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+Project Gutenberg EBook, Quo Vadis, by Henryk Sienkiewicz
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+Title: Quo Vadis A Narrative of the Time of Nero
+
+Author: Henryk Sienkiewicz
+
+Release Date: October, 2001  [EBook #2853]
+[This file was updated on November 23, 2003]
+
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+Edition: 11
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+Language: English
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+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, QUO VADIS ***
+
+
+
+
+This eBook was produced by David Reed
+
+
+
+
+QUO VADIS
+
+A Narrative of the Time of Nero
+
+by Henryk Sienkiewicz
+
+
+Translated from the Polish by Jeremiah Curtin
+
+
+TO AUGUSTE COMTE,
+
+Of San Francisco, Cal.,
+
+MY DEAR FRIEND AND CLASSMATE, I BEG TO DEDICATE THIS VOLUME.
+
+JEREMIAH CURTIN
+
+INTRODUCTORY
+
+IN the trilogy "With Fire and Sword," "The Deluge," and "Pan Michael,"
+Sienkiewicz has given pictures of a great and decisive epoch in modern
+history. The results of the struggle begun under Bogdan Hmelnitski have
+been felt for more than two centuries, and they are growing daily in
+importance. The Russia which rose out of that struggle has become a
+power not only of European but of world-wide significance, and, to all
+human seeming, she is yet in an early stage of her career.
+
+In "Quo Vadis" the author gives us pictures of opening scenes in the
+conflict of moral ideas with the Roman Empire,--a conflict from which
+Christianity issued as the leading force in history.
+
+The Slays are not so well known to Western Europe or to us as they are
+sure to be in the near future; hence the trilogy, with all its
+popularity and merit, is not appreciated yet as it will be.
+
+The conflict described in "Quo Vadis" is of supreme interest to a vast
+number of persons reading English; and this book will rouse, I think,
+more attention at first than anything written by Sienkiewicz hitherto.
+
+JEREMIAH CURTIN
+
+ILOM, NORTHERN GUATEMALA,
+
+June, 1896
+
+QUO VADIS
+
+
+
+Quo Vadis A Narrative of the Time of Nero
+
+by Henryk Sienkiewicz
+
+
+Translated from the Polish by Jeremiah Cuurtin
+
+
+PETRONIUS woke only about midday, and as usual greatly wearied.  The
+evening before he had been at one of Nero's feasts, which was prolonged
+till late at night.  For some time his health had been failing.  He said
+himself that he woke up benumbed, as it were, and without power of
+collecting his thoughts.  But the morning bath and careful kneading of
+the body by trained slaves hastened gradually the course of his slothful
+blood, roused him, quickened him, restored his strength, so that he
+issued from the elćothesium, that is, the last division of the bath, as
+if he had risen from the dead, with eyes gleaming from wit and gladness,
+rejuvenated, filled with life, exquisite, so unapproachable that Otho
+himself could not compare with him, and was really that which he had
+been called,--arbiter elegantiarum.
+
+He visited the public baths rarely, only when some rhetor happened there
+who roused admiration and who was spoken of in the city, or when in the
+ephebias there were combats of exceptional interest.  Moreover, he had
+in his own "insula" private baths which Celer, the famous contemporary
+of Severus, had extended for him, reconstructed and arranged with such
+uncommon taste that Nero himself acknowledged their excellence over
+those of the Emperor, though the imperial baths were more extensive and
+finished with incomparably greater luxury.
+
+After that feast, at which he was bored by the jesting of Vatinius with
+Nero, Lucan, and Seneca, he took part in a diatribe as to whether woman
+has a soul.  Rising late, he used, as was his custom, the baths.  Two
+enormous balneatores laid him on a cypress table covered with snow-white
+Egyptian byssus, and with hands dipped in perfumed olive oil began to
+rub his shapely body; and he waited with closed eyes till the heat of
+the laconicum and the heat of their hands passed through him and
+expelled weariness.
+
+But after a certain time he spoke, and opened his eyes; he inquired
+about the weather, and then about gems which the jeweller Idomeneus had
+promised to send him for examination that day.  It appeared that the
+weather was beautiful, with a light breeze from the Alban hills, and
+that the gems had not been brought.  Petronius closed his eyes again,
+and had given command to bear him to the tepidarium, when from behind
+the curtain the nomenclator looked in, announcing that young Marcus
+Vinicius, recently returned from Asia Minor, had come to visit him.
+
+Petronius ordered to admit the guest to the tepidarium, to which he was
+borne himself.  Vinicius was the son of his oldest sister, who years
+before had married Marcus Vinicius, a man of consular dignity from the
+time of Tiberius.  The young man was serving then under Corbulo against
+the Parthians, and at the close of the war had returned to the city.
+Petronius had for him a certain weakness bordering on attachment, for
+Marcus was beautiful and athletic, a young man who knew how to preserve
+a certain aesthetic measure in his profligacy; this, Petronius prized
+above everything.
+
+"A greeting to Petronius," said the young man, entering the tepidarium
+with a springy step.  "May all the gods grant thee success, but
+especially Asklepios and Kypris, for under their double protection
+nothing evil can meet one."
+
+"I greet thee in Rome, and may thy rest be sweet after war," replied
+Petronius, extending his hand from between the folds of soft karbas
+stuff in which he was wrapped.  "What's to be heard in Armenia; or since
+thou wert in Asia, didst thou not stumble into Bithynia?"
+
+Petronius on a time had been proconsul in Bithynia, and, what is more,
+he had governed with energy and justice.  This was a marvellous contrast
+in the character of a man noted for effeminacy and love of luxury; hence
+he was fond of mentioning those times, as they were a proof of what he
+had been, and of what he might have become had it pleased him.
+
+"I happened to visit Heraklea," answered Vinicius.  "Corbulo sent me
+there with an order to assemble reinforcements."
+
+"Ah, Heraklea!  I knew at Heraklea a certain maiden from Colchis, for
+whom I would have given all the divorced women of this city, not
+excluding Poppća.  But these are old stories.  Tell me now, rather, what
+is to be heard from the Parthian boundary.  It is true that they weary
+me every Vologeses of them, and Tiridates and Tigranes,--those
+barbarians who, as young Arulenus insists, walk on all fours at home,
+and pretend to be human only when in our presence.  But now people in
+Rome speak much of them, if only for the reason that it is dangerous to
+speak of aught else."
+
+"The war is going badly, and but for Corbulo might be turned to defeat."
+
+"Corbulo! by Bacchus! a real god of war, a genuine Mars, a great leader,
+at the same time quick-tempered, honest, and dull.  I love him, even for
+this,--that Nero is afraid of him."
+
+"Corbulo is not a dull man."
+
+"Perhaps thou art right, but for that matter it is all one.  Dulness, as
+Pyrrho says, is in no way worse than wisdom, and differs from it in
+nothing."
+
+Vinicius began to talk of the war; but when Petronius closed his eyes
+again, the young man, seeing his uncle's tired and somewhat emaciated
+face, changed the conversation, and inquired with a certain interest
+about his health.
+
+Petronius opened his eyes again.
+
+Health!--No. He did not feel well.  He had not gone so far yet, it is
+true, as young Sissena, who had lost sensation to such a degree that
+when he was brought to the bath in the morning he inquired, "Am I
+sitting?"  But he was not well.  Vinicius had just committed him to the
+care of Asklepios and Kypris.  But he, Petronius, did not believe in
+Asklepios.  It was not known even whose son that Asklepios was, the son
+of Arsinoe or Koronis; and if the mother was doubtful, what was to be
+said of the father?  Who, in that time, could be sure who his own father
+was?
+
+Hereupon Petronius began to laugh; then he continued,--"Two years ago,
+it is true, I sent to Epidaurus three dozen live blackbirds and a goblet
+of gold; but dost thou know why?  I said to myself, 'Whether this helps
+or not, it will do me no harm.' Though people make offerings to the gods
+yet, I believe that all think as I do,--all, with the exception,
+perhaps, of mule-drivers hired at the Porta Capena by travellers.
+Besides Asklepios, I have had dealings with sons of Asklepios.  When I
+was troubled a little last year in the bladder, they performed an
+incubation for me.  I saw that they were tricksters, but I said to
+myself: 'What harm!  The world stands on deceit, and life is an
+illusion. The soul is an illusion too. But one must have reason enough
+to distinguish pleasant from painful illusions.' I shall give command to
+burn in my hypocaustum, cedar-wood sprinkled with ambergris, for during
+life I prefer perfumes to stenches.  As to Kypris, to whom thou hast
+also confided me, I have known her guardianship to the extent that I
+have twinges in my right foot.  But as to the rest she is a good
+goddess!  I suppose that thou wilt bear sooner or later white doves to
+her altar."
+
+"True," answered Vinicius.  "The arrows of the Parthians have not
+reached my body, but a dart of Amor has struck me--unexpectedly, a few
+stadia from a gate of this city."
+
+"By the white knees of the Graces! thou wilt tell me of this at a
+leisure hour."
+
+"I have come purposely to get thy advice," answered Marcus.
+
+But at that moment the epilatores came, and occupied themselves with
+Petronius.  Marcus, throwing aside his tunic, entered a bath of tepid
+water, for Petronius invited him to a plunge bath.
+
+"Ah, I have not even asked whether thy feeling is reciprocated," said
+Petronius, looking at the youthful body of Marcus, which was as if cut
+out of marble.  "Had Lysippos seen thee, thou wouldst be ornamenting now
+the gate leading to the Palatine, as a statue of Hercules in youth."
+
+The young man smiled with satisfaction, and began to sink in the bath,
+splashing warm water abundantly on the mosaic which represented Hera at
+the moment when she was imploring Sleep to lull Zeus to rest. Petronius
+looked at him with the satisfied eye of an artist.
+
+When Vinicius had finished and yielded himself in turn to the
+epilatores, a lector came in with a bronze tube at his breast and rolls
+of paper in the tube.
+
+"Dost wish to listen?" asked Petronius.
+
+"If it is thy creation, gladly!" answered the young tribune; "if not, I
+prefer conversation.  Poets seize people at present on every street
+corner."
+
+"Of course they do.  Thou wilt not pass any basilica, bath, library, or
+book-shop without seeing a poet gesticulating like a monkey. Agrippa, on
+coming here from the East, mistook them for madmen.  And it is just such
+a time now.  Cćsar writes verses; hence all follow in his steps.  Only
+it is not permitted to write better verses than Cćsar, and for that
+reason I fear a little for Lucan.  But I write prose, with which,
+however, I do not honor myself or others.  What the lector has to read
+are codicilli of that poor Fabricius Veiento."
+
+"Why 'poor'?"
+
+"Because it has been communicated to him that he must dwell in Odyssa
+and not return to his domestic hearth till he receives a new command.
+That Odyssey will be easier for him than for Ulysses, since his wife is
+no Penelope.  I need not tell thee, for that matter, that he acted
+stupidly.  But here no one takes things otherwise than superficially.
+His is rather a wretched and dull little book, which people have begun
+to read passionately only when the author is banished.  Now one hears on
+every side, 'Scandala! scandala!' and it may be that Veiento invented
+some things; but I, who know the city, know our patres and our women,
+assure thee that it is all paler than reality.  Meanwhile every man is
+searching in the book,--for himself with alarm, for his acquaintances
+with delight.  At the book-shop of Avirnus a hundred copyists are
+writing at dictation, and its success is assured."
+
+"Are not thy affairs in it?"
+
+"They are; but the author is mistaken, for I am at once worse and less
+flat than he represents me.  Seest thou we have lost long since the
+feeling of what is worthy or unworthy,--and to me even it seems that in
+real truth there is no difference between them, though Seneca, Musonius,
+and Trasca pretend that they see it.  To me it is all one!  By Hercules,
+I say what I think!  I have preserved loftiness, however, because I know
+what is deformed and what is beautiful; but our poet, Bronzebeard, for
+example, the charioteer, the singer, the actor, does not understand
+this."
+
+"I am sorry, however, for Fabricius!  He is a good companion."
+
+"Vanity ruined the man.  Every one suspected him, no one knew certainly;
+but he could not contain himself, and told the secret on all sides in
+confidence.  Hast heard the history of Rufinus?"
+
+"No."
+
+"Then come to the frigidarium to cool; there I will tell thee."
+
+They passed to the frigidarium, in the middle of which played a fountain
+of bright rose-color, emitting the odor of violets.  There they sat in
+niches which were covered with velvet, and began to cool themselves.
+Silence reigned for a time.  Vinicius looked awhile thoughtfully at a
+bronze faun which, bending over the arm of a nymph, was seeking her lips
+eagerly with his lips.
+
+"He is right," said the young man.  "That is what is best in life."
+
+"More or less!  But besides this thou lovest war, for which I have no
+liking, since under tents one's finger-nails break and cease to be rosy.
+For that matter, every man has his preferences.  Bronzebeard loves song,
+especially his own; and old Scaurus his Corinthian vase, which stands
+near his bed at night, and which he kisses when he cannot sleep.  He has
+kissed the edge off already.  Tell me, dost thou not write verses?"
+
+"No; I have never composed a single hexameter."
+
+"And dost thou not play on the lute and sing?"
+
+"No."
+
+"And dost thou drive a chariot?"
+
+"I tried once in Antioch, but unsuccessfully."
+
+"Then I am at rest concerning thee.  And to what party in the hippodrome
+dost thou belong?"
+
+"To the Greens."
+
+"Now I am perfectly at rest, especially since thou hast a large property
+indeed, though thou art not so rich as Pallas or Seneca. For seest thou,
+with us at present it is well to write verses, to sing to a lute, to
+declaim, and to compete in the Circus; but better, and especially safer,
+not to write verses, not to play, not to sing, and not to compete in the
+Circus.  Best of all, is it to know how to admire when Bronzebeard
+admires.  Thou art a comely young man; hence Poppća may fall in love
+with thee.  This is thy only peril.  But no, she is too experienced; she
+cares for something else.  She has had enough of love with her two
+husbands; with the third she has other views.  Dost thou know that that
+stupid Otho loves her yet to distraction?  He walks on the cliffs of
+Spain, and sighs; he has so lost his former habits, and so ceased to
+care for his person, that three hours each day suffice him to dress his
+hair.  Who could have expected this of Otho?"
+
+"I understand him," answered Vinicius; "but in his place I should have
+done something else."
+
+"What, namely?"
+
+"I should have enrolled faithful legions of mountaineers of that
+country.  They are good soldiers,--those Iberians."
+
+"Vinicius!  Vinicius!  I almost wish to tell thee that thou wouldst not
+have been capable of that.  And knowest why?  Such things are done, but
+they are not mentioned even conditionally.  As to me, in his place, I
+should have laughed at Poppća, laughed at Bronzebeard, and formed for
+myself legions, not of Iberian men, however, but Iberian women.  And
+what is more, I should have written epigrams which I should not have
+read to any one,--not like that poor Rufinus."
+
+"Thou wert to tell me his history."
+
+"I will tell it in the unctorium."
+
+But in the unctorium the attention of Vinicius was turned to other
+objects; namely, to wonderful slave women who were waiting for the
+bathers.  Two of them, Africans, resembling noble statues of ebony,
+began to anoint their bodies with delicate perfumes from Arabia; others,
+Phrygians, skilled in hairdressing, held in their hands, which were
+bending and flexible as serpents, combs and mirrors of polished steel;
+two Grecian maidens from Kos, who were simply like deities, waited as
+vestiplicć, till the moment should come to put statuesque folds in the
+togas of the lords.
+
+"By the cloud-scattering Zeus!" said Marcus Vinicius, "what a choice
+thou hast!"
+
+"I prefer choice to numbers," answered Petronius.  "My whole 'familia'
+[household servants] in Rome does not exceed four hundred, and I judge
+that for personal attendance only upstarts need a greater number of
+people."
+
+"More beautiful bodies even Bronzebeard does not possess," said
+Vinicius, distending his nostrils.
+
+"Thou art my relative," answered Petronius, with a certain friendly
+indifference, "and I am neither so misanthropic as Barsus nor such a
+pedant as Aulus Plautius."
+
+When Vinicius heard this last name, he forgot the maidens from Kos for a
+moment, and, raising his head vivaciously, inquired,--"Whence did Aulus
+Plautius come to thy mind?  Dost thou know that after I had disjointed
+my arm outside the city, I passed a number of days in his house?  It
+happened that Plautius came up at the moment when the accident happened,
+and, seeing that I was suffering greatly, he took me to his house; there
+a slave of his, the physician Merion, restored me to health.  I wished
+to speak with thee touching this very matter."
+
+"Why?  Is it because thou hast fallen in love with Pomponia perchance?
+In that case I pity thee; she is not young, and she is virtuous!  I
+cannot imagine a worse combination.  Brr!"
+
+"Not with Pomponia--eheu!" answered Vinicius.
+
+"With whom, then?"
+
+"If I knew myself with whom?  But I do not know to a certainty her name
+even,--Lygia or Callina?  They call her Lygia in the house, for she
+comes of the Lygian nation; but she has her own barbarian name, Callina.
+It is a wonderful house,--that of those Plautiuses. There are many
+people in it; but it is quiet there as in the groves of Subiacum.  For a
+number of days I did not know that a divinity dwelt in the house.  Once
+about daybreak I saw her bathing in the garden fountain; and I swear to
+thee by that foam from which Aphrodite rose, that the rays of the dawn
+passed right through her body.  I thought that when the sun rose she
+would vanish before me in the light, as the twilight of morning does.
+Since then, I have seen her twice; and since then, too, I know not what
+rest is, I know not what other desires are, I have no wish to know what
+the city can give me.  I want neither women, nor gold, nor Corinthian
+bronze, nor amber, nor pearls, nor wine, nor feasts; I want only Lygia.
+I am yearning for her, in sincerity I tell thee, Petronius, as that
+Dream who is imaged on the Mosaic of thy tepidarium yearned for
+Paisythea,--whole days and night do I yearn."
+
+"If she is a slave, then purchase her."
+
+"She is not a slave."
+
+"What is she?  A freed woman of Plautius?"
+
+"Never having been a slave, she could not be a freed woman."
+
+"Who is she?"
+
+"I know not,--a king's daughter, or something of that sort."
+
+"Thou dost rouse my curiosity, Vinicius."
+
+"But if thou wish to listen, I will satisfy thy curiosity straightway.
+Her story is not a long one.  Thou art acquainted, perhaps personally,
+with Vannius, king of the Suevi, who, expelled from his country, spent a
+long time here in Rome, and became even famous for his skilful play with
+dice, and his good driving of chariots.  Drusus put him on the throne
+again.  Vannius, who was really a strong man, ruled well at first, and
+warred with success; afterward, however, he began to skin not only his
+neighbors, but his own Suevi, too much.  Thereupon Vangio and Sido, two
+sister's sons of his, and the sons of Vibilius, king of the Hermunduri,
+determined to force him to Rome again--to try his luck there at dice."
+
+"I remember; that is of recent Claudian times."
+
+"Yes!  War broke out.  Vannius summoned to his aid the Yazygi; his dear
+nephews called in the Lygians, who, hearing of the riches of Vannius,
+and enticed by the hope of booty, came in such numbers that Cćsar
+himself, Claudius, began to fear for the safety of the boundary.
+Claudius did not wish to interfere in a war among barbarians, but he
+wrote to Atelius Hister, who commanded the legions of the Danube, to
+turn a watchful eye on the course of the war, and not permit them to
+disturb our peace.  Hister required, then, of the Lygians a promise not
+to cross the boundary; to this they not only agreed, but gave hostages,
+among whom were the wife and daughter of their leader.  It is known to
+thee that barbarians take their wives and children to war with them.  My
+Lygia is the daughter of that leader."
