Merchants of Discord

"Merchants of Discord" is a short story by Laura Frankos published in the anthology Crime Through Time III, edited by Sharan Newman, 2000. It is a historical mystery set in the Roman fort of Brocolitia along Hadrian's Wall in the 3rd century.

Quintus Vestinus Corvus, a decurion of Brocolitia under the prefect Claudius Apellinus, takes charge of four merchants who have come to sell their wares. The merchants hate each other, and bicker constantly. When one of those merchants is found stabbed to death at a shrine, Corvus must identify the real killer.

Literary comment
The editorial introduction states that the story is set in the 1st century, but this is plainly in error. Construction was not begun on Hadrian's Wall until the 2nd century. Claudius Apellinus was known to have been a prefect of Britannia Inferior in the 3rd century.