After the Frumentarii under Falconius' command had negotiated with the Eastern Limitanei for their defection, the part-time soldiers had embarked on a quest to recover the signed documents, which acted as written evidence of the Eastern Roman Army's wrongdoings.
The man who was leading them was a middle-aged tribune by the name of Publius Portius Laenas, he had decided in his infinite wisdom that the risk he would have to undertake to infiltrate the castra, and seize the incident report about the border skirmish was well worth the reward.
Falconius had offered refuge, as well as a job in the Western Roman Army. For a man of Laenas' position, that meant he would likely be placed in command of a village. After all, in the west, under Marcellus' reign, Rome had become a military dictatorship where military officers ruled over civil affairs.