+
+"Whence dost thou know all this?"
+
+"Aulus Plautius told it himself.  The Lygians did not cross the
+boundary, indeed; but barbarians come and go like a tempest.  So did the
+Lygians vanish with their wild-ox horns on their heads. They killed
+Vannius's Suevi and Yazygi; but their own king fell. They disappeared
+with their booty then, and the hostages remained in Hister's hands.  The
+mother died soon after, and Hister, not knowing what to do with the
+daughter, sent her to Pomponius, the governor of all Germany.  He, at
+the close of the war with the Catti, returned to Rome, where Claudius,
+as is known to thee, permitted him to have a triumph.  The maiden on
+that occasion walked after the car of the conqueror; but, at the end of
+the solemnity,--since hostages cannot be considered captives, and since
+Pomponius did not know what to do with her definitely--he gave her to
+his sister Pomponia Grćcina, the wife of Plautius.  In that house where
+all--beginning with the masters and ending with the poultry in the
+hen-house--are virtuous, that maiden grew up as virtuous, alas! as Grćcina
+herself, and so beautiful that even Poppća, if near her, would seem like
+an autumn fig near an apple of the Hesperides."
+
+"And what?"
+
+"And I repeat to thee that from the moment when I saw how the sun-rays
+at that fountain passed through her body, I fell in love to
+distraction."
+
+"She is as transparent as a lamprey eel, then, or a youthful sardine?"
+
+"Jest not, Petronius; but if the freedom with which I speak of my desire
+misleads thee, know this,--that bright garments frequently cover deep
+wounds.  I must tell thee, too, that, while returning from Asia, I slept
+one night in the temple of Mopsus to have a prophetic dream.  Well,
+Mopsus appeared in a dream to me, and declared that, through love, a
+great change in my life would take place."
+
+"Pliny declares, as I hear, that he does not believe in the gods, but he
+believes in dreams; and perhaps he is right.  My jests do not prevent me
+from thinking at times that in truth there is only one deity, eternal,
+creative, all-powerful, Venus Genetrix.  She brings souls together; she
+unites bodies and things.  Eros called the world out of chaos.  Whether
+he did well is another question; but, since he did so, we should
+recognize his might, though we are free not to bless it."
+
+"Alas!  Petronius, it is easier to find philosophy in the world than
+wise counsel."
+
+"Tell me, what is thy wish specially?"
+
+"I wish to have Lygia.  I wish that these arms of mine, which now
+embrace only air, might embrace Lygia and press her to my bosom. I wish
+to breathe with her breath.  Were she a slave, I would give Aulus for
+her one hundred maidens with feet whitened with lime as a sign that they
+were exhibited on sale for the first time.  I wish to have her in my
+house till my head is as white as the top of Soracte in winter."
+
+"She is not a slave, but she belongs to the 'family' of Plautius; and
+since she is a deserted maiden, she may be considered an 'alumna.'
+Plautius might yield her to thee if he wished."
+
+"Then it seems that thou knowest not Pomponia Grćcina.  Both have become
+as much attached to her as if she were their own daughter."
+
+"Pomponia I know,--a real cypress.  If she were not the wife of Aulus,
+she might be engaged as a mourner.  Since the death of Julius she has
+not thrown aside dark robes; and in general she looks as if, while still
+alive, she were walking on the asphodel meadow.  She is, moreover, a
+'one-man woman'; hence, among our ladies of four and five divorces, she
+is straighrway a phoenix.  But! hast thou heard that in Upper Egypt the
+phoenix has just been hatched out, as 'tis said?--an event which happens
+not oftener than once in five centuries."
+
+"Petronius!  Petronius!  Let us talk of the phoenix some other time."
+
+"What shall I tell thee, my Marcus?  I know Aulus Plautius, who, though
+he blames my mode of life, has for me a certain weakness, and even
+respects me, perhaps, more than others, for he knows that I have never
+been an informer like Domitius Afer, Tigellinus, and a whole rabble of
+Ahenobarbus's intimates [Nero's name was originally L. Domitius
+Ahenobarbus].  Without pretending to be a stoic, I have been offended
+more than once at acts of Nero, which Seneca and Burrus looked at
+through their fingers.  If it isthy thought that I might do something
+for thee with Aulus, I am at thy command."
+
+"I judge that thou hast the power.  Thou hast influence over him; and,
+besides, thy mind possesses inexhaustible resources.  If thou wert to
+survey the position and speak with Plautius."
+
+"Thou hast too great an idea of my influence and wit; but if that is the
+only question, I will talk with Plautius as soon as they return to the
+city."
+
+"They returned two days since."
+
+"In that case let us go to the triclinium, where a meal is now ready,
+and when we have refreshed ourselves, let us give command to bear us to
+Plautius."
+
+"Thou hast ever been kind to me," answered Vinicius, with vivacity; "but
+now I shall give command to rear thy statue among my lares,--just such a
+beauty as this one,--and I will place offerings before it."
+
+Then he turned toward the statues which ornamented one entire wall of
+the perfumed chamber, and pointing to the one which represented
+Petronius as Hermes with a staff in his hand, he added,--"By the light
+of Helios! if the 'godlike' Alexander resembled thee, I do not wonder at
+Helen."
+
+And in that exclamation there was as much sincerity as flattery; for
+Petronius, though older and less athletic, was more beautiful than even
+Vinicius.  The women of Rome admired not only his pliant mind and his
+taste, which gained for him the title Arbiter elegantić, but also his
+body.  This admiration was evident even on the faces of those maidens
+from Kos who were arranging the folds of his toga; and one of whom,
+whose name was Eunice, loving him in secret, looked him in the eyes with
+submission and rapture.  But he did not even notice this; and, smiling
+at Vinicius, he quoted in answer an expression of Seneca about woman,--
+Animal impudens, etc. And then, placing an arm on the shoulders of his
+nephew, he conducted him to the triclinium.
+
+In the unctorium the two Grecian maidens, the Phrygians, and the two
+Ethiopians began to put away the vessels with perfumes.  But at that
+moment, and beyond the curtain of the frigidarium, appeared the heads of
+the balneatores, and a low "Psst!" was heard. At that call one of the
+Grecians, the Phrygians, and the Ethiopians sprang up quickly, and
+vanished in a twinkle behind the curtain.  In the baths began a moment
+of license which the inspector did not prevent, for he took frequent
+part in such frolics himself.  Petronius suspected that they took place;
+but, as a prudent man, and one who did not like to punish, he looked at
+them through his fingers.
+
+In the unctorium only Eunice remained.  She listened for a short time to
+the voices and laughter which retreated in the direction of the
+laconicum.  At last she took the stool inlaid with amber and ivory, on
+which Petronius had been sitting a short time before, and put it
+carefully at his statue.  The unctorium was full of sunlight and the
+hues which came from the many-colored marbles with which the wall was
+faced.  Eunice stood on the stool, and, finding herself at the level of
+the statue, cast her arms suddenly around its neck; then, throwing back
+her golden hair, and pressing her rosy body to the white marble, she
+pressed her lips with ecstasy to the cold lips of Petronius.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter II
+
+
+After a refreshment, which was called the morning meal and to which the
+two friends sat down at an hour when common mortals were abeady long
+past their midday prandium, Petronius proposed a light doze.  According
+to him, it was too early for visits yet. "There are, it is true," said
+he, "people who begin to visit their acquaintances about sunrise,
+thinking that custom an old Roman one, but I look on this as barbarous.
+The afternoon hours are most proper,--not earlier, however, than that
+one when the sun passes to the side of Jove's temple on the Capitol and
+begins to look slantwise on the Forum.  In autumn it is still hot, and
+people are glad to sleep after eating.  At the same time it is pleasant
+to hear the noise of the fountain in the atrium, and, after the
+obligatory thousand steps, to doze in the red light which filters in
+through the purple half-drawn velarium."
+
+Vinicius recognized the justice of these words; and the two men began to
+walk, speaking in a careless manner of what was to be heard on the
+Palatine and in the city, and philosophizing a little upon life.
+Petronius withdrew then to the cubiculum, but did not sleep long.  In
+half an hour he came out, and, having given command to bring verbena, he
+inhaled the perfume and rubbed his hands and temples with it.
+
+"Thou wilt not believe," said he, "how it enlivens and freshens one. Now
+I am ready."
+
+The litter was waiting long since; hence they took their places, and
+Petronius gave command to bear them to the Vicus Patricius, to the house
+of Aulus.  Petronius's "insula" lay on the southern slope of the
+Palatine, near the so-called Carinć; their nearest way, therefore, was
+below the Forum; but since Petronius wished to step in on the way to see
+the jeweller Idomeneus, he gave the direction to carry them along the
+Vicus Apollinis and the Forum in the direction of the Vicus Sceleratus,
+on the corner of which were many tabernć of every kind.
+
+Gigantic Africans bore the litter and moved on, preceded by slaves
+called pedisequii.  Petronius, after some time, raised to his nostrils
+in silence his palm odorous with verbena, and seemed to be meditating on
+something.
+
+"It occurs to me," said he after a while, "that if thy forest goddess is
+not a slave she might leave the house of Plautius, and transfer herself
+to thine.  Thou wouldst surround her with love and cover her with
+wealth, as I do my adored Chrysothemis, of whom, speaking between us, I
+have quite as nearly enough as she has of me."
+
+Marcus shook his head.
+
+"No?" inquired Petronius.  "In the worst event, the case would be left
+with Cćsar, and thou mayst be certain that, thanks even to my influence,
+our Bronzebeard would be on thy side."
+
+"Thou knowest not Lygia," replied Vinicius.
+
+"Then permit me to ask if thou know her otherwise than by sight? Hast
+spoken with her? hast confessed thy love to her?"
+
+"I saw her first at the fountain; since then I have met her twice.
+Remember that during my stay in the house of Aulus, I dwelt in a
+separate villa, intended for guests, and, having a disjointed arm, I
+could not sit at the common table.  Only on the eve of the day for which
+I announced my departure did I meet Lygia at supper, but I could not say
+a word to her.  I had to listen to Aulus and his account of victories
+gained by him in Britain, and then of the fall of small states in Italy,
+which Licinius Stolo strove to prevent.  In general I do not know
+whether Aulus will be able to speak of aught else, and do not think that
+we shall escape this history unless it be thy wish to hear about the
+effeminacy of these days.  They have pheasants in their preserves, but
+they do not eat them, setting out from the principle that every pheasant
+eaten brings nearer the end of Roman power.  I met her a second time at
+the garden cistern, with a freshly plucked reed in her hand, the top of
+which she dipped in the water and sprinkled the irises growing around.
+Look at my knees.  By the shield of Hercules, I tell thee that they did
+not tremble when clouds of Parthians advanced on our maniples with
+howls, but they trembled before the cistern.  And, confused as a youth
+who still wears a bulla on his neck, I merely begged pity with my eyes,
+not being able to utter a word for a long time."
+
+Petronius looked at him, as if with a certain envy.  "Happy man," said
+he, "though the world and life were the worst possible, one thing in
+them will remain eternally good,--youth!"
+
+After a while he inquired: "And hast thou not spoken to her?"
+
+"When I had recovered somewhat, I told her that I was returning from
+Asia, that I had disjointed my arm near the city, and had suffered
+severely, but at the moment of leaving that hospitable house I saw that
+suffering in it was more to be wished for than delight in another place,
+that sickness there was better than health somewhere else.  Confused too
+on her part, she listened to my words with bent head while drawing
+something with the reed on the saffron-colored sand.  Afterward she
+raised her eyes, then looked down at the marks drawn already; once more
+she looked at me, as if to ask about something, and then fled on a
+sudden like a hamadryad before a dull faun."
+
+"She must have beautiful eyes."
+
+"As the sea--and I was drowned in them, as in the sea.  Believe me that
+the archipelago is less blue.  After a while a little son of Plautius
+ran up with a question.  But I did not understand what he wanted."
+
+"O Athene!" exclaimed Petronius, "remove from the eyes of this youth the
+bandage with which Eros has bound them; if not, he will break his head
+against the columns of Venus's temple.
+
+"O thou spring bud on the tree of life," said he, turning to Vinicius,
+"thou first green shoot of the vine!  Instead of taking thee to the
+Plautiuses, I ought to give command to bear thee to the house of
+Gelocius, where there is a school for youths unacquainted with life."
+
+"What dost thou wish in particular?"
+
+"But what did she write on the sand?  Was it not the name of Amor, or a
+heart pierced with his dart, or something of such sort, that one might
+know from it that the satyrs had whispered to the ear of that nymph
+various secrets of life?  How couldst thou help looking on those marks?"
+
+"It is longer since I have put on the toga than seems to thee," said
+Vinicius, "and before little Aulus ran up, I looked carefully at those
+marks, for I know that frequently maidens in Greece and in Rome draw on
+the sand a confession which their lips will not utter. But guess what
+she drew!"
+
+"If it is other than I supposed, I shall not guess."
+
+"A fish."
+
+"What dost thou say?"
+
+"I say, a fish.  What did that mean,--that cold blood is flowing in her
+veins?  So far I do not know; but thou, who hast called me a spring bud
+on the tree of life, wilt be able to understand the sign certainly."
+
+"Carissime! ask such a thing of Pliny.  He knows fish.  If old Apicius
+were alive, he could tell thee something, for in the course of his life
+he ate more fish than could find place at one time in the bay of
+Naples."
+
+Further conversation was interrupted, since they were borne into crowded
+streets where the noise of people hindered them.
+
+From the Vicus Apollinis they turned to the Boarium, and then entered
+the Forum Romanum, where on clear days, before sunset, crowds of idle
+people assembled to stroll among the columns, to tell and hear news, to
+see noted people borne past in litters, and finally to look in at the
+jewellery-shops, the book-shops, the arches where coin was changed,
+shops for silk, bronze, and all other articles with which the buildings
+covering that part of the market placed opposite the Capitol were
+filled.
+
+One-half of the Forum, immediately under the rock of the Capitol, was
+buried already in shade; but the columns of the temples, placed higher,
+seemed golden in the sunshine and the blue.  Those lying lower cast
+lengthened shadows on marble slabs.  The place was so filled with
+columns everywhere that the eye was lost in them as in a forest.
+
+Those buildings and columns seemed huddled together.  They towered some
+above others, they stretched toward the right and the left, they climbed
+toward the height, and they clung to the wall of the Capitol, or some of
+them clung to others, like greater and smaller, thicker and thinner,
+white or gold colored tree-trunks, now blooming under architraves,
+flowers of the acanthus, now surrounded with Ionic corners, now finished
+with a simple Doric quadrangle.  Above that forest gleamed colored
+triglyphs; from tympans stood forth the sculptured forms of gods; from
+the summits winged golden quadrigć seemed ready to fly away through
+space into the blue dome, fixed serenely above that crowded place of
+temples.  Through the middle of the market and along the edges of it
+flowed a river of people; crowds passed under the arches of the basilica
+of Julius Cćsar; crowds were sitting on the steps of Castor and Pollux,
+or walking around the temple of Vesta, resembling on that great marble
+background many-colored swarms of butterflies or beetles.  Down immense
+steps, from the side of the temple on the Capitol dedicated to Jupiter
+Optimus Maximus, came new waves; at the rostra people listened to chance
+orators; in one place and another rose the shouts of hawkers selling
+fruit, wine, or water mixed with fig-juice; of tricksters; of venders of
+marvellous medicines; of soothsayers; of discoverers of hidden
+treasures; of interpreters of dreams.  Here and there, in the tumult of
+conversations and cries, were mingled sounds of the Egyptian sistra, of
+the sambuké, or of Grecian flutes.  Here and there the sick, the pious,
+or the afflicted were bearing offerings to the temples.  In the midst of
+the people, on the stone flags, gathered flocks of doves, eager for the
+grain given them, and like movable many-colored and dark spots, now
+rising for a moment with a loud sound of wings, now dropping down again
+to places left vacant by people.  From time to time the crowds opened
+before litters in which were visible the affected faces of women, or the
+heads of senators and knights, with features, as it were, rigid and
+exhausted from living.  The many-tongued population repeated aloud their
+names, with the addition of some term of praise or ridicule. Among the
+unordered groups pushed from time to time, advancing with measured
+tread, parties of soldiers, or watchers, preserving order on the
+streets.  Around about, the Greek language was heard as often as Latin.
+
+Vinicius, who had not been in the city for a long time, looked with a
+certain curiosity on that swarm of people and on that Forum Romanum,
+which both dominated the sea of the world and was flooded by it, so that
+Petronius, who divined the thoughts of his companion, called it "the
+nest of the Quirites--without the Quirites."  In truth, the local
+element was well-nigh lost in that crowd, composed of all races and
+nations.  There appeared Ethiopians, gigantic light-haired people from
+the distant north, Britons, Gauls, Germans, sloping-eyed dwellers of
+Lericum; people from the Euphrates and from the Indus, with beards dyed
+brick color; Syrians from the banks of the Orontes, with black and mild
+eyes; dwellers in the deserts of Arabia, dried up as a bone; Jews, with
+their flat breasts; Egyptians, with the eternal, indifferent smile on
+their faces; Numidians and Africans; Greeks from Hellas, who equally
+with the Romans commanded the city, but commanded through science, art,
+wisdom, and deceit; Greeks from the islands, from Asia Minor, from
+Egypt, from Italy, from Narbonic Gaul.  In the throng of slaves, with
+pierced ears, were not lacking also freemen,--an idle population, which
+Cćsar amused, supported, even clothed,--and free visitors, whom the ease
+of life and the prospects of fortune enticed to the gigantic city; there
+was no lack of venal persons.  There were priests of Serapis, with palm
+branches in their hands; priests of Isis, to whose altar more offerings
+were brought than to the temple of the Capitoline Jove; priests of
+Cybele, bearing in their hands golden ears of rice; and priests of nomad
+divinities; and dancers of the East with bright head-dresses, and
+dealers in amulets, and snake-tamers, and Chaldean seers; and, finally,
+people without any occupation whatever, who applied for grain every week
+at the storehouses on the Tiber, who fought for lottery-tickets to the
+Circus, who spent their nights in rickety houses of districts beyond the
+Tiber, and sunny and warm days under covered porticos, and in foul
+eating-houses of the Subura, on the Milvian bridge, or before the
+"insulć" of the great, where from time to time remnants from the tables
+of slaves were thrown out to them.
+
+Petronius was well known to those crowds.  Vinicius's ears were struck
+continually by "Hic est!" (Here he is). They loved him for his
+munificence; and his peculiar popularity increased from the time when
+they learned that he had spoken before Cćsar in opposition to the
+sentence of death issued against the whole "familia," that is, against
+all the slaves of the prefect Pedanius Secundus, without distinction of
+sex or age, because one of them had killed that monster in a moment of
+despair.  Petronius repeated in public, it is true, that it was all one
+to him, and that he had spoken to Cćsar only privately, as the arbiter
+elegantiarum whose ćsthetic taste was offended by a barbarous slaughter
+befitting Scythians and not Romans.  Nevertheless, people who were
+indignant because of the slaughter loved Petronius from that moment
+forth.  But he did not care for their love.  He remembered that that
+crowd of people had loved also Britannicus, poisoned by Nero; and
+Agrippina, killed at his command; and Octavia, smothered in hot steam at
+the Pandataria, after her veins had been opened previously; and Rubelius
+Plautus, who had been banished; and Thrasea, to whom any morning might
+bring a death sentence. The love of the mob might be considered rather
+of ill omen; and the sceptical Petronius was superstitious also.  He had
+a twofold contempt for the multitude,--as an aristocrat and an ćsthetic
+person.  Men with the odor of roast beans, which they carried in their
+bosoms, and who besides were eternally hoarse and sweating from playing
+mora on the street-corners and peristyles, did not in his eyes deserve
+the term "human."  Hence he gave no answer whatever to the applause, or
+the kisses sent from lips here and there to him.  He was relating to
+Marcus the case of Pedanius, reviling meanwhile the fickleness of that
+rabble which, next morning after the terrible butchery, applauded Nero
+on his way to the temple of Jupiter Stator.  But he gave command to halt
+before the book-shop of Avirnus, and, descending from the litter,
+purchased an ornamented manuscript, which he gave to Vinicius.
