Snow lingered on the tile roofs of Augusta Treverorum, whitening the riverbank where traders still loaded cedar planks and salted pork. Constantine entered the city as winter's breath gnawed at the Moselle. Cheers rose from the crowd-women waving branches, merchants flinging coins in thanks for the grain ships, even a gaggle of bishops bowing as his standard passed. He acknowledged them with the briefest lift of his hand. Applause, he knew, was as fleeting as weather. Better to command respect than to bask in it.
By noon he was behind the doors of his study, windows open to the iron-grey river. Claudius Mamertinus arrived with the day's ledgers: provincial tax rolls, customs receipts, and a dispatch from Bracara Augusta. Constantine read the script without looking up. "Bracara Augusta claims its docks are under water," he said, running a finger down a column. "Yet its wine exports grow. How does one sell more wine from a drowned cellar, Mamertinus?"