrow. Is there anything you can do to help? Anything at all?’

Axiochus leans back and closes his eyes.