+
+"Here is a gift for thee," said he.
+
+"Thanks!" answered Vinicius.  Then, looking at the title, he inquired,
+"'Satyricon'? Is this something new?  Whose is it?"
+
+"Mine.  But I do not wish to go in the road of Rufinus, whose history I
+was to tell thee, nor of Fabricius Veiento; hence no one knows of this,
+and do thou mention it to no man."
+
+"Thou hast said that thou art no writer of verses," said Vinicius,
+looking at the middle of tile manuscript; "but here I see prose thickly
+interwoven with them."
+
+"When thou art reading, turn attention to Trimalchion's feast.  As to
+verses, they have disgusted me, since Nero is writing an epic. Vitelius,
+when he wishes to relieve himself, uses ivory fingers to thrust down his
+throat; others serve themselves with flamingo feathers steeped in olive
+oil or in a decoction of wild thyme.  I read Nero's poetry, and the
+result is immediate.  Straightway I am able to praise it, if not with a
+clear conscience, at least with a clear stomach."
+
+When he had said this, he stopped the litter again before the shop of
+Idomeneus the goldsmith, and, having settled the affair of the gems,
+gave command to bear the litter directly to Aulus's mansion.
+
+"On the road I will tell thee the story of Rufinus," said he, "as proof
+of what vanity in an author may be."
+
+But before he had begun, they turned in to the Vicus Patricius, and soon
+found themselves before the dwelling of Aulus.  A young and sturdy
+"janitor" opened the door leading to the ostium, over which a magpie
+confined in a cage greeted them noisily with the word, "Salve!"
+
+On the way from the second antechamber, called the ostium, to the atrium
+itself, Vinicius said,--"Hast noticed that thee doorkeepers are without
+chains?"  "This is a wonderful house," answered Petronius, in an
+undertone.  "Of course it is known to thee that Pomponia Grćcina is
+suspected of entertaining that Eastern superstition which consists in
+honoring a certain Chrestos.  It seems that Crispinilla rendered her
+this service,--she who cannot forgive Pomponia because one husband has
+sufficed her for a lifetime.  A one-man Woman!  To-day, in Rome, it is
+easier to get a half-plate of fresh mushrooms from Noricum than to find
+such.  They tried her before a domestic court--"
+
+"To thy judgment this is a wonderful house.  Later on I will tell thee
+what I heard and saw in it."
+
+Meanwhile they had entered the atrium.  The slave appointed to it,
+called atriensis, sent a nomenclator to announce the guests; and
+Petronius, who, imagining that eternal sadness reigned in this severe
+house, had never been in it, looked around with astonishment, and as it
+were with a feeling of disappointment, for the atrium produced rather an
+impression of cheerfulness.  A sheaf of bright light falling from above
+through a large opening broke into a thousand sparks on a fountain in a
+quadrangular little basin, called the impluvium, which was in the middle
+to receive rain falling through the opening during bad weather; this was
+surrounded by anemones and lilies.  In that house a special love for
+lilies was evident, for there were whole clumps of them, both white and
+red; and, finally, sapphire irises, whose delicate leaves were as if
+silvered from the spray of the fountain.  Among the moist mosses, in
+which lily-pots were hidden, and among the bunches of lilies were little
+bronze statues representing children and water-birds.  In one corner a
+bronze fawn, as if wishing to drink, was inclining its greenish head,
+grizzled, too, by dampness. The floor of the atrium was of mosaic; the
+walls, faced partly with red marble and partly with wood, on which were
+painted fish, birds, and griffins, attracted the eye by the play of
+colors.  From the door to the side chamber they were ornamented with
+tortoise-shell or even ivory; at the walls between the doors were
+statues of Aulus's ancestors.  Everywhere calm plenty was evident,
+remote from excess, but noble and self-trusting.
+
+Petronius, who lived with incomparably greater show and elegance, could
+find nothing which offended his taste; and had just turned to Vinicius
+with that remark, when a slave, the velarius, pushed aside the curtain
+separating the atrium from the tablinum, and in the depth of the
+building appeared Aulus Plautius approaching hurriedly.
+
+He was a man nearing the evening of life, with a head whitened by hoar
+frost, but fresh, with an energetic face, a trifle too short, but still
+somewhat eagle-like.  This time there was expressed on it a certain
+astonishment, and even alarm, because of the unexpected arrival of
+Nero's friend, companion, and suggester.
+
+Petronius was too much a man of the world and too quick not to notice
+this; hence, after the first greetings, he announced with all the
+eloquence and ease at his command that he had come to give thanks for
+the care which his sister's son had found in that house, and that
+gratitude alone was the cause of the visit, to which, moreover, he was
+emboldened by his old acquaintance with Aulus.
+
+Aulus assured him that he was a welcome guest; and as to gratitude, he
+declared that he had that feeling himself, though surely Petronius did
+not divine the cause of it.
+
+In fact, Petronius did not divine it.  In vain did he raise his hazel
+eyes, endeavoring to remember the least service rendered to Aulus or to
+any one.  He recalled none, unless it might be that which he intended to
+show Vinicius.  Some such thing, it is true, might have happened
+involuntarily, but only involuntarily.
+
+"I have great love and esteem for Vespasian, whose life thou didst
+save," said Aulus, "when he had the misfortune to doze while listening
+to Nero's verses."
+
+"He was fortunate," replied Petronius, "for he did not hear them; but I
+will not deny that the matter might have ended with misfortune.
+Bronzebeard wished absolutely to send a centurion to him with the
+friendly advice to open his veins."
+
+"But thou, Petronius, laughed him out of it."
+
+"That is true, or rather it is not true.  I told Nero that if Orpheus
+put wild beasts to sleep with song, his triumph was equal, since he had
+put Vespasian to sleep.  Ahenobarbus may be blamed on condition that to
+a small criticism a great flattery be added.  Our gracious Augusta,
+Poppća, understands this to perfection."
+
+"Alas! such are the times," answered Aulus.  "I lack two front teeth,
+knocked out by a stone from the hand of a Briton, I speak with a hiss;
+still my happiest days were passed in Britain."
+
+"Because they were days of victory," added Vinicius.
+
+But Petronius, alarmed lest the old general might begin a narrative of
+his former wars, changed the conversation.
+
+"See," said he, "in the neighborhood of Prćneste country people found a
+dead wolf whelp with two heads; and during a storm about that time
+lightning struck off an angle of the temple of Luna,--a thing
+unparalleled, because of the late autumn.  A certain Cotta, too, who had
+told this, added, while telling it, that the priests of that temple
+prophesied the fall of the city or, at least, the ruin of a great
+house,--ruin to be averted only by uncommon sacrifices."
+
+Aulus, when he had heard the narrative, expressed the opinion that such
+signs should not be neglected; that the gods might be angered by an
+over-measure of wickedness.  In this there was nothing wonderful; and in
+such an event expiatory sacrifices were perfectly in order.
+
+"Thy house, Plautius, is not too large," answered Petronius, "though a
+great man lives in it.  Mine is indeed too large for such a wretched
+owner, though equally small.  But if it is a question of the ruin of
+something as great, for example, as the domus transitoria, would it be
+worth while for us to bring offerings to avert that ruin?"
+
+Plautius did not answer that question,--a carefulness which touched even
+Petronius somewhat, for, with all his inability to feel the difference
+between good and evil, he had never been an informer; and it was
+possible to talk with him in perfect safety.  He changed the
+conversation again, therefore, and began to praise Plautius's dwelling
+and the good taste which reigned in the house.
+
+"It is an ancient seat," said Plautius, "in which nothing has been
+changed since I inherited it."
+
+After the curtain was pushed aside which divided the atrium from the
+tablinum, the house was open from end to end, so that through the
+tablinum and the following peristyle and the hall lying beyond it which
+was called the ścus, the glance extended to the garden, which seemed
+from a distance like a bright image set in a dark frame.  Joyous,
+childlike laughter came from it to the atrium.
+
+"Oh, general!" said Petronius, "permit us to listen from near by to that
+glad laughter which is of a kind heard so rarely in these days."
+
+"Willingly," answered Plautius, rising; "that is my little Aulus and
+Lygia, playing ball.  But as to laughter, I think, Petronius, that our
+whole life is spent in it."
+
+"Life deserves laughter, hence people laugh at it," answered Petronius,
+"but laughter here has another sound."
+
+"Petronius does not laugh for days in succession," said Vinicius; "but
+then he laughs entire nights."
+
+Thus conversing, they passed through the length of the house and reached
+the garden, where Lygia and little Aulus were playing with balls, which
+slaves, appointed to that game exclusively and called spheristć, picked
+up and placed in their hands.  Petronius cast a quick passing glance at
+Lygia; little Aulus, seeing Vinicius, ran to greet him; but the young
+tribune, going forward, bent his head before the beautiful maiden, who
+stood with a ball in her hand, her hair blown apart a little.  She was
+somewhat out of breath, and flushed.
+
+In the garden triclinium, shaded by ivy, grapes, and woodbine, sat
+Pomponia Grćcina; hence they went to salute her.  She was known to
+Petronius, though he did not visit Plautius, for he had seen her at the
+house of Antistia, the daughter of Rubelius Plautus, and besides at the
+house of Seneca and Polion.  He could not resist a certain admiration
+with which he was filled by her face, pensive but mild, by the dignity
+of her bearing, by her movements, by her words.  Pomponia disturbed his
+understanding of women to such a degree that that man, corrupted to the
+marrow of his bones, and self-confident as no one in Rome, not only felt
+for her a kind of esteem, but even lost his previous self-confidence.
+And now, thanking her for her care of Vinicius, he thrust in, as it were
+involuntarily, "domina," which never occurred to him when speaking, for
+example, to Calvia Crispinilla, Scribonia, Veleria, Solina, and other
+women of high society.  After he had greeted her and returned thanks, he
+began to complain that he saw her so rarely, that it was not possible to
+meet her either in the Circus or the Amphitheatre; to which she answered
+calmly, laying her hand on the hand of her husband:
+
+"We are growing old, and love our domestic quiet more and more, both of
+us."
+
+Petronius wished to oppose; but Aulus Plautius added in his hissing
+voice,--"And we feel stranger and stranger among people who give Greek
+names to our Roman divinities."
+
+"The gods have become for some time mere figures of rhetoric," replied
+Petronius, carelessly.  "But since Greek rhetoricians taught us, it is
+easier for me even to say Hera than Juno."
+
+He turned his eyes then to Pomponia, as if to signify that in presence
+of her no other divinity could come to his mind: and then he began to
+contradict what she had said touching old age.
+
+"People grow old quickly, it is true; but there are some who live
+another life entirely, and there are faces moreover which Saturn seems
+to forget."
+
+Petronius said this with a certain sincerity even, for Pomponia Grćcina,
+though descending from the midday of life, had preserved an uncommon
+freshness of face; and since she had a small head and delicate features,
+she produced at times, despite her dark robes, despite her solemnity and
+sadness, the impression of a woman quite young.
+
+Meanwhile little Aulus, who had become uncommonly friendly with Vinicius
+during his former stay in the house, approached the young man and
+entreated him to play ball.  Lygia herself entered the triclinium after
+the little boy.  Under the climbing ivy, with the light quivering on her
+face, she seemed to Petronius more beautiful than at the first glance,
+and really like some nymph.  As he had not spoken to her thus far, he
+rose, inclined his head, and, instead of the usual expressions of
+greeting, quoted the words with which Ulysses greeted Nausikaa,--
+
+"I supplicate thee, O queen, whether thou art some goddess or a mortal!
+If thou art one of the daughters of men who dwell on earth, thrice
+blessed are thy father and thy lady mother, and thrice blessed thy
+brethren."
+
+The exquisite politeness of this man of the world pleased even Pomponia.
+As to Lygia, she listened, confused and flushed, without boldness to
+raise her eyes.  But a wayward smile began to quiver at the corners of
+her lips, and on her face a struggle was evident between the timidity of
+a maiden and the wish to answer; but clearly the wish was victorious,
+for, looking quickly at Petronius, she answered him all at once with the
+words of that same Nausikaa, quoting them at one breath, and a little
+like a lesson learned,--
+
+"Stranger, thou seemest no evil man nor foolish."
+
+Then she turned and ran out as a frightened bird runs.
+
+This time the turn for astonishment came to Petronius, for he had not
+expected to hear verses of Homer from the lips of a maiden of whose
+barbarian extraction he had heard previously from Vinicius. Hence he
+looked with an inquiring glance at Pomponia; but she could not give him
+an answer, for she was looking at that moment, with a smile, at the
+pride reflected on the face of her husband.
+
+He was not able to conceal that pride.  First, he had become attached to
+Lygia as to his own daughter; and second, in spite of his old Roman
+prejudices, which commanded him to thunder against Greek and the spread
+of the language, he considered it as the summit of social polish.  He
+himself had never been able to learn it well; over this he suffered in
+secret.  He was glad, therefore, that an answer was given in the
+language and poetry of Homer to this exquisite man both of fashion and
+letters, who was ready to consider Plautius's house as barbarian.
+
+"We have in the house a pedagogue, a Greek," said he, turning to
+Petronius, "who teaches our boy, and the maiden overhears the lessons.
+She is a wagtail yet, but a dear one, to which we have both grown
+attached."
+
+Petronius looked through the branches of woodbine into the garden, and
+at the three persons who were playing there.  Vinicius had thrown aside
+his toga, and, wearing only his tunic, was striking the ball, which
+Lygia, standing opposite, with raised arms was trying to catch.  The
+maiden did not make a great impression on Petronius at the first glance;
+she seemed to him too slender.  But from the moment when he saw her more
+nearly in the triclinium he thought to himself that Aurora might look
+like her; and as a judge he understood that in her there was something
+uncommon.  He considered everything and estimated everything; hence her
+face, rosy and clear, her fresh lips, as if set for a kiss, her eyes
+blue as the azure of the sea, the alabaster whiteness of her forehead,
+the wealth of her dark hair, with the reflection of amber or Corinthian
+bronze gleaming in its folds, her slender neck, the divine slope of her
+shoulders, the whole posture, flexible, slender, young with the youth of
+May and of freshly opened flowers.  The artist was roused in him, and
+the worshipper of beauty, who felt that beneath a statue of that maiden
+one might write "Spring."  All at once he remembered Chrysothemis, and
+pure laughter seized him. Chrysothemis seemed to him, with golden powder
+on her hair and darkened brows, to be fabulously faded,--something in
+the nature of a yellowed rose-tree shedding its leaves.  But still Rome
+envied him that Chrysothemis.  Then he recalled Poppća; and that most
+famous Poppća also seemed to him soulless, a waxen mask.  In that maiden
+with Tanagrian outlines there was not only spring, but a radiant soul,
+which shone through her rosy body as a flame through a lamp.
+
+"Vinicius is right," thought he, "and my Chrysothemis is old, old!--as
+Troy!"
+
+Then he turned to Pomponia Grćcina, and, pointing to the garden, said,--
+"I understand now, domina, why thou and thy husband prefer this house to
+the Circus and to feasts on the Palatine."
+
+"Yes," answered she, turning her eyes in the direction of little Aulus
+and Lygia.
+
+But the old general began to relate the history of the maiden, and what
+he had heard years before from Atelius Hister about the Lygian people
+who lived in the gloom of the North.
+
+The three outside had finished playing ball, and for some time had been
+walking along the sand of the garden, appearing against the dark
+background of myrtles and cypresses like three white statues. Lygia held
+little Aulus by the hand.  After they had walked a while they sat on a
+bench near the fish-pond, which occupied the middle of the garden.  After
+a time Aulus sprang up to frighten the fish in the transparent water,
+but Vinicius continued the conversation begun during the walk.
+
+"Yes," said he, in a low, quivering voice, scarcely audible; "barely had
+I cast aside the pretexta, when I was sent to the legions in Asia.  I
+had not become acquainted with the city, nor with life, nor with love.
+I know a small bit of Anacreon by heart, and Horace; but I cannot like
+Petronius quote verses, when reason is dumb from admiration and unable
+to find its own words.  While a youth I went to school to Musonius, who
+told me that happiness consists in wishing what the gods wish, and
+therefore depends on our will.  I think, however, that it is something
+else,--something greater and more precious, which depends not on the
+will, for love only can give it.  The gods themselves seek that
+happiness; hence I too, O Lygia, who have not known love thus far,
+follow in their footsteps. I also seek her who would give me happiness--"
+
+He was silent--and for a time there was nothing to be heard save the
+light plash of the water into which little Aulus was throwing pebbles to
+frighten the fish; but after a while Vinicius began again in a voice
+still softer and lower,--"But thou knowest of Vespasian's son Titus?
+They say that he had scarcely ceased to be a youth when he so loved
+Berenice that grief almost drew the life out of him.  So could I too
+love, O Lygia!  Riches, glory, power are mere smoke, vanity!  The rich
+man will find a richer than himself; the greater glory of another will
+eclipse a man who is famous; a strong man will be conquered by a
+stronger.  But can Cćsar himself, can any god even, experience greater
+delight or be happier than a simple mortal at the moment when at his
+breast there is breathing another dear breast, or when he kisses beloved
+lips? Hence love makes us equal to the gods, O Lygia."
+
+And she listened with alarm, with astonishment, and at the same time as
+if she were listening to the sound of a Grecian flute or a cithara.  It
+seemed to her at moments that Vinicius was singing a kind of wonderful
+song, which was instilling itself into her ears, moving the blood in
+her, and penetrating her heart with a faintness, a fear, and a kind of
+uncomprehended delight.  It seemed to her also that he was telling
+something which was in her before, but of which she could not give
+account to herself.  She felt that he was rousing in her something which
+had been sleeping hitherto, and that in that moment a hazy dream was
+changing into a form more and more definite, more pleasing, more
+beautiful.
+
+Meanwhile the sun had passed the Tiber long since, and had sunk low over
+the Janiculum.  On the motionless cypresses ruddy light was falling, and
+the whole atmosphere was filled with it.  Lygia raised on Vinicius her
+blue eyes as if roused from sleep; and he, bending over her with a
+prayer quivering in his eyes, seemed on a sudden, in the reflections of
+evening, more beautiful than all men, than all Greek and Roman gods
+whose statues she had seen on the façades of temples.  And with his
+fingers he clasped her arm lightly just above the wrist and asked,--
+"Dost thou not divine what I say to thee, Lygia?"
+
+"No," whispered she as answer, in a voice so low that Vinicius barely
+heard it.
+
+But he did not believe her, and, drawing her hand toward him more
+vigorously, he would have drawn it to his heart, which, under the
+influence of desire roused by the marvellous maiden, was beating like a
+hammer, and would have addressed burning words to her directly had not
+old Aulus appeared on a path set in a frame of myrtles, who said, while
+approaching them,--"The sun is setting; so beware of the evening
+coolness, and do not trifle with Libitina."
