I am by nature a thief... I steal to order. I amassed wealth beyond dreams of avarice. And then Felix the god of luck and cunning, the god of thieves deserted me. I made a terrible mistake and my dearest friends were slaughtered like stunned bulls, sacrifice to Mithras: Nor did the consequence of my mistake end with their deaths. My life and the life of all those I held dear fell down in ruin. Death snapped at my heels. I fled to Egypt and from there set out for Kathmandu which was about as far from Rome as I could at that time envisage. Along the dusty road I mourned my friends, the fate of...