Elafius found his cross heavy to bear. He had carried it all the way from the amphitheatre outside the city walls and was tiring. To help him keep going, the young chaplain kept chanting: Deo optimo maximo, Deo optimo maximo: to God, the best, the greatest! At last, he could see the forum ahead. He turned around briefly to see if his flock was still in line.

They were. He took pride in the large numbers who had said they did not want to parade as soldiers but to walk as Christians. Many of them Elafius had baptised. There were even Saxoni in the parade: men and women who had given up their heathen ways and were now ready to settle in Britannia as they vowed to follow the Lord Jesus Christ! Elafius thought back to the sermons that he had preached in the days leading up to the b...

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