+
+"No," answered Vinicius; "I have not put on my toga yet, and I do not
+feel the cold."
+
+"But see, barely half the sun's shield is looking from behind the hill.
+That is a sweet climate of Sicily, where people gather on the square
+before sunset and take farewell of disappearing Phśbus with a choral
+song."
+
+And, forgetting that a moment earlier he had warned them against
+Libitina, he began to tell about Sicily, where he had estates and large
+cultivated fields which he loved.  He stated also that it had come to
+his mind more than once to remove to Sicily, and live out his life there
+in quietness.  "He whose head winters have whitened has bad enough of
+hoar frost.  Leaves are not falling from the trees yet, and the sky
+smiles on the city lovingly; but when the grapevines grow yellow-leaved,
+when snow falls on the Alban hills, and the gods visit the Campania with
+piercing wind, who knows but I may remove with my entire household to my
+quiet country-seat?"
+
+"Wouldst thou leave Rome?" inquired Vinicius, with sudden alarm.
+
+"I have wished to do so this long time, for it is quieter in Sicily and
+safer."
+
+And again he fell to praising his gardens, his herds, his house hidden
+in green, and the hills grown over with thyme and savory, among which
+were swarms of buzzing bees.  But Vinicius paid no heed to that bucolic
+note; and from thinking only of this, that he might lose Lygia, he
+looked toward Petronius as if expecting salvation from him alone.
+
+Meanwhile Petronius, sitting near Pomponia, was admiring the view of the
+setting sun, the garden, and the people standing near the fish-pond.
+Their white garments on the dark background of the myrtles gleamed like
+gold from the evening rays.  On the sky the evening light had begun to
+assume purple and violet hues, and to change like an opal.  A strip of
+the sky became lily-colored.  The dark silhouettes of the cypresses grew
+still more pronounced than during bright daylight.  In the people, in
+the trees, in the whole garden there reigned an evening calm.
+
+That calm struck Petronius, and it struck him especially in the people.
+In the faces of Pomponia, old Aulus, their son, and Lygia there was
+something such as he did not see in the faces which surrounded him every
+day, or rather every night.  There was a certain light, a certain
+repose, a certain serenity, flowing directly from the life which all
+lived there.  And with a species of astonishment he thought that a
+beauty and sweetness might exist which he, who chased after beauty and
+sweetness continually, had not known.  He could not hide the thought in
+himself, and said, turning to Pomponia,--"I am considering in my soul
+how different this world of yours is from the world which our Nero
+rules."
+
+She raised her delicate face toward the evening light, and said with
+simplicity,--"Not Nero, but God, rules the world."
+
+A moment of silence followed.  Near the triclinium were heard in the
+alley, the steps of the old general, Vinicius, Lygia, and little Aulus;
+but before they arrived, Petronius had put another question--"But
+believest thou in the gods, then, Pomponia?"
+
+"I believe in God, who is one, just, and all-powerful," answered the
+wife of Aulus Plautius.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter III
+
+
+"SHE believes in God who is one, all-powerful, and just," said
+Petronius, when he found himself again in the litter with Vinicius. "If
+her God is all-powerful, He controls life and death; and if He is just,
+He sends death justly.  Why, then, does Pomponia wear mourning for
+Julius?  In mourning for Julius she blames her God.  I must repeat this
+reasoning to our Bronzebeard, the monkey, since I consider that in
+dialectics I am the equal of Socrates.  As to women, I agree that each
+has three or four souls, but none of them a reasoning one.  Let Pomponia
+meditate with Seneca or Cornutus over the question of what their great
+Logos is.  Let them summon at once the shades of Xenophanes, Parmenides,
+Zeno, and Plato, who are as much wearied there in Cimmerian regions as a
+finch in a cage.  I wished to talk with her and with Plautius about
+something else.  By the holy stomach of the Egyptian Isis!  If I had
+told them right out directly why we came, I suppose that their virtue
+would have made as much noise as a bronze shield under the blow of a
+club.  And I did not dare to tell!  Wilt thou believe, Vinicius, I did
+not dare!  Peacocks are beautiful birds, but they have too shrill a cry.
+I feared an outburst.  But I must praise thy choice.  A real 'rosy-fingered
+Aurora.' And knowest thou what she reminded me of too?--Spring!
+not our spring in Italy, where an apple-tree merely puts forth a blossom
+here and there, and olive groves grow gray, just as they were gray
+before, but the spring which I saw once in Helvetia,--young, fresh,
+bright green.  By that pale moon, I do not wonder at thee, Marcus; but
+know that thou art loving Diana, because Aulus and Pomponia are ready to
+tear thee to pieces, as the dogs once tore Actćon."
+
+Vinicius was silent a time without raising his head; then he began to
+speak with a voice broken by passion,--"I desired her before, but now I
+desire her still more.  When I caught her arm, flame embraced me.  I
+must have her.  Were I Zeus, I would surround her with a cloud, as he
+surrounded Io, or I would fall on her in rain, as he fell on Danaë; I
+would kiss her lips till it pained!  I would hear her scream in my arms.
+I would kill Aulus and Pomponia, and bear her home in my arms.  I will
+not sleep to-night.  I will give command to flog one of my slaves, and
+listen to his groans--"
+
+"Calm thyself," said Petronius.  "Thou hast the longing of a carpenter
+from the Subura."
+
+"All one to me what thou sayst.  I must have her.  I have turned to thee
+for aid; but if thou wilt not find it, I shall find it myself.  Aulus
+considers Lygia as a daughter; why should I look on her as a slave? And
+since there is no other way, let her ornament the door of my house, let
+her anoint it with wolf's fat, and let her sit at my hearth as wife."
+
+"Calm thyself, mad descendant of consuls.  We do not lead in barbarians
+bound behind our cars, to make wives of their daughters.  Beware of
+extremes.  Exhaust simple, honorable methods, and give thyself and me
+time for meditation. Chrysothemis seemed to me too a daughter of Jove,
+and still I did not marry her, just as Nero did not marry Acte, though
+they called her a daughter of King Attalus.  Calm thyself!  Think that
+if she wishes to leave Aulus for thee, he will have no right to detain
+her. Know also that thou art not burning alone, for Eros has roused in
+her the flame too.  I saw that, and it is well to believe me.  Have
+patience.  There is a way to do everything, but to-day I have thought
+too much already, and it tires me.  But I promise that to-morrow I will
+think of thy love, and unless Petronius is not Petronius, he will
+discover some method."
+
+They were both silent again.
+
+"I thank thee," said Vinicius at last.  "May Fortune be bountiful to
+thee."
+
+"Be patient."
+
+"Whither hast thou given command to bear us?"
+
+"To Chrysothemis."
+
+"Thou art happy in possessing her whom thou lovest."
+
+"I? Dost thou know what amuses me yet in Chrysothemis?  This, that she
+is false to me with my freedman Theokles, and thinks that I do not
+notice it.  Once I loved her, but now she amuses me with her lying and
+stupidity.  Come with me to her.  Should she begin to flirt with thee,
+and write letters on the table with her fingers steeped in wine, know
+that I shall not be jealous."
+
+And he gave command to bear them both to Chrysothemis.
+
+But in the entrance Petronius put his hand on Vinicius's shoulder, and
+said,--"Wait; it seems to me that I have discovered a plan."
+
+"May all the gods reward thee!"
+
+"I have it!  I judge that this plan is infallible.  Knowest what,
+Marcus?"
+
+"I listen to thee, my wisdom."
+
+"Well, in a few days the divine Lygia will partake of Demeter's grain in
+thy house."
+
+"Thou art greater than Cćsar!" exclaimed Vinicius with enthusiasm.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter IV
+
+
+IN fact, Petronius kept his promise.  He slept all the day following his
+visit to Chrysothemis, it is true; but in the evening he gave command to
+bear him to the Palatine, where he had a confidential conversation with
+Nero; in consequence of this, on the third day a centurion, at the head
+of some tens of pretorian soldiers, appeared before the house of
+Plautius.
+
+The period was uncertain and terrible.  Messengers of this kind were
+more frequently heralds of death.  So when the centurion struck the
+hammer at Aulus's door, and when the guard of the atrium announced that
+there were soldiers in the anteroom, terror rose through the whole
+house.  The family surrounded the old general at once, for no one
+doubted that danger hung over him above all.  Pomponia, embracing his
+neck with her arms, clung to him with all her strength, and her blue
+lips moved quickly while uttering some whispered phrase.  Lygia, with a
+face pale as linen, kissed his hand; little Aulus clung to his toga.
+From the corridor, from chambers in the lower story intended for
+servant-women and attendants, from the bath, from the arches of lower
+dwellings, from the whole house, crowds of slaves began to hurry out,
+and the cries of "Heu! heu, me miserum!" were heard.  The women broke
+into great weeping; some scratched their cheeks, or covered their heads
+with kerchiefs.
+
+Only the old general himself, accustomed for years to look death
+straight in the eye, remained calm, and his short eagle face became as
+rigid as if chiselled from stone.  After a while, when he had silenced
+the uproar, and commanded the attendants to disappear, he said,--"Let me
+go, Pomponia.  If my end has come, we shall have time to take leave."
+
+And he pushed her aside gently; but she said,--"God grant thy fate and
+mine to be one, O Aulus!"
+
+Then, failing on her knees, she began to pray with that force which fear
+for some dear one alone can give.
+
+Aulus passed out to the atrium, where the centurion was waiting for him.
+It was old Caius Hasta, his former subordinate and companion in British
+wars.
+
+"I greet thee, general," said he.  "I bring a command, and the greeting
+of Cćsar; here are the tablets and the signet to show that I come in his
+name."
+
+"I am thankful to Cćsar for the greeting, and I shall obey the command,"
+answered Aulus.  "Be welcome, Hasta, and say what command thou hast
+brought."
+
+"Aulus Plautius," began Hasta, "Cćsar has learned that in thy house is
+dwelling the daughter of the king of the Lygians, whom that king during
+the life of the divine Claudius gave into the hands of the Romans as a
+pledge that the boundaries of the empire would never be violated by the
+Lygians.  The divine Nero is grateful to thee, O general, because thou
+hast given her hospitality in thy house for so many years; but, not
+wishing to burden thee longer, and considering also that the maiden as a
+hostage should be under the guardianship of Cćsar and the senate, he
+commands thee to give her into my hands."
+
+Aulus was too much a soldier and too much a veteran to permit himself
+regret in view of an order, or vain words, or complaint. A slight
+wrinkle of sudden anger and pain, however, appeared on his forehead.
+Before that frown legions in Britain had trembled on a time, and even at
+that moment fear was evident on the face of Hasta.  But in view of the
+order, Aulus Plautius felt defenceless.  He looked for some time at the
+tablets and the signet; then raising his eyes to the old centurion, he
+said calmly,--"Wait, Hasta, in the atrium till the hostage is delivered
+to thee."
+
+After these words he passed to the other end of the house, to the hall
+called ścus, where Pomponia Grćcina, Lygia, and little Aulus were
+waiting for him in fear and alarm.
+
+"Death threatens no one, nor banishment to distant islands," said he;
+"still Cćsar's messenger is a herald of misfortune.  It is a question of
+thee, Lygia."
+
+"Of Lygia?" exclaimed Pomponia, with astonishment.
+
+"Yes," answered Aulus.
+
+And turning to the maiden, he began: "Lygia, thou wert reared in our
+house as our own child; I and Pomponia love thee as our daughter.  But
+know this, that thou art not our daughter.  Thou art a hostage, given by
+thy people to Rome, and guardianship over thee belongs to Cćsar.  Now
+Cćsar takes thee from our house."
+
+The general spoke calmly, but with a certain strange, unusual voice.
+Lygia listened to his words, blinking, as if not understanding what the
+question was.  Pomponia's cheeks became pallid.  In the doors leading
+from the corridor to the ścus, terrified faces of slaves began to show
+themselves a second time.
+
+"The will of Cćsar must be accomplished," said Aulus.
+
+"Aulus!" exclaimed Pomponia, embracing the maiden with her arms, as if
+wishing to defend her, "it would be better for her to die."
+
+Lygia, nestling up to her breast, repeated, "Mother, mother!" unable in
+her sobbing to find other words.
+
+On Aulus's face anger and pain were reflected again.  "If I were alone
+in the world," said he, gloomily, "I would not surrender her alive, and
+my relatives might give offerings this day to 'Jupiter Liberator.' But I
+have not the right to kill thee and our child, who may live to happier
+times.  I will go to Cćsar this day, and implore him to change his
+command.  Whether he will hear me, I know not. Meanwhile, farewell,
+Lygia, and know that I and Pomponia ever bless the day in which thou
+didst take thy seat at our hearth."
+
+Thus speaking, he placed his hand on her head; but though he strove to
+preserve his calmness, when Lygia turned to him eyes filled with tears,
+and seizing his hand pressed it to her lips, his voice was filled with
+deep fatherly sorrow.
+
+"Farewell, our joy, and the light of our eyes," said he.
+
+And he went to the atrium quickly, so as not to let himself be conquered
+by emotion unworthy of a Roman and a general.
+
+Meanwhile Pomponia, when she had conducted Lygia to the cubiculum, began
+to comfort, console, and encourage her, uttering words meanwhile which
+sounded strangely in that house, where near them in an adjoining chamber
+the lararium remained yet, and where the hearth was on which Aulus
+Plautius, faithful to ancient usage, made offerings to the household
+divinities.  Now the hour of trial had come.  On a time Virginius had
+pierced the bosom of his own daughter to save her from the hands of
+Appius; still earlier Lucretia had redeemed her shame with her life.
+The house of Cćsar is a den of infamy, of evil, of crime.  But we,
+Lygia, know why we have not the right to raise hands on ourselves!  Yes!
+The law under which we both live is another, a greater, a holier, but it
+gives permission to defend oneself from evil and shame even should it
+happen to pay for that defence with life and torment. Whoso goes forth
+pure from the dwelling of corruption has the greater merit thereby.  The
+earth is that dwelling; but fortunately life is one twinkle of the eye,
+and resurrection is only from the grave; beyond that not Nero, but Mercy
+bears rule, and there instead of pain is delight, there instead of tears
+is rejoicing.
+
+Next she began to speak of herself.  Yes! she was calm; but in her
+breast there was no lack of painful wounds.  For example, Aulus was a
+cataract on her eye; the fountain of light had not flowed to him yet.
+Neither was it permitted her to rear her son in Truth. When she thought,
+therefore, that it might be thus to the end of her life, and that for
+them a moment of separation might come which would be a hundred times
+more grievous and terrible than that temporary one over which they were
+both suffering then, she could not so much as understand how she might
+be happy even in heaven without them.  And she had wept many nights
+through already, she had passed many nights in prayer, imploring grace
+and mercy.  But she offered her suffering to God, and waited and
+trusted.  And now, when a new blow struck her, when the tyrant's command
+took from her a dear one,--the one whom Aulus had called the light of
+their eyes,--she trusted yet, believing that there was a power greater
+than Nero's and a mercy mightier than his anger.
+
+And she pressed the maiden's head to her bosom still more firmly. Lygia
+dropped to her knees after a while, and, covering her eyes in the folds
+of Pomponia's peplus, she remained thus a long time in silence; but when
+she stood up again, some calmness was evident on her face.
+
+"I grieve for thee, mother, and for father and for my brother; but I
+know that resistance is useless, and would destroy all of us.  I promise
+thee that in the house of Cćsar I will never forget thy words."
+
+Once more she threw her arms around Pomponia's neck; then both went out
+to the ścus, and she took farewell of little Aulus, of the old Greek
+their teacher, of the dressing-maid who had been her nurse, and of all
+the slaves.  One of these, a tall and broad-shouldered Lygian, called
+Ursus in the house, who with other servants had in his time gone with
+Lygia's mother and her to the camp of the Romans, fell now at her feet,
+and then bent down to the knees of Pomponia, saying,--"O domina! permit
+me to go with my lady, to serve her and watch over her in the house of
+Cćsar."
+
+"Thou art not our servant, but Lygia's," answered Pomponia; "but if they
+admit thee through Cćsar's doors, in what way wilt thou be able to watch
+over her?"
+
+"I know not, domina; I know only that iron breaks in my hands just as
+wood does."
+
+When Aulus, who came up at that moment, had heard what the question was,
+not only did he not oppose the wishes of Ursus, but he declared that he
+had not even the right to detain him.  They were sending away Lygia as a
+hostage whom Cćsar had claimed, and they were obliged in the same way to
+send her retinue, which passed with her to the control of Cćsar.  Here
+he whispered to Pomponia that under the form of an escort she could add
+as many slaves as she thought proper, for the centurion could not refuse
+to receive them.
+
+There was a certain comfort for Lygia in this.  Pomponia also was glad
+that she could surround her with servants of her own choice. Therefore,
+besides Ursus, she appointed to her the old tire-woman, two maidens from
+Cyprus well skilled in hair-dressing, and two German maidens for the
+bath.  Her choice fell exclusively on adherents of the new faith; Ursus,
+too, had professed it for a number of years.  Pomponia could count on
+the faithfulness of those servants, and at the same time consoled
+herself with the thought that soon grains of truth would be in Cćsar's
+house.
+
+She wrote a few words also, committing care over Lygia to Nero's
+freedwoman, Acte.  Pomponia had not seen her, it is true, at meetings of
+confessors of the new faith; but she had heard from them that Acte had
+never refused them a service, and that she read the letters of Paul of
+Tarsus eagerly.  It was known to her also that the young freedwoman
+lived in melancholy, that she was a person different from all other
+women of Nero's house, and that in general she was the good spirit of
+the palace.
+
+Hasta engaged to deliver the letter himself to Acte.  Considering it
+natural that the daughter of a king should have a retinue of her own
+servants, he did not raise the least difficulty in taking them to the
+palace, but wondered rather that there should be so few.  He begged
+haste, however, fearing lest he might be suspected of want of zeal in
+carrying out orders.
+
+The moment of parting came.  The eyes of Pomponia and Lygia were filled
+with fresh tears; Aulus placed his hand on her head again, and after a
+while the soldiers, followed by the cry of little Aulus, who in defence
+of his sister threatened the centurion with his small fists, conducted
+Lygia to Cćsar's house.
+
+The old general gave command to prepare his litter at once; meanwhile,
+shutting himself up with Pomponia in the pinacotheca adjoining the ścus,
+he said to her,--"Listen to me, Pomponia.  I will go to Cćsar, though I
+judge that my visit will be useless; and though Seneca's word means
+nothing with Nero now, I will go also to Seneca.  To-day Sophonius,
+Tigellinus, Petronius, or Vatinius have more influence.  As to Cćsar,
+perhaps he has never even heard of the Lygian people; and if he has
+demanded the delivery of Lygia, the hostage, he has done so because some
+one persuaded him to it,--it is easy to guess who could do that."
+
+She raised her eyes to him quickly.
+
+"Is it Petronius?"
+
+"It is."
+
+A moment of silence followed; then the general continued,--"See what it
+is to admit over the threshold any of those people without conscience or
+honor.  Cursed be the moment in which Vinicius entered our house, for he
+brought Petronius.  Woe to Lygia, since those men are not seeking a
+hostage, but a concubine."
+
+And his speech became more hissing than usual, because of helpless rage
+and of sorrow for his adopted daughter.  He struggled with himself some
+time, and only his clenched fists showed how severe was the struggle
+within him.
+
+"I have revered the gods so far," said he; "but at this moment I think
+that not they are over the world, but one mad, malicious monster named
+Nero."
