*** if this was a battle , servius thought ; if he had a weapon , if he had n't spent too much time building walls , thinking he 'd be safe behind them ... tanaquil , he thought , and then he was in that nightmare city he 'd dreamt of once , a labyrinth of blank walls , and the walls were tumbling over his head , and the fire was rising up in him , the blood , the flame , he was burning up with the heat of it *** the chariot jolted as the left wheel ran over the lictor 's body , nearly throwing tarquin out ; he grabbed tullia , and the recoil brought their bodies slamming together .