+
+"Aulus," said Pomponia.  "Nero is only a handful of rotten dust before
+God."
+
+But Aulus began to walk with long steps over the mosaic of the
+pinacotheca.  In his life there had been great deeds, but no great
+misfortunes; hence he was unused to them.  The old soldier had grown
+more attached to Lygia than he himself had been aware of, and now he
+could not be reconciled to the thought that he had lost her.  Besides,
+he felt humiliated.  A hand was weighing on him which he despised, and
+at the same time he felt that before its power his power was as nothing.
+
+But when at last he stifled in himself the anger which disturbed his
+thoughts, he said,--"I judge that Petronius has not taken her from us
+for Cćsar, since he would not offend Poppća.  Therefore he took her
+either for himself or Vinicius.  Today I will discover this."
+
+And after a while the litter bore him in the direction of the Palatine.
+Pomponia, when left alone, went to little Aulus, who did not cease
+crying for his sister, or threatening Cćsar.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter V
+
+
+AULUS had judged rightly that he would not be admitted to Nero's
+presence.  They told him that Cćsar was occupied in singing with the
+lute-player, Terpnos, and that in general he did not receive those whom
+he himself had not summoned.  In other words, that Aulus must not
+attempt in future to see him.
+
+Seneca, though ill with a fever, received the old general with due
+honor; but when he had heard what the question was, he laughed bitterly,
+and said,--"I can render thee only one service, noble Plautius, not to
+show Cćsar at any time that my heart feels thy pain, or that I should
+like to aid thee; for should Cćsar have the least suspicion on this
+head, know that he would not give thee back Lygia, though for no other
+reason than to spite me."
+
+He did not advise him, either, to go to Tigellinus or Vatinius or
+Vitelius.  It might be possible to do something with them through money;
+perhaps, also, they would like to do evil to Petronius, whose influence
+they were trying to undermine, but most likely they would disclose
+before Nero how dear Lygia was to Plautius, and then Nero would all the
+more resolve not to yield her to him. Here the old sage began to speak
+with a biting irony, which he turned against himself: "Thou hast been
+silent, Plautius, thou hast been silent for whole years, and Cćsar does
+not like those who are silent.  How couldst thou help being carried away
+by his beauty, his virtue, his singing, his declamation, his chariot-
+driving, and his verses?  Why didst thou not glorify the death of
+Britannicus, and repeat panegyrics in honor of the mother-slayer, and
+not offer congratulations after the stifling of Octavia?  Thou art
+lacking in foresight, Aulus, which we who live happily at the court
+possess in proper measure."
+
+Thus speaking, he raised a goblet which he carried at his belt, took
+water from a fountain at the impluvium, freshened his burning lips, and
+continued,--"Ah, Nero has a grateful heart.  He loves thee because thou
+hast served Rome and glorified its name at the ends of the earth; he
+loves me because I was his master in youth. Therefore, seest thou, I
+know that this water is not poisoned, and I drink it in peace.  Wine in
+my own house would be less reliable.  If thou art thirsty, drink boldly
+of this water.  The aqueducts bring it from beyond the Alban hills, and
+any one wishing to poison it would have to poison every fountain in
+Rome.  As thou seest, it is possible yet to be safe in this world and to
+have a quiet old age.  I am sick, it is true, but rather in soul than in
+body."
+
+This was true.  Seneca lacked the strength of soul which Cornutus
+possessed, for example, or Thrasea; hence his life was a series of
+concessions to crime.  He felt this himself; he understood that an
+adherent of the principles of Zeno, of Citium, should go by another
+road, and he suffered more from that cause than from the fear of death
+itself.
+
+But the general interrupted these reflections full of grief.
+
+"Noble Annćus," said he, "I know how Cćsar rewarded thee for the care
+with which thou didst surround his years of youth.  But the author of
+the removal of Lygia is Petronius.  Indicate to me a method against him,
+indicate the influences to which he yields, and use besides with him all
+the eloquence with which friendship for me of long standing can inspire
+thee."
+
+"Petronius and I," answered Seneca, "are men of two opposite camps; I
+know of no method against him, he yields to no man's influence.  Perhaps
+with all his corruption he is worthier than those scoundrels with whom
+Nero surrounds himself at present.  But to show him that he has done an
+evil deed is to lose time simply. Petronius has lost long since that
+faculty which distinguishes good from evil.  Show him that his act is
+ugly, he will be ashamed of it. When I see him, I will say, 'Thy act is
+worthy of a freedman.' If that will not help thee, nothing can."
+
+"Thanks for that, even," answered the general.
+
+Then he gave command to carry him to the house of Vinicius, whom he
+found at sword practice with his domestic trainer.  Aulus was borne away
+by terrible anger at sight of the young man occupied calmly with fencing
+during the attack on Lygia; and barely had the curtain dropped behind
+the trainer when this anger burst forth in a torrent of bitter
+reproaches and injuries.  But Vinicius, when he learned that Lygia had
+been carried away, grew so terribly pale that Aulus could not for even
+an instant suspect him of sharing in the deed.  The young man's forehead
+was covered with sweat; the blood, which had rushed to his heart for a
+moment, returned to his face in a burning wave; his eyes began to shoot
+sparks, his mouth to hurl disconnected questions.  Jealousy and rage
+tossed him in turn, like a tempest.  It seemed to him that Lygia, once
+she had crossed the threshold of Cćsar's house, was lost to him
+absolutely.  When Aulus pronounced the name of Petronius, suspicion flew
+like a lightning flash through the young soldier's mind, that Petronius
+had made sport of him, and either wanted to win new favor from Nero by
+the gift of Lygia, or keep her for himself.  That any one who had seen
+Lygia would not desire her at once, did not find a place in his head.
+Impetuousness, inherited in his family, carried him away like a wild
+horse, and took from him presence of mind.
+
+"General," said he, with a broken voice, "return home and wait for me.
+Know that if Petronius were my own father, I would avenge on him the
+wrong done to Lygia.  Return home and wait for me. Neither Petronius nor
+Cćsar will have her."
+
+Then he went with clinched fists to the waxed masks standing clothed in
+the atrium, and burst out,--"By those mortal masks!  I would rather kill
+her and myself."  When he had said this, he sent another "Wait for me"
+after Aulus, then ran forth like a madman from the atrium, and flew to
+Petronius's house, thrusting pedestrians aside on the way.
+
+Aulus returned home with a certain encouragement.  He judged that if
+Petronius had persuaded Cćsar to take Lygia to give her to Vinicius,
+Vinicius would bring her to their house.  Finally, the thought was no
+little consolation to him, that should Lygia not be rescued she would be
+avenged and protected by death from disgrace.  He believed that Vinicius
+would do everything that he had promised.  He had seen his rage, and he
+knew the excitability innate in the whole family.  He himself, though he
+loved Lygia as her own father, would rather kill her than give her to
+Cćsar; and had he not regarded his son, the last descendant of his
+stock, he would doubtless have done so.  Aulus was a soldier; he had
+hardly heard of the Stoics, but in character he was not far from their
+ideas,--death was more acceptable to his pride than disgrace.
+
+When he returned home, he pacified Pomponia, gave her the consolation
+that he had, and both began to await news from Vinicius.  At moments
+when the steps of some of the slaves were heard in the atrium, they
+thought that perhaps Vinicius was bringing their beloved child to them,
+and they were ready in the depth of their souls to bless both.  Time
+passed, however, and no news came.  Only in the evening was the hammer
+heard on the gate.
+
+After a while a slave entered and handed Aulus a letter.  The old
+general, though he liked to show command over himself, took it with a
+somewhat trembling hand, and began to read as hastily as if it were a
+question of his whole house.
+
+All at once his face darkened, as if a shadow from a passing cloud had
+fallen on it.
+
+"Read," said he, turning to Pomponia.
+
+Pomponia took the letter and read as follows:--
+
+"Marcus Vinicius to Aulus Plautius greeting.  What has happened, has
+happened by the will of Cćsar, before which incline your heads, as I and
+Petronius incline ours."
+
+A long silence followed.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter VI
+
+
+PETRONIUS was at home.  The doorkeeper did not dare to stop Vinicius,
+who burst into the atrium like a storm, and, learning that the master of
+the house was in the library, he rushed into the library with the same
+impetus.  Finding Petronius writing, he snatched the reed from his hand,
+broke it, trampled the reed on the floor, then fixed his fingers into
+his shoulder, and, approaching his face to that of his uncle, asked,
+with a hoarse voice,--"What hast thou done with her?  Where is she?"
+
+Suddenly an amazing thing happened.  That slender and effeminate
+Petronius seized the hand of the youthful athlete, which was grasping
+his shoulder, then seized the other, and, holding them both in his one
+hand with the grip of an iron vice, he said,--"I am incapable only in
+the morning; in the evening I regain my former strength.  Try to escape.
+A weaver must have taught thee gymnastics, and a blacksmith thy
+manners."
+
+On his face not even anger was evident, but in his eyes there was a
+certain pale reflection of energy and daring.  After a while he let the
+hands of Vinicius drop.  Vinicius stood before him shamefaced and
+enraged.
+
+"Thou hast a steel hand," said he; "but if thou hast betrayed me, I
+swear, by all the infernal gods, that I will thrust a knife into thy
+body, though thou be in the chambers of Cćsar."
+
+"Let us talk calmly," said Petronius.  "Steel is stronger, as thou
+seest, than iron; hence, though out of one of thy arms two as large as
+mine might be made, I have no need to fear thee.  On the contrary, I
+grieve over thy rudeness, and if the ingratitude of men could astonish
+me yet, I should be astonished at thy ingratitude."
+
+"Where is Lygia?"
+
+"In a brothel,--that is, in the house of Cćsar."
+
+"Petronius!"
+
+"Calm thyself, and be seated.  I asked Cćsar for two things, which he
+promised me,--first, to take Lygia from the house of Aulus, and second
+to give her to thee.  Hast thou not a knife there under the folds of thy
+toga?  Perhaps thou wilt stab me!  But I advise thee to wait a couple of
+days, for thou wouldst be taken to prison, and meanwhile Lygia would be
+wearied in thy house."
+
+Silence followed.  Vinicius looked for some time with astonished eyes on
+Petronius; then he said,--"Pardon me; I love her, and love is disturbing
+my faculties."
+
+"Look at me, Marcus.  The day before yesterday I spoke to Cćsar as
+follows: 'My sister's son, Vinicius, has so fallen in love with a lean
+little girl who is being reared with the Auluses that his house is
+turned into a steambath from sighs. Neither thou, O Cćsar, nor I--we who
+know, each of us, what true beauty is--would give a thousand sesterces
+for her; but that lad has ever been as dull as a tripod, and now he has
+lost all the wit that was in him.'"
+
+"Petronius!"
+
+"If thou understand not that I said this to insure Lygia's safety, I am
+ready to believe that I told the truth.  I persuaded Bronzebeard that a
+man of his ćsthetic nature could not consider such a girl beautiful; and
+Nero, who so far has not dared to look otherwise than through my eyes,
+will not find in her beauty, and, not finding it, will not desire her.
+It was necessary to insure ourselves against the monkey and take him on
+a rope.  Not he, but Poppća, will value Lygia now; and Poppća will
+strive, of course, to send the girl out of the palace at the earliest.
+I said further to Bronzebeard, in passing: 'Take Lygia and give her to
+Vinicius!  Thou hast the right to do so, for she is a hostage; and if
+thou take her, thou wilt inflict pain on Aulus.' He agreed; he had not
+the least reason not to agree, all the more since I gave him a chance to
+annoy decent people.  They will make thee official guardian of the
+hostage, and give into thy hands that Lygian treasure; thou, as a friend
+of the valiant Lygians, and also a faithful servant of Cćsar, wilt not
+waste any of the treasure, but wilt strive to increase it.  Cćsar, to
+preserve appearances, will keep her a few days in his house, and then
+send her to thy insula.  Lucky man!"
+
+"Is this true?  Does nothing threaten her there in Cćsar's house?"
+
+"If she had to live there permanently, Poppća would talk about her to
+Locusta, but for a few days there is no danger.  Ten thousand people
+live in it.  Nero will not see her, perhaps, all the more since he left
+everything to me, to the degree that just now the centurion was here
+with information that he had conducted the maiden to the palace and
+committed her to Acte.  She is a good soul, that Acte; hence I gave
+command to deliver Lygia to her.  Clearly Pomponia Grćcina is of that
+opinion too, for she wrote to Acte.  To-morrow there is a feast at
+Nero's. I have requested a place for thee at the side of Lygia."
+
+"Pardon me, Caius, my hastiness.  I judged that thou hadst given command
+to take her for thyself or for Cćsar."
+
+"I can forgive thy hastiness; but it is more difficult to forgive rude
+gestures, vulgar shouts, and a voice reminding one of players at mora.
+I do not like that style, Marcus, and do thou guard against it. Know
+that Tigellinus is Cćsar's pander; but know also that if I wanted the
+girl for myself now, looking thee straight in the eyes, I would say,
+'Vinicius!  I take Lygia from thee and I will keep her till I am tired
+of her."
+
+Thus speaking, he began to look with his hazel eyes straight into the
+eyes of Vinicius with a cold and insolent stare.  The young man lost
+himself completely.
+
+"The fault is mine," said he.  "Thou art kind and worthy.  I thank thee
+from my whole soul.  Permit me only to put one more question: Why didst
+thou not have Lygia sent directly to my house?"
+
+"Because Cćsar wishes to preserve appearances.  People in Rome will talk
+about this,--that we removed Lygia as a hostage.  While they are
+talking, she will remain in Cćsar's palace.  Afterward she will be
+removed quietly to thy house, and that will be the end. Bronzebeard is a
+cowardly cur.  He knows that his power is unlimited, and still he tries
+to give specious appearances to every act.  Hast thou recovered to the
+degree of being able to philosophize a little?  More than once have I
+thought, Why does crime, even when as powerful as Cćsar, and assured of
+being beyond punishment, strive always for the appearances of truth,
+justice, and virtue?  Why does it take the trouble?  I consider that to
+murder a brother, a mother, a wife, is a thing worthy of some petty
+Asiatic king, not a Roman Cćsar; but if that position were mine, I
+should not write justifying letters to the Senate.  But Nero writes.
+Nero is looking for appearances, for Nero is a coward.  But Tiberius was
+not a coward; still he justified every step he took. Why is this?  What
+a marvellous, involuntary homage paid to virtue by evil!  And knowest
+thou what strikes me?  This, that it is done because transgression is
+ugly and virtue is beautiful.  Therefore a man of genuine ćsthetic
+feeling is also a virtuous man.  Hence I am virtuous.  To-day I must
+pour out a little wine to the shades of Protagoras, Prodicus, and
+Gorgias.  It seems that sophists too can be of service.  Listen, for I
+am speaking yet.  I took Lygia from Aulus to give her to thee.  Well.
+But Lysippus would have made wonderful groups of her and thee.  Ye are
+both beautiful; therefore my act is beautiful, and being beautiful it
+cannot be bad.  Marcus, here sitting before thee is virtue incarnate in
+Caius Petronius!  If Aristides were living, it would be his duty to come
+to me and offer a hundred minć for a short treatise on virtue."
+
+But Vinicius, as a man more concerned with reality than with treatises
+on virtue, replied,--"To-morrow I shall see Lygia, and then have her in
+my house daily, always, and till death."
+
+"Thou wilt have Lygia, and I shall have Aulus on my head.  He will
+summon the vengeance of all the infernal gods against me.  And if the
+beast would take at least a preliminary lesson in good declamation!  He
+will blame me, however, as my former doorkeeper blamed my clients but
+him I sent to prison in the country."
+
+"Aulus has been at my house.  I promised to give him news of Lygia."
+
+"Write to him that the will of the 'divine' Cćsar is the highest law,
+and that thy first son will bear the name Aulus.  It is necessary that
+the old man should have some consolation.  I am ready to pray
+Bronzebeard to invite him to-morrow to the feast.  Let him see thee in
+the triclinium next to Lygia."
+
+"Do not do that.  I am sorry for them, especially for Pomponia."
+
+And he sat down to write that letter which took from the old general the
+remnant of his hope.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter VII
+
+
+ONCE the highest heads in Rome inclined before Acte, the former favorite
+of Nero.  But even at that period she showed no desire to interfere in
+public questions, and if on any occasion she used her influence over the
+young ruler, it was only to implore mercy for some one.  Quiet and
+unassuming, she won the gratitude of many, and made no one her enemy.
+Even Octavia was unable to hate her. To those who envied her she seemed
+exceedingly harmless.  It was known that she continued to love Nero with
+a sad and pained love, which lived not in hope, but only in memories of
+the time in which that Nero was not only younger and loving, but better.
+It was known that she could not tear her thoughts and soul from those
+memories, but expected nothing; since there was no real fear that Nero
+would return to her, she was looked upon as a person wholly inoffensive,
+and hence was left in peace.  Poppća considered her merely as a quiet
+servant, so harmless that she did not even try to drive her from the
+palace.
+
+But since Cćsar had loved her once and dropped her without offence in a
+quiet and to some extent friendly manner, a certain respect was retained
+for her.  Nero, when he had freed her, let her live in the palace, and
+gave her special apartments with a few servants.  And as in their time
+Pallas and Narcissus, though freedmen of Claudius, not only sat at
+feasts with Claudius, but also held places of honor as powerful
+ministers, so she too was invited at times to Cćsar's table.  This was
+done perhaps because her beautiful form was a real ornament to a feast.
+Cćsar for that matter had long since ceased to count with any
+appearances in his choice of company.  At his table the most varied
+medley of people of every position and calling found places.  Among them
+were senators, but mainly those who were content to be jesters as well.
+There were patricians, old and young, eager for luxury, excess, and
+enjoyment.  There were women with great names, who did not hesitate to
+put on a yellow wig of an evening and seek adventures on dark streets
+for amusement's sake.  There were also high officials, and priests who
+at full goblets were willing to jeer at their own gods.  At the side of
+these was a rabble of every sort: singers, mimes, musicians, dancers of
+both sexes; poets who, while declaiming, were thinking of the sesterces
+which might fall to them for praise of Cćsar's verses; hungry
+philosophers following the dishes with eager eyes; finally, noted
+charioteers, tricksters, miracle-wrights, tale-tellers, jesters, and the
+most varied adventurers brought through fashion or folly to a few days'
+notoriety.  Among these were not lacking even men who covered with long
+hair their ears pierced in sign of slavery.
+
+The most noted sat directly at the tables; the lesser served to amuse in
+time of eating, and waited for the moment in which the servants would
+permit them to rush at the remnants of food and drink.  Guests of this
+sort were furnished by Tigellinus, Vatinius, and Vitelius; for these
+guests they were forced more than once to find clothing befitting the
+chambers of Cćsar, who, however, liked their society, through feeling
+most free in it.  The luxury of the court gilded everything, and covered
+all things with glitter. High and low, the descendants of great
+families, and the needy from the pavements of the city, great artists,
+and vile scrapings of talent, thronged to the palace to sate their
+dazzled eyes with a splendor almost surpassing human estimate, and to
+approach the giver of every favor, wealth, and property,--whose single
+glance might abase, it is true, but might also exalt beyond measure.
+
+That day Lygia too had to take part in such a feast.  Fear, uncertainty,
+and a dazed feeling, not to be wondered at after the sudden change, were
+struggling in her with a wish to resist.  She feared Nero; she feared
+the people and the palace whose uproar deprived her of presence of mind;
+she feared the feasts of whose shamelessness she had heard from Aulus,
+Pomponia Grćcina, and their friends.  Though young, she was not without
+knowledge, for knowledge of evil in those times reached even children's
+ears early.  She knew, therefore, that ruin was threatening her in the
+palace.  Pomponia, moreover, had warned her of this at the moment of
+parting.  But having a youthful spirit, unacquainted with corruption,
+and confessing a lofty faith, implanted in her by her foster mother, she
+had promised to defend herself against that ruin; she had promised her
+mother, herself and also that Divine Teacher in whom she not only
+believed, but whom she had come to love with her half-childlike heart
+for the sweetness of his doctrine, the bitterness of his death, and the
+glory of his resurrection.
+
+She was confident too that now neither Aulus nor Pomponia would be
+answerable for her actions; she was thinking therefore whether it would
+not be better to resist and not go to the feast.  On the one hand fear
+and alarm spoke audibly in her soul; on the other the wish rose in her
+to show courage in suffering, in exposure to torture and death.  The
+Divine Teacher had commanded to act thus.  He had given the example
+himself.  Pomponia had told her that the most earnest among the
+adherents desire with all their souls such a test, and pray for it.  And
+Lygia, when still in the house of Aulus, had been mastered at moments by
+a similar desire.  She had seen herself as a martyr, with wounds on her
+feet and hands, white as snow, beautiful with a beauty not of earth, and
+borne by equally white angels into the azure sky; and her imagination
+admired such a vision.  There was in it much childish brooding, but
+there was in it also something of delight in herself, which Pomponia had
+reprimanded.  But now, when opposition to Cćsar's will might draw after
+it some terrible punishment, and the martyrdom scene of imagination
+become a reality, there was added to the beautiful visions and to the
+delight a kind of curiosity mingled with dread, as to how they would
+punish her, and what kind of torments they would provide.  And her soul,
+half childish yet, was hesitating on two sides.  But Acte, hearing of
+these hesitations, looked at her with astonishment as if the maiden were
+talking in a fever.  To oppose Cćsar's will, expose oneself from the
+first moment to his anger?  To act thus one would need to be a child
+that knows not what it says.  From Lygia's own words it appears that she
+is, properly speaking, not really a hostage, but a maiden forgotten by
+her own people.  No law of nations protects her; and even if it did,
+Cćsar is powerful enough to trample on it in a moment of anger.  It has
+pleased Cćsar to take her, and he will dispose of her.  Thenceforth she
+is at his will, above which there is not another on earth.
+
+"So it is," continued Acte.  "I too have read the letters of Paul of
+Tarsus, and I know that above the earth is God, and the Son of God, who
+rose from the dead; but on the earth there is only Cćsar. Think of this,
+Lygia.  I know too that thy doctrine does not permit thee to be what I
+was, and that to you as to the Stoics,--of whom Epictetus has told me,--
+when it comes to a choice between shame and death, it is permitted to
+choose only death.  But canst thou say that death awaits thee and not
+shame too?  Hast thou heard of the daughter of Sejanus, a young maiden,
+who at command of Tiberius had to pass through shame before her death,
+so as to respect a law which prohibits the punishment of virgins with
+death?  Lygia, Lygia, do not irritate Cćsar.  If the decisive moment
+comes when thou must choose between disgrace and death, thou wilt act as
+thy faith commands; but seek not destruction thyself, and do not
+irritate for a trivial cause an earthly and at the same time a cruel
+divinity."
+
+Acte spoke with great compassion, and even with enthusiasm; and being a
+little short-sighted, she pushed her sweet face up to Lygia's as if
+wishing to see surely the effect of her words.
+
+But Lygia threw her arms around Acte's neck with childish trustfulness
+and said,--"Thou art kind, Acte."
+
+Acte, pleased by the praise and confidence, pressed her to her heart;
+and then disengaging herself from the arms of the maiden, answered,--"My
+happiness has passed and my joy is gone, but I am not wicked."  Then she
+began to walk with quick steps through the room and to speak to herself,
+as if in despair.
+
+"No! And he was not wicked.  He thought himself good at that time, and
+he wished to be good.  I know that best.  All his change came later,
+when he ceased to love.  Others made him what he is--yes, others--and
+Poppća."
+
+Here her eyelids filled with tears.  Lygia followed her for some time
+with her blue eyes, and asked at last,--"Art thou sorry for him, Acte?"
+
+"I am sorry for him!" answered the Grecian, with a low voice.  And again
+she began to walk, her hands clinched as if in pain, and her face
+without hope.
+
+"Dost thou love him yet, Acte?" asked Lygia, timidly.
+
+"I love him."
+
+And after a while she added,--"No one loves him but me."
+
+Silence followed, during which Acte strove to recover her calmness,
+disturbed by memories; and when at length her face resumed its usual
+look of calm sorrow, she said,--
+
+"Let us speak of thee, Lygia.  Do not even think of opposing Cćsar; that
+would be madness.  And be calm.  I know this house well, and I judge
+that on Cćsar's part nothing threatens thee.  If Nero had given command
+to take thee away for himself, he would not have brought thee to the
+Palatine.  Here Poppća rules; and Nero, since she bore him a daughter,
+is more than ever under her influence.  No, Nero gave command, it is
+true, that thou shouldst be at the feast, but he has not seen thee yet;
+he has not inquired about thee, hence he does not care about thee.
+Maybe he took thee from Aulus and Pomponia only through anger at them.
+Petronius wrote me to have care of thee; and since Pomponia too wrote,
+as thou knowest, maybe they had an understanding.  Maybe he did that at
+her request.  If this be true, if he at the request of Pomponia will
+occupy himself with thee, nothing threatens thee; and who knows if Nero
+may not send thee back to Aulus at his persuasion?  I know not whether
+Nero loves him over much, but I know that rarely has he the courage to
+be of an opinion opposite to his."
+
+"Ah, Acte!" answered Lygia; "Petronius was with us before they took me,
+and my mother was convinced that Nero demanded my surrender at his
+instigation."
+
+"That would be bad," said Acte.  But she stopped for a while, and then
+said,--"Perhaps Petronius only said, in Nero's presence at some supper,
+that he saw a hostage of the Lygians at Aulus's, and Nero, who is
+jealous of his own power, demanded thee only because hostages belong to
+Cćsar.  But he does not like Aulus and Pomponia.  No! it does not seem
+to me that if Petronius wished to take thee from Aulus he would use such
+a method.  I do not know whether Petronius is better than others of
+Cćsar's court, but he is different.  Maybe too thou wilt find some one
+else who would be willing to intercede for thee.  Hast thou not seen at
+Aulus's some one who is near Cćsar?"
+
+"I have seen Vespasian and Titus."
+
+"Cćsar does not like them."
+
+"And Seneca."
+
+"If Seneca advised something, that would be enough to make Nero act
+otherwise."
+
+The bright face of Lygia was covered with a blush.  "And Vinicius-"
+
+"I do not know him."
+
+"He is a relative of Petronius, and returned not long since from
+Armenia."
+
+"Dost thou think that Nero likes him?"
+
+"All like Vinicius."
+
+"And would he intercede for thee?"
+
+"He would."
+
+Acte smiled tenderly, and said, "Then thou wilt see him surely at the
+feast.  Thou must be there, first, because thou must,--only such a child
+as thou could think otherwise.  Second, if thou wish to return to the
+house of Aulus, thou wilt find means of beseeching Petronius and
+Vinicius to gain for thee by their influence the right to return.  If
+they were here, both would tell thee as I do, that it would be madness
+and ruin to try resistance.  Cćsar might not notice thy absence, it is
+true; but if he noticed it and thought that thou hadst the daring to
+oppose his will, here would be no salvation for thee.  Go, Lygia!  Dost
+thou hear the noise in the palace?  The sun is near setting; guests will
+begin to arrive soon."
+
+"Thou art right," answered Lygia, "and I will follow thy advice."
+
+How much desire to see Vinicius and Petronius there was in this resolve,
+how much of woman's curiosity there was to see such a feast once in
+life, and to see at it Cćsar, the court, the renowned Poppća and other
+beauties, and all that unheard-of splendor, of which wonders were
+narrated in Rome, Lygia could not give account to herself of a
+certainty.  But Acte was right, and Lygia felt this distinctly.  There
+was need to go; therefore, when necessity and simple reason supported
+the hidden temptation, she ceased to hesitate.
+
+Acte conducted her to her own unctorium to anoint and dress her; and
+though there was no lack of slave women in Cćsar's house, and Acte had
+enough of them for her personal service, still, through sympathy for the
+maiden whose beauty and innocence had caught her heart, she resolved to
+dress her herself.  It became clear at once that in the young Grecian,
+in spite of her sadness and her perusal of the letters of Paul of
+Tarsus, there was yet much of the ancient Hellenic spirit, to which
+physical beauty spoke with more eloquence than aught else on earth.
+When she had undressed Lygia, she could not restrain an exclamation of
+wonder at sight of her form, at once slender and full, created, as it
+were, from pearl and roses; and stepping back a few paces, she looked
+with delight on that matchless, spring-like form.
+
+"Lygia," exclaimed she at last, "thou art a hundred times more beautiful
+than Poppća!"
+
+But, reared in the strict house of Pomponia, where modesty was observed,
+even when women were by themselves, the maiden, wonderful as a wonderful
+dream, harmonious as a work of Praxiteles or as a song, stood alarmed,
+blushing from modesty, with knees pressed together, with her hands on
+her bosom, and downcast eyes.  At last, raising her arms with sudden
+movement, she removed the pins which held her hair, and in one moment,
+with one shake of her head, she covered herself with it as with a
+mantle.
+
+Acte, approaching her and touching her dark tresses, said,--
+
+"Oh, what hair thou hast!  I will not sprinkle golden powder on it; it
+gleams of itself in one place and another with gold, where it waves.  I
+will add, perhaps, barely a sprinkle here and there; but lightly,
+lightly, as if a sun ray had freshened it.  Wonderful must thy Lygian
+country be where such maidens are born!
+
+"I do not remember it," answered Lygia; "but Ursus has told me that with
+us it is forests, forests, and forests."
+
+"But flowers bloom in those forests," said Acte, dipping her hand in a
+vase filled with verbena, and moistening Lygia's hair with it. When she
+had finished this work, Acte anointed her body lightly with odoriferous
+oils from Arabia, and then dressed her in a soft gold-colored tunic
+without sleeves, over which was to be put a snow-white peplus.  But
+since she had to dress Lygia's hair first, she put on her meanwhile a
+kind of roomy dress called synthesis, and, seating her in an armchair,
+gave her for a time into the hands of slave women, so as to stand at a
+distance herself and follow the hairdressing.  Two other slave women put
+on Lygia's feet white sandals, embroidered with purple, fastening them
+to her alabaster ankles with golden lacings drawn crosswise.  When at
+last the hair-dressing was finished, they put a peplus on her in very
+beautiful, light folds; then Acte fastened pearls to her neck, and
+touching her hair at the folds with gold dust, gave command to the women
+to dress her, following Lygia with delighted eyes meanwhile.
+
+But she was ready soon; and when the first litters began to appear
+before the main gate, both entered the side portico from which were
+visible the chief entrance, the interior galleries, and the courtyard
+surrounded by a colonnade of Numidian marble.
+
+Gradually people passed in greater and greater numbers under the lofty
+arch of the entrance, over which the splendid quadrigć of Lysias seemed
+to bear Apollo and Diana into space.  Lygia's eyes were struck by that
+magnificence, of which the modest house of Aulus could not have given
+her the slightest idea.  It was sunset; the last rays were falling on
+the yellow Numidian marble of the columns, which shone like gold in
+those gleams and changed into rose color also.  Among the columns, at
+the side of white statues of the Danaides and others, representing gods
+or heroes, crowds of people flowed past,--men and women; resembling
+statues also, for they were draped in togas, pepluses, and robes,
+falling with grace and beauty toward the earth in soft folds, on which
+the rays of the setting sun were expiring.  A gigantic Hercules, with
+head in the light yet, from the breast down sunk in shadow cast by the
+columns, looked from above on that throng.  Acte showed Lygia senators
+in wide-bordered togas, in colored tunics, in sandals with crescents on
+them, and knights, and famed artists; she showed her Roman ladies, in
+Roman, in Grecian, in fantastic Oriental costume, with hair dressed in
+towers or pyramids, or dressed like that of the statues of goddesses,
+low on the head, and adorned with flowers.  Many men and women did Acte
+call by name, adding to their names histories, brief and sometimes
+terrible, which pierced Lygia with fear, amazement, and wonder.  For her
+this was a strange world, whose beauty intoxicated her eyes, but whose
+contrasts her girlish understanding could not grasp.  In those twilights
+of the sky, in those rows of motionless columns vanishing in the
+distance, and in those statuesque people, there was a certain lofty
+repose.  It seemed that in the midst of those marbles of simple lines
+demigods might live free of care, at peace and in happiness. Meanwhile
+the low voice of Acte disclosed, time after time, a new and dreadful
+secret of that palace and those people.  See, there at a distance is the
+covered portico on whose columns and floor are still visible red stains
+from the blood with which Caligula sprinkled the white marble when he
+fell beneath the knife of Cassius Chćrea; there his wife was slain;
+there his child was dashed against a stone; under that wing is the
+dungeon in which the younger Drusus gnawed his hands from hunger; there
+the elder Drusus was poisoned; there Gemellus quivered in terror, and
+Claudius in convulsions; there Germanicus suffered,--everywhere those
+walls had heard the groans and death-rattle of the dying; and those
+people hurrying now to the feast in togas, in colored tunics, in
+flowers, and in jewels, may be the condemned of to-morrow; on more than
+one face, perhaps, a smile conceals terror, alarm, the uncertainty of
+the next day; perhaps feverishness, greed, envy are gnawing at this
+moment into the hearts of those crowned demigods, who in appearance are
+free of care.  Lygia's frightened thoughts could not keep pace with
+Acte's words; and when that wonderful world attracted her eyes with
+increasing force, her heart contracted within her from fear, and in her
+soul she struggled with an immense, inexpressible yearning for the
+beloved Pomponia Grćcina, and the calm house of Aulus, in which love,
+and not crime, was the ruling power.
+
+Meanwhile new waves of guests were flowing in from the Vicus Apollinis.
+From beyond the gates came the uproar and shouts of clients, escorting
+their patrons.  The courtyard and the colonnades were swarming with the
+multitude of Cćsar's slaves, of both sexes, small boys, and pretorian
+soldiers, who kept guard in the palace.  Here and there among dark or
+swarthy visages was the black face of a Numidian, in a feathered helmet,
+and with large gold rings in his ears.  Some were bearing lutes and
+citharas, hand lamps of gold, silver, and bronze, and bunches of
+flowers, reared artificially despite the late autumn season.  Louder and
+louder the sound of conversation was mingled with the splashing of the
+fountain, the rosy streams of which fell from above on the marble and
+were broken, as if in sobs.
+
+Acte had stopped her narration; but Lygia gazed at the throng, as if
+searching for some one.  All at once her face was covered with a blush,
+and from among the columns came forth Vinicius with Petronius.  They
+went to the great triclinium, beautiful, calm, like white gods, in their
+togas.  It seemed to Lygia, when she saw those two known and friendly
+faces among strange people, and especially when she saw Vinicius, that a
+great weight had fallen from her heart.  She felt less alone.  That
+measureless yearning for Pomponia and the house of Aulus, which had
+broken out in her a little while before, ceased at once to be painful.
+The desire to see Vinicius and to talk with him drowned in her other
+voices.  In vain did she remember all the evil which she had heard of
+the house of Cćsar, the words of Acte, the warnings of Pomponia; in
+spite of those words and warnings, she felt all at once that not only
+must she be at that feast, but that she wished to be there.  At the
+thought that soon she would hear that dear and pleasant voice, which had
+spoken of love to her and of happiness worthy of the gods, and which was
+sounding like a song in her ears yet, delight seized her straightway.
+
+But the next moment she feared that delight.  It seemed to her that she
+would be false to the pure teaching in which she had been reared, false
+to Pomponia, and false to herself.  It is one thing to go by constraint,
+and another to delight in such a necessity.  She felt guilty, unworthy,
+and ruined.
+
+Despair swept her away, and she wanted to weep.  Had she been alone, she
+would have knelt down and beaten her breast, saying, "Mea culpa! mea
+culpa!"  Acte, taking her hand at that moment, led her through the
+interior apartments to the grand triclinium, where the feast was to be.
+Darkness was in her eyes, and a roaring in her ears from internal
+emotion; the beating of her heart stopped her breath.  As in a dream,
+she saw thousands of lamps gleaming on the tables and on the walls; as
+in a dream, she heard the shout with which the guests greeted Cćsar; as
+through a mist, she saw Cćsar himself.  The shout deafened her, the
+glitter dazzled, the odors intoxicated; and, losing the remnant of her
+consciousness, she was barely able to recognize Acte, who seated her at
+the table and took a place at her side.
+
+But after a while a low and known voice was heard at the other side,--"A
+greeting, most beautiful of maidens on earth and of stars in heaven.  A
+greeting to thee, divine Callina!"
+
+Lygia, having recovered somewhat, looked up; at her side was Vinicius.
+He was without a toga, for convenience and custom had enjoined to cast
+aside the toga at feasts.  His body was covered with only a sleeveless
+scarlet tunic embroidered in silver palms.  His bare arms were
+ornamented in Eastern fashion with two broad golden bands fastened above
+the elbow; below they were carefully stripped of hair.  They were
+smooth, but too muscular,--real arms of a soldier, they were made for
+the sword and the shield.  On his head was a garland of roses.  With
+brows joining above the nose, with splendid eyes and a dark complexion,
+he was the impersonation of youth and strength, as it were.  To Lygia he
+seemed so beautiful that though her first amazement had passed, she was
+barely able to answer,--"A greeting, Marcus."
+
+"Happy," said he, "are my eyes, which see thee; happy my ears, which
+hear thy voice, dearer to me than the sound of lutes or citharas.  Were
+it commanded me to choose who was to rest here by my side at this feast,
+thou, Lygia, or Venus, I would choose thee, divine one!"
+
+And he looked at the maiden as if he wished to sate himself with the
+sight of her, to burn her eyes with his eyes.  His glance slipped from
+her face to her neck and bare arms, fondled her shapely outlines,
+admired her, embraced her, devoured her; but besides desire, there was
+gleaming in him happiness, admiration, and ecstasy beyond limit.
+
+"I knew that I should see thee in Cćsar's house," continued he; "but
+still, when I saw thee, such delight shook my whole soul, as if a
+happiness entirely unexpected had met me."
+
+Lygia, having recovered herself and feeling that in that throng and in
+that house he was the only being who was near to her, began to converse
+with him, and ask about everything which she did not understand and
+which filled her with fear.  Whence did he know that he would find her
+in Cćsar's house?  Why is she there?  Why did Cćsar take her from
+Pomponia?  She is full of fear where she is, and wishes to return to
+Pomponia.  She would die from alarm and grief were it not for the hope
+that Petronius and he will intercede for her before Cćsar.
+
+Vinicius explained that he learned from Aulus himself that she had been
+taken.  Why she is there, he knows not.  Cćsar gives account to no one
+of his orders and commands.  But let her not fear.  He, Vinicius, is
+near her and will stay near her.  He would rather lose his eyes than not
+see her; he would rather lose his life than desert her.  She is his
+soul, and hence he will guard her as his soul.  In his house he will
+build to her, as to a divinity, an altar on which he will offer myrrh
+and aloes, and in spring saffron and apple-blossoms; and since she has a
+dread of Cćsar's house, he promises that she shall not stay in it.
+
+And though he spoke evasively and at times invented, truth was to be
+felt in his voice, because his feelings were real.  Genuine pity
+possessed him, too, and her words went to his soul so thoroughly that
+when she began to thank him and assure him that Pomponia would love him
+for his goodness, and that she herself would be grateful to him all her
+life, he could not master his emotion, and it seemed to him that he
+would never be able in life to resist her prayer.  The heart began to
+melt in him.  Her beauty intoxicated his senses, and he desired her; but
+at the same time he felt that she was very dear to him, and that in
+truth he might do homage to her, as to a divinity; he felt also
+irresistible need of speaking of her beauty and of his own homage.  As
+the noise at the feast increased, he drew nearer to her, whispered kind,
+sweet words flowing from the depth of his soul, words as resonant as
+music and intoxicating as wine.
+
+And he intoxicated her.  Amid those strange people he seemed to her ever
+nearer, ever dearer, altogether true, and devoted with his whole soul.
+He pacified her; he promised to rescue her from the house of Cćsar; he
+promised not to desert her, and said that he would serve her.  Besides,
+he had spoken before at Aulus's only in general about love and the
+happiness which it can give; but now he said directly that he loved her,
+and that she was dear and most precious to him.  Lygia heard such words
+from a man's lips for the first time; and as she heard them it seemed to
+her that something was wakening in her as from a sleep, that some
+species of happiness was embracing her in which immense delight was
+mingled with immense alarm.  Her cheeks began to burn, her heart to
+beat, her mouth opened as in wonder.  She was seized with fear because
+she was listening to such things, still she did not wish for any cause
+on earth to lose one word.  At moments she dropped her eyes; then again
+she raised her clear glance to Vinicius, timid and also inquiring, as if
+she wished to say to him, "Speak on!"  The sound of the music, the odor
+of flowers and of Arabian perfumes, began to daze her.  In Rome it was
+the custom to recline at banquets, but at home Lygia occupied a place
+between Pomponia and little Aulus.  Now Vinicius was reclining near her,
+youthful, immense, in love, burning; and she, feeling the heat that
+issued from him, felt both delight and shame.  A kind of sweet weakness,
+a kind of faintness and forgetfulness seized her; it was as if
+drowsiness tortured her.
+
+But her nearness to him began to act on Vinicius also.  His nostrils
+dilated, like those of an Eastern steed.  The beating of his heart with
+unusual throb was evident under his scarlet tunic; his breathing grew
+short, and the expressions that fell from his lips were broken.  For the
+first time, too, he was so near her.  His thoughts grew disturbed; he
+felt a flame in his veins which he tried in vain to quench with wine.
+Not wine, but her marvellous face, her bare arms, her maiden breast
+heaving under the golden tunic, and her form hidden in the white folds
+of the peplus, intoxicated him more and more.  Finally, he seized her
+arm above the wrist, as he had done once at Aulus's, and drawing her
+toward him whispered, with trembling lips,--"I love thee, Callina,--
+divine one."
+
+"Let me go, Marcus," said Lygia.
+
+But he continued, his eyes mist-covered, "Love me, my goddess!"
+
+But at that moment was heard the voice of Acte, who was reclining on the
+other side of Lygia.
+
+"Cćsar is looking at you both."
+
+Vinicius was carried away by sudden anger at Cćsar and at Acte. Her
+words had broken the charm of his intoxication.  To the young man even a
+friendly voice would have seemed repulsive at such a moment, but he
+judged that Acte wished purposely to interrupt his conversation with
+Lygia.  So, raising his head and looking over the shoulder of Lygia at
+the young freedwoman, he said with malice:
+
+"The hour has passed, Acte, when thou didst recline near Cćsar's side at
+banquets, and they say that blindness is threatening thee; how then
+canst thou see him?"
+
+But she answered as if in sadness: "Still I see him.  He, too, has short
+sight, and is looking at thee through an emerald."
+
+Everything that Nero did roused attention, even in those nearest him;
+hence Vinicius was alarmed.  He regained self-control, and began
+imperceptibly to look toward Cćsar.  Lygia, who, embarrassed at the
+beginning of the banquet, had seen Nero as in a mist, and afterward,
+occupied by the presence and conversation of Vinicius, had not looked at
+him at all, turned to him eyes at once curious and terrified.
+
+Acte spoke truly.  Cćsar had bent over the table, half-closed one eye,
+and holding before the other a round polished emerald, which he used,
+was looking at them.  For a moment his glance met Lygia's eyes, and the
+heart of the maiden was straitened with terror.  When still a child on
+Aulus's Sicilian estate, an old Egyptian slave had told her of dragons
+which occupied dens in the mountains, and it seemed to her now that all
+at once the greenish eye of such a monster was gazing at her.  She
+caught at Vinicius's hand as a frightened child would, and disconnected,
+quick impressions pressed into her head: Was not that he, the terrible,
+the all-powerful? She had not seen him hitherto, and she thought that he
+looked differently.  She had imagined some kind of ghastly face, with
+malignity petrified in its features; now she saw a great head, fixed on
+a thick neck, terrible, it is true, but almost ridiculous, for from a
+distance it resembled the head of a child.  A tunic of amethyst color,
+forbidden to ordinary mortals, cast a bluish tinge on his broad and
+short face.  He had dark hair, dressed, in the fashion introduced by
+Otho, in four curls.
+
+He had no beard, because he had sacrified it recently to Jove,--for
+which all Rome gave him thanks, though people whispered to each other
+that he had sacrificed it because his beard, like that of his whole
+family, was red.  In his forehead, projecting strongly above his brows,
+there remained something Olympian.  In his contracted brows the
+consciousness of supreme power was evident; but under that forehead of a
+demigod was the face of a monkey, a drunkard, and a comedian,--vain,
+full of changing desires, swollen with fat, notwithstanding his youth;
+besides, it was sickly and foul.  To Lygia he seemed ominous, but above
+all repulsive.
+
+After a while he laid down the emerald and ceased to look at her. Then
+she saw his prominent blue eyes, blinking before the excess of light,
+glassy, without thought, resembling the eyes of the dead.
+
+"Is that the hostage with whom Vinicius is in love?" asked he, turning
+to Petronius.
+
+"That is she," answered Petronius.
+
+"What are her people called?"
+
+"The Lygians."
+
+"Does Vinicius think her beautiful?"
+
+"Array a rotten olive trunk in the peplus of a woman, and Vinicius will
+declare it beautiful.  But on thy countenance, incomparable judge, I
+read her sentence already.  Thou hast no need to pronounce it!  The
+sentence is true: she is too dry, thin, a mere blossom on a slender
+stalk; and thou, O divine ćsthete, esteemest the stalk in a woman.
+Thrice and four times art thou right!  The face alone does not signify.
+I have learned much in thy company, but even now I have not a perfect
+cast of the eye.  But I am ready to lay a wager with Tullius Senecio
+concerning his mistress, that, although at a feast, when all are
+reclining, it is difficult to judge the whole form, thou hast said in
+thy mind already, 'Too narrow in the hips.'"
+
+"Too narrow in the hips," answered Nero, blinking.
+
+On Petronius's lips appeared a scarcely perceptible smile; but Tullius
+Senecio, who till that moment was occupied in conversing with Vestinius,
+or rather in reviling dreams, while Vestinius believed in them, turned
+to Petronius, and though he had not the least idea touching that of
+which they were talking, he said,--"Thou art mistaken!  I hold with
+Cćsar."
+
+"Very well," answered Petronius.  "I have just maintained that thou hast
+a glimmer of understanding, but Cćsar insists that thou art an ass pure
+and simple."
+
+"Habet!" said Cćsar, laughing, and turning down the thumb, as was done
+in the Circus, in sign that the gladiator had received a blow and was to
+be finished.
+
+But Vestinius, thinking that the question was of dreams, exclaimed,--
+"But I believe in dreams, and Seneca told me on a time that he believes
+too."
+
+"Last night I dreamt that I had become a vestal virgin," said Calvia
+Crispinilla, bending over the table.
+
+At this Nero clapped his hands, other followed, and in a moment clapping
+of hands was heard all around,--for Crispinilla had been divorced a
+number of times, and was known throughout Rome for her fabulous
+debauchery.
+
+But she, not disconcerted in the least, said,--"Well!  They are all old
+and ugly.  Rubria alone has a human semblance, and so there would be two
+of us, though Rubria gets freckles in summer."
+
+"But admit, purest Calvia," said Petronius, "that thou couldst become a
+vestal only in dreams."
+
+"But if Cćsar commanded?"
+
+"I should believe that even the most impossible dreams might come true."
+
+"But they do come true," said Vestinius.  "I understand those who do not
+believe in the gods, but how is it possible not to believe in dreams?"
+
+"But predictions?" inquired Nero.  "It was predicted once to me, that
+Rome would cease to exist, and that I should rule the whole Orient."
+
+"Predictions and dreams are connected," said Vestinius.  "Once a certain
+proconsul, a great disbeliever, sent a slave to the temple of Mopsus
+with a sealed letter which he would not let any one open; he did this to
+try if the god could answer the question contained in the letter.  The
+slave slept a night in the temple to have a prophetic dream; he returned
+then and said: 'I saw a youth in my dreams; he was as bright as the sun,
+and spoke only one word, "Black."' The proconsul, when he heard this,
+grew pale, and turning to his guests, disbelievers like himself, said:
+'Do ye know what was in the letter?'" Here Vestinius stopped, and,
+raising his goblet with wine, began to drink.
+
+"What was in the letter?" asked Senecio.
+
+"In the letter was the question: 'What is the color of the bull which I
+am to sacrifice: white or black?'"
+
+But the interest roused by the narrative was interrupted by Vitelius,
+who, drunk when he came to the feast, burst forth on a sudden and
+without cause in senseless laughter.
+
+"What is that keg of tallow laughing at?" asked Nero.
+
+"Laughter distinguishes men from animals," said Petronius, "and he has
+no other proof that he is not a wild boar."
+
+Vitelius stopped half-way in his laughter, and smacking his lips,
+shining from fat and sauces, looked at those present with as much
+astonishment as if he had never seen them before; then he raised his two
+hands, which were like cushions, and said in a hoarse voice,--"The ring
+of a knight has fallen from my finger, and it was inherited from my
+father."
+
+"Who was a tailor," added Nero.
+
+But Vitelius burst forth again in unexpected laughter, and began to
+search for his ring in the peplus of Calvia Crispinilla.
+
+Hereupon Vestinius fell to imitating the cries of a frightened woman.
+Nigidia, a friend of Calvia,--a young widow with the face of a child and
+the eyes of a wanton,--said aloud,--"He is seeking what he has not
+lost."
+
+"And which will be useless to him if he finds it," finished the poet
+Lucan.
+
+The feast grew more animated.  Crowds of slaves bore around successive
+courses; from great vases filled with snow and garlanded with ivy,
+smaller vessels with various kinds of wine were brought forth
+unceasingly.  All drank freely.  On the guests, roses fell from the
+ceiling at intervals.
+
+Petronius entreated Nero to dignify the feast with his song before the
+guests drank too deeply.  A chorus of voices supported his words, but
+Nero refused at first.  It was not a question of courage alone, he said,
+though that failed him always.  The gods knew what efforts every success
+cost him.  He did not avoid them, however, for it was needful to do
+something for art; and besides, if Apollo had gifted him with a certain
+voice, it was not proper to let divine gifts be wasted.  He understood,
+even, that it was his duty to the State not to let them be wasted.  But
+that day he was really hoarse. In the night he had placed leaden weights
+on his chest, but that had not helped in any way.  He was thinking even
+to go to Antium, to breathe the sea air.
+
+Lucan implored him in the name of art and humanity.  All knew that the
+divine poet and singer had composed a new hymn to Venus, compared with
+which Lucretius's hymn was as the howl of a yearling wolf.  Let that
+feast be a genuine feast.  So kind a ruler should not cause such
+tortures to his subjects.  "Be not cruel, O Cćsar!"
+
+"Be not cruel!" repeated all who were sitting near.
+
+Nero spread his hands in sign that he had to yield.  All faces assumed
+then an expression of gratitude, and all eyes were turned to him; but he
+gave command first to announce to Poppća that he would sing; he informed
+those present that she had not come to the feast, because she did not
+feel in good health; but since no medicine gave her such relief as his
+singing, he would be sorry to deprive her of this opportunity.
+
+In fact, Poppća came soon.  Hitherto she had ruled Nero as if he had
+been her subject, but she knew that when his vanity as a singer, a
+charioteer, or a poet was involved, there was danger in provoking it.
+She came in therefore, beautiful as a divinity, arrayed, like Nero, in
+robes of amethyst color, and wearing a necklace of immense pearls,
+stolen on a time from Massinissa; she was golden-haired, sweet, and
+though divorced from two husbands she had the face and the look of a
+virgin.
+
+She was greeted with shouts, and the appellation "Divine Augusta."
+Lygia had never seen any one so beautiful, and she could not believe her
+own eyes, for she knew that Poppća Sabina was one of the vilest women on
+earth.  She knew from Pomponia that she had brought Cćsar to murder his
+mother and his wife; she knew her from accounts given by Aulus's guests
+and the servants; she had heard that statues to her had been thrown down
+at night in the city; she had heard of inscriptions, the writers of
+which had been condemned to severest punishment, but which still
+appeared on the city walls every morning.  Yet at sight of the notorious
+Poppća, considered by the confessors of Christ as crime and evil
+incarnate, it seemed to her that angels or spirits of heaven might look
+like her.  She was unable simply to take her eyes from Poppća; and from
+her lips was wrested involuntarily the question,--"Ah, Marcus, can it
+be possible?"
+
+But he, roused by wine, and as it were impatient that so many things had
+scattered her attention, and taken her from him and his words, said,--
+"Yes, she is beautiful, but thou art a hundred times more beautiful.
+Thou dost not know thyself, or thou wouldst be in love with thyself, as
+Narcissus was; she bathes in asses' milk, but Venus bathed thee in her
+own milk.  Thou dost not know thyself, Ocelle mi!  Look not at her.
+Turn thy eyes to me, Ocelle mi!  Touch this goblet of wine with thy
+lips, and I will put mine on the same place."
+
+And he pushed up nearer and nearer, and she began to withdraw toward
+Acte.  But at that moment silence was enjoined because Cćsar had risen.
+The singer Diodorus had given him a lute of the kind called delta;
+another singer named Terpnos, who had to accompany him in playing,
+approached with an instrument called the nablium.  Nero, resting the
+delta on the table, raised his eyes; and for a moment silence reigned in
+the triclinium, broken only by a rustle, as roses fell from the ceiling.
+
+Then he began to chant, or rather to declaim, singingly and
+rhythmically, to the accompaniment of the two lutes, his own hymn to
+Venus.  Neither the voice, though somewhat injured, nor the verses were
+bad, so that reproaches of conscience took possession of Lygia again;
+for the hymn, though glorifying the impure pagan Venus, seemed to her
+more than beautiful, and Cćsar himself, with a laurel crown on his head
+and uplifted eyes, nobler, much less terrible, and less repulsive than
+at the beginning of the feast.
+
+The guests answered with a thunder of applause.  Cries of, "Oh, heavenly
+voice!" were heard round about; some of the women raised their hands,
+and held them thus, as a sign of delight, even after the end of the
+hymn; others wiped their tearful eyes; the whole hall was seething as in
+a beehive.  Poppća, bending her golden-haired head, raised Nero's hand
+to her lips, and held it long in silence.  Pythagoras, a young Greek of
+marvellous beauty,--the same to whom later the half-insane Nero
+commanded the flamens to marry him, with the observance of all rites,--
+knelt now at his feet.
+
+But Nero looked carefully at Petronius, whose praises were desired by
+him always before every other, and who said,--"If it is a question of
+music, Orpheus must at this moment be as yellow from envy as Lucan, who
+is here present; and as to the verses, I am sorry that they are not
+worse; if they were I might find proper words to praise them."
+
+Lucan did not take the mention of envy evil of him; on the contrary, he
+looked at Petronius with gratitude, and, affecting ill-humor, began to
+murmur,--"Cursed fate, which commanded me to live contemporary with such
+a poet.  One might have a place in the memory of man, and on Parnassus;
+but now one will quench, as a candle in sunlight."
+
+Petronius, who had an amazing memory, began to repeat extracts from the
+hymn and cite single verses, exalt, and analyze the more beautiful
+expressions.  Lucan, forgetting as it were his envy before the charm of
+the poetry, joined his ecstasy to Petronius's words.  On Nero's face
+were reflected delight and fathomless vanity, not only nearing
+stupidity, but reaching it perfectly.  He indicated to them verses which
+he considered the most beautiful; and finally he began to comfort Lucan,
+and tell him not to lose heart, for though whatever a man is born that
+he is, the honor which people give Jove does not exclude respect for
+other divinities.
+
+Then he rose to conduct Poppća, who, being really in ill health, wished
+to withdraw.  But he commanded the guests who remained to occupy their
+places anew, and promised to return, In fact, he returned a little
+later, to stupefy himself with the smoke of incense, and gaze at further
+spectacles which he himself, Petronius, or Tigellinus had prepared for
+the feast.
+
+Again verses were read or dialogues listened to in which extravagance
+took the place of wit.  After that Paris, the celebrated mime,
+represented the adventures of Io, the daughter of Inachus. To the
+guests, and especially to Lygia, unaccustomed to such scenes, it seemed
+that they were gazing at miracles and enchantment.  Paris, with motions
+of his hands and body, was able to express things apparently impossible
+in a dance.  His hands dimmed the air, creating a cloud, bright, living,
+quivering, voluptuous, surrounding the half-fainting form of a maiden
+shaken by a spasm of delight.  That was a picture, not a dance; an
+expressive picture, disclosing the secrets of love, bewitching and
+shameless; and when at the end of it Corybantes rushed in and began a
+bacchic dance with girls of Syria to the sounds of cithara, lutes,
+drums, and cymbals,--a dance filled with wild shouts and still wilder
+license,--it seemed to Lygia that living fire was burning her, and that
+a thunderbolt ought to strike that house, or the ceiling fall on the
+heads of those feasting there.
+
+But from the golden net fastened to the ceiling only roses fell, and the
+now half-drunken Vinicius said to her,--"I saw thee in the house of
+Aulus, at the fountain.  It was daylight, and thou didst think that no
+one saw thee; but I saw thee.  And I see thee thus yet, though that
+peplus hides thee.  Cast aside the peplus, like Crispinilla.  See, gods
+and men seek love.  There is nothing in the world but love.  Lay thy
+head on my breast and close thy eyes."
+
+The pulse beat oppressively in Lygia's hands and temples.  A feeling
+seized her that she was flying into some abyss, and that Vinicius, who
+before had seemed so near and so trustworthy, instead of saving was
+drawing her toward it.  And she felt sorry for him.  She began again to
+dread the feast and him and herself.  Some voice, like that of Pomponia,
+was calling yet in her soul, "O Lygia, save thyself!"  But something
+told her also that it was too late; that the one whom such a flame had
+embraced as that which had embraced her, the one who had seen what was
+done at that feast and whose heart had beaten as hers had on hearing the
+words of Vinicius, the one through whom such a shiver had passed as had
+passed through her when he approached, was lost beyond recovery. She
+grew weak.  It seemed at moments to her that she would faint, and then
+something terrible would happen.  She knew that, under penalty of
+Cćsar's anger, it was not permitted any one to rise till Cćsar rose; but
+even were that not the case, she had not strength now to rise.
+
+Meanwhile it was far to the end of the feast yet.  Slaves brought new
+courses, and filled the goblets unceasingly with wine; before the table,
+on a platform open at one side, appeared two athletes to give the guests
+a spectacle of wrestling.
+
+They began the struggle at once, and the powerful bodies, shining from
+olive oil, formed one mass; bones cracked in their iron arms, and from
+their set jaws came an ominous gritting of teeth.  At moments was heard
+the quick, dull thump of their feet on the platform strewn with saffron;
+again they were motionless, silent, and it seemed to the spectators that
+they had before them a group chiselled out of stone.  Roman eyes
+followed with delight the movement of tremendously exerted backs,
+thighs, and arms.  But the struggle was not too prolonged; for Croton, a
+master, and the founder of a school of gladiators, did not pass in vain
+for the strongest man in the empire.  His opponent began to breathe more
+and more quickly: next a rattle was heard in his throat; then his face
+grew blue; finally he threw blood from his mouth and fell.
+
+A thunder of applause greeted the end of the struggle, and Croton,
+resting his foot on the breast of his opponent, crossed his gigantic
+arms on his breast, and cast the eyes of a victor around the hall.
+
+Next appeared men who mimicked beasts and their voices, ball-players and
+buffoons.  Only a few persons looked at them, however, since wine had
+darkened the eyes of the audience.  The feast passed by degrees into a
+drunken revel and a dissolute orgy. The Syrian damsels, who appeared at
+first in the bacchic dance, mingled now with the guests.  The music
+changed into a disordered and wild outburst of citharas, lutes, Armenian
+cymbals, Egyptian sistra, trumpets, and horns.  As some of the guests
+wished to talk, they shouted at the musicians to disappear.  The air,
+filled with the odor of flowers and the perfume of oils with which
+beautiful boys had sprinkled the feet of the guests during the feast,
+permeated with saffron and the exhalations of people, became stifling;
+lamps burned with a dim flame; the wreaths dropped sidewise on the
+heads of guests; faces grew pale and were covered with sweat. Vitelius
+rolled under the table.  Nigidia, stripping herself to the waist,
+dropped her drunken childlike head on the breast of Lucan, who, drunk in
+like degree, fell to blowing the golden powder from her hair, and
+raising his eyes with immense delight.  Vestinius, with the stubbornness
+of intoxication, repeated for the tenth time the answer of Mopsus to the
+sealed letter of the proconsul.  Tullius, who reviled the gods, said,
+with a drawling voice broken by hiccoughs,--"If the spheros of
+Xenophanes is round, then consider, such a god might be pushed along
+before one with the foot, like a barrel."
+
+But Domitius Afer, a hardened criminal and informer, was indignant at
+the discourse, and through indignation spilled Falernian over his whole
+tunic.  He had always believed in the gods.  People say that Rome will
+perish, and there are some even who contend that it is perishing
+already.  And surely!  But if that should come, it is because the youth
+are without faith, and without faith there can be no virtue.  People
+have abandoned also the strict habits of former days, and it never
+occurs to them that Epicureans will not stand against barbarians.  As
+for him, he--As for him, he was sorry that he had lived to such times,
+and that he must seek in pleasures a refuge against griefs which, if not
+met, would soon kill him.
+
+When he had said this, he drew toward him a Syrian dancer, and kissed
+her neck and shoulders with his toothless mouth.  Seeing this, the
+consul Memmius Regulus laughed, and, raising his bald head with wreath
+awry, exclaimed,--"Who says that Rome is perishing?  What folly!  I, a
+consul, know better.  Videant consules! Thirty legions are guarding our
+pax romana!"
+
+Here he put his fists to his temples and shouted, in a voice heard
+throughout the triclinium,--"Thirty legions! thirty legions! from
+Britain to the Parthian boundaries!"  But he stopped on a sudden, and,
+putting a finger to his forehead, said,--"As I live, I think there are
+thirty-two."  He rolled under the table, and began soon to send forth
+flamingo tongues, roast and chilled mushrooms, locusts in honey, fish,
+meat, and everything which he had eaten or drunk.
+
+But the number of the legions guarding Roman peace did not pacify
+Domitius.
+
+No, no!  Rome must perish; for faith in the gods was lost, and so were
+strict habits!  Rome must perish; and it was a pity, for still life was
+pleasant there.  Cćsar was gracious, wine was good!  Oh, what a pity!
+
+And hiding his head on the arm of a Syrian bacchanal, he burst into
+tears.  "What is a future life!  Achilles was right,--better be a slave
+in the world beneath the sun than a king in Cimmerian regions.  And
+still the question whether there are any gods--since it is unbelief--is
+destroying the youth."
+
+Lucan meanwhile had blown all the gold powder from Nigidia's hair, and
+she being drunk had fallen asleep.  Next he took wreaths of ivy from the
+vase before him, put them on the sleeping woman, and when he had
+finished looked at those present with a delighted and inquiring glance.
+He arrayed himself in ivy too, repeating, in a voice of deep conviction,
+"I am not a man at all, but a faun."
+
+Petronius was not drunk; but Nero, who drank little at first, out of
+regard for his "heavenly" voice, emptied goblet after goblet toward the
+end, and was drunk.  He wanted even to sing more of his verses,--this
+time in Greek,--but he had forgotten them, and by mistake sang an ode of
+Anacreon.  Pythagoras, Diodorus, and Terpnos accompanied him; but
+failing to keep time, they stopped.  Nero as a judge and an ćsthete was
+enchanted with the beauty of Pythagoras, and fell to kissing his hands
+in ecstasy.  "Such beautiful hands I have seen only once, and whose were
+they?"  Then placing his palm on his moist forehead, he tried to
+remember.  After a while terror was reflected on his face.
+
+Ah! His mother's--Agrippina's!
+
+And a gloomy vision seized him forthwith.
+
+"They say," said he, "that she wanders by moonlight on the sea around
+Baić and Bauli.  She merely walks,--walks as if seeking for something.
+When she comes near a boat, she looks at it and goes away; but the
+fisherman on whom she has fixed her eye dies."
+
+"Not a bad theme," said Petronius.
+
+But Vestinius, stretching his neck like a stork, whispered
+mysteriously,--"I do not believe in the gods; but I believe in spirits
+--Oi!"
+
+Nero paid no attention to their words, and continued,--"I celebrated the
+Lemuria, and have no wish to see her.  This is the fifth year--I had to
+condemn her, for she sent assassins against me; and, had I not been
+quicker than she, ye would not be listening to-night to my song."
+
+"Thanks be to Cćsar, in the name of the city and the world!" cried
+Domitius Afer.
+
+"Wine! and let them strike the tympans!"
+
+The uproar began anew.  Lucan, all in ivy, wishing to outshout him, rose
+and cried,--"I am not a man, but a faun; and I dwell in the forest.
+Eho-o-o-oo!"  Cćsar drank himself drunk at last; men were drunk, and
+women were drunk.  Vinicius was not less drunk than others; and in
+addition there was roused in him, besides desire, a wish to quarrel,
+which happened always when he passed the measure.  His dark face became
+paler, and his tongue stuttered when he spoke, in a voice now loud and
+commanding,--"Give me thy lips!  To-day, to-morrow, it is all one!
+Enough of this!
+
+"Cćsar took thee from Aulus to give thee to me, dost understand?
+To-morrow, about dusk, I will send for thee, dost understand? Cćsar
+promised thee to me before he took thee.  Thou must be mine!  Give me
+thy lips!  I will not wait for to-morrow,--give thy lips quickly."
+
+And he moved to embrace her; but Acte began to defend her, and she
+defended herself with the remnant of her strength, for she felt that she
+was perishing.  But in vain did she struggle with both hands to remove
+his hairless arm; in vain, with a voice in which terror and grief were
+quivering, did she implore him not to be what he was, and to have pity
+on her.  Sated with wine, his breath blew around her nearer and nearer,
+and his face was there near her face. He was no longer the former kind
+Vinicius, almost dear to her soul; he was a drunken, wicked satyr, who
+filled her with repulsion and terror.  But her strength deserted her
+more and more.  In vain did she bend and turn away her face to escape
+his kisses.  He rose to his feet, caught her in both arms, and drawing
+her head to his breast, began, panting, to press her pale lips with his.
+
+But at this instant a tremendous power removed his arms from her neck
+with as much ease as if they had been the arms of a child, and pushed
+him aside, like a dried limb or a withered leaf.  What had happened?
+Vinicius rubbed his astonished eyes, and saw before him the gigantic
+figure of the Lygian, called Ursus, whom he had seen at the house of
+Aulus.
+
+Ursus stood calmly, but looked at Vinicius so strangely with his blue
+eyes that the blood stiffened in the veins of the young man; then the
+giant took his queen on his arm, and walked out of the triclinium with
+an even, quiet step.
+
+Acte in that moment went after him.
+
+Vinicius sat for the twinkle of an eye as if petrified; then he sprang
+up and ran toward the entrance crying,--"Lygia!  Lygia!"
+
+But desire, astonishment, rage, and wine cut the legs from under him.
+He staggered once and a second time, seized the naked arm of one of the
+bacchanals, and began to inquire, with blinking eyes, what had happened.
+She, taking a goblet of wine, gave it to him with a smile in her
+mist-covered eyes.
+
+"Drink!" said she.
+
+Vinicius drank, and fell to the floor.
+
+The greater number of the guests were lying under the table; others were
+walking with tottering tread through the triclinium, while others were
+sleeping on couches at the table, snoring, or giving forth the excess of
+wine.  Meanwhile, from the golden network, roses were dropping and
+dropping on those drunken consuls and senators, on those drunken
+knights, philosophers, and poets, on those drunken dancing damsels and
+patrician ladies, on that society all dominant as yet but with the soul
+gone from it, on that society garlanded and ungirdled but perishing.
+
+Dawn had begun out of doors.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter VIII
+
+
+No one stopped Ursus, no one inquired even what he was doing. Those
+guests who were not under the table had not kept their own places; hence
+the servants, seeing a giant carrying a guest on his arm, thought him
+some slave bearing out his intoxicated mistress. Moreover, Acte was with
+them, and her presence removed all suspicion.
+
+In this way they went from the triclinium to the adjoining chamber, and
+thence to the gallery leading to Acte's apartments. To such a degree had
+her strength deserted Lygia, that she hung as if dead on the arm of
+Ursus.  But when the cool, pure breeze of morning beat around her, she
+opened her eyes.  It was growing clearer and clearer in the open air.
+After they had passed along the colonnade awhile, they turned to a side
+portico, coming out, not in the courtyard, but the palace gardens, where
+the tops of the pines and cypresses were growing ruddy from the light of
+morning.  That part of the building was empty, so that echoes of music
+and sounds of the feast came with decreasing distinctness.  It seemed to
+Lygia that she had been rescued from hell, and borne into God's bright
+world outside.  There was something, then, besides that disgusting
+triclinium.  There was the sky, the dawn, light, and peace.  Sudden
+weeping seized the maiden, and, taking shelter on the arm of the giant,
+she repeated, with sobbing,--"Let us go home, Ursus! home, to the house
+of Aulus."
+
+"Let us go!" answered Ursus.
+
+They found themselves now in the small atrium of Acte's apartments.
+Ursus placed Lygia on a marble bench at a distance from the fountain.
+Acte strove to pacify her; she urged her to sleep, and declared that for
+the moment there was no danger,--after the feast the drunken guests
+would sleep till evening.  For a long time Lygia could not calm herself,
+and, pressing her temples with both hands, she repeated like a child,--
+"Let us go home, to the house of Aulus!"
+
+Ursus was ready.  At the gates stood pretorians, it is true, but he
+would pass them.  The soldiers would not stop out-going people. The
+space before the arch was crowded with litters.  Guests were beginning
+to go forth in throngs.  No one would detain them.  They would pass with
+the crowd and go home directly.  For that matter, what does he care?  As
+the queen commands, so must it be.  He is there to carry out her orders.
+
+"Yes, Ursus," said Lygia, "let us go."
+
+Acte was forced to find reason for both.  They would pass out, true; no
+one would stop them.  But it is not permitted to flee from the house of
+Cćsar; whoso does that offends Cćsar's majesty.  They may go; but in the
+evening a centurion at the head of soldiers will take a death sentence
+to Aulus and Pomponia Grćcina; they will bring Lygia to the palace
+again, and then there will be no rescue for her.  Should Aulus and his
+wife receive her under their roof, death awaits them to a certainty.
+
+Lygia's arms dropped.  There was no other outcome.  She must choose her
+own ruin or that of Plautius.  In going to the feast, she had hoped that
+Vinicius and Petronius would win her from Cćsar, and return her to
+Pomponia; now she knew that it was they who had brought Cćsar to remove
+her from the house of Aulus.  There was no help.  Only a miracle could
+save her from the abyss,--a miracle and the might of God.
+
+"Acte," said she, in despair, "didst thou hear Vinicius say that Cćsar
+had given me to him, and that he will send slaves here this evening to
+take me to his house?"
+
+"I did," answered Acte; and, raising her arms from her side, she was
+silent.  The despair with which Lygia spoke found in her no echo.  She
+herself had been Nero's favorite.  Her heart, though good, could not
+feel clearly the shame of such a relation.  A former slave, she had
+grown too much inured to the law of slavery; and, besides, she loved
+Nero yet.  If he returned to her, she would stretch her arms to him, as
+to happiness.  Comprehending clearly that Lygia must become the mistress
+of the youthful and stately Vinicius, or expose Aulus and Pomponia to
+ruin, she failed to understand how the girl could hesitate.
+
+"In Cćsar's house," said she, after a while, "it would not be safer for
+thee than in that of Vinicius."
+
+And it did not occur to her that, though she told the truth, her words
+meant, "Be resigned to fate and become the concubine of Vinicius."
+
+As to Lygia, who felt on her lips yet his kisses, burning as coals and
+full of beastly desire, the blood rushed to her face with shame at the
+mere thought of them.
+
+"Never," cried she, with an outburst, "will I remain here, or at the
+house of Vinicius,--never!"
+
+"But," inquired Acte, "is Vinicius hateful to thee?"
+
+Lygia was unable to answer, for weeping seized her anew.  Acte gathered
+the maiden to her bosom, and strove to calm her excitement.  Ursus
+breathed heavily, and balled his giant fists; for, loving his queen with
+the devotion of a dog, he could not bear the sight of her tears.  In his
+half-wild Lygian heart was the wish to return to the triclinium, choke
+Vinicius, and, should the need come, Cćsar himself; but he feared to
+sacrifice thereby his mistress, and was not certain that such an act,
+which to him seemed very simple, would befit a confessor of the
+Crucified Lamb.
+
+But Acte, while caressing Lygia, asked again, "Is he so hateful to
+thee?"
+
+"No," said Lygia; "it is not permitted me to hate, for I am a
+Christian."
+
+"I know, Lygia.  I know also from the letters of Paul of Tarsus, that it
+is not permitted to defile one's self, nor to fear death more than sin;
+but tell me if thy teaching permits one person to cause the death of
+others?"
+
+"No."
+
+"Then how canst thou bring Cćsar's vengeance on the house of Aulus?"  A
+moment of silence followed.  A bottomless abyss yawned before Lygia
+again.
+
+"I ask," continued the young freedwoman, "for I have compassion on thee
+--and I have compassion on the good Pomponia and Aulus, and on their
+child.  It is long since I began to live in this house, and I know what
+Cćsar's anger is.  No! thou art not at liberty to flee from here.  One
+way remains to thee: implore Vinicius to return thee to Pomponia."
+
+But Lygia dropped on her knees to implore some one else.  Ursus knelt
+down after a while, too, and both began to pray in Cćsar's house at the
+morning dawn.
+
+Acte witnessed such a prayer for the first time, and could not take her
+eyes from Lygia, who, seen by her in profile, with raised hands, and
+face turned heavenward, seemed to implore rescue.  The dawn, casting
+light on her dark hair and white peplus, was reflected in her eyes.
+Entirely in the light, she seemed herself like light.  In that pale
+face, in those parted lips, in those raised hands and eyes, a kind of
+superhuman exaltation was evident.  Acte understood then why Lygia could
+not become the concubine of any man.  Before the face of Nero's former
+favorite was drawn aside, as it were, a corner of that veil which hides
+a world altogether different from that to which she was accustomed.  She
+was astonished by prayer in that abode of crime and infamy.  A moment
+earlier it had seemed to her that there was no rescue for Lygia; now she
+began to think that something uncommon would happen, that some aid would
+come,--aid so mighty that Cćsar himself would be powerless to resist
+it; that some winged army would descend from the sky to help that
+maiden, or that the sun would spread its rays beneath her feet and draw
+her up to itself.  She had heard of many miracles among Christians, and
+she thought now that everything said of them was true, since Lygia was
+praying.
+
+Lygia rose at last, with a face serene with hope.  Ursus rose too, and,
+holding to the bench, looked at his mistress, waiting for her words.
+
+But it grew dark in her eyes, and after a time two great tears rolled
+down her checks slowly.
+
+"May God bless Pomponia and Aulus," said she.  "It is not permitted me
+to bring ruin on them; therefore I shall never see them again."
+
+Then turning to Ursus she said that he alone remained to her in the
+world; that he must be to her as a protector and a father.  They could
+not seek refuge in the house of Aulus, for they would bring on it the
+anger of Cćsar.  But neither could she remain in the house of Cćsar or
+that of Vinicius.  Let Ursus take her then; let him conduct her out of
+the city; let him conceal her in some place where neither Vinicius nor
+his servants could find her.  She would follow Ursus anywhere, even
+beyond the sea, even beyond the mountains, to the barbarians, where the
+Roman name was not heard, and whither the power of Cćsar did not reach.
+Let him take her and save her, for he alone had remained to her.
+
+The Lygian was ready, and in sign of obedience he bent to her feet and
+embraced them.  But on the face of Acte, who had been expecting a
+miracle, disappointment was evident.  Had the prayer effected only that
+much?  To flee from the house of Cćsar is to commit an offence against
+majesty which must be avenged; and even if Lygia succeeded in hiding,
+Cćsar would avenge himself on Aulus and Pomponia.  If she wishes to
+escape, let her escape from the house of Vinicius.  Then Cćsar, who does
+not like to occupy himself with the affairs of others, may not wish even
+to aid Vinicius in the pursuit; in every case it will not be a crime
+against majesty.
+
+But Lygia's thoughts were just the following: Aulus would not even know
+where she was; Pomponia herself would not know.  She would escape not
+from the house of Vinicius, however, but while on the way to it.  When
+drunk, Vinicius had said that he would send his slaves for her in the
+evening.  Beyond doubt he had told the truth, which he would not have
+done had he been sober.  Evidently he himself, or perhaps he and
+Petronius, had seen Cćsar before the feast, and won from him the promise
+to give her on the following evening.  And if they forgot that day, they
+would send for her on the morrow.  But Ursus will save her.  He will
+come; he will bear her out of the litter as he bore her out of the
+triclinium, and they will go into the world.  No one could resist Ursus,
+not even that terrible athlete who wrestled at the feast yesterday.  But
+as Vinicius might send a great number of slaves, Ursus would go at once
+to Bishop Linus for aid and counsel.  The bishop will take compassion on
+her, will not leave her in the hands of Vinicius; he will command
+Christians to go with Ursus to rescue her.  They will seize her and bear
+her away; then Ursus can take her out of the city and hide her from the
+power of Rome.
+
+And her face began to flush and smile.  Consolation entered her anew, as
+if the hope of rescue had turned to reality.  She threw herself on
+Acte's neck suddenly, and, putting her beautiful lips to Acte's cheek,
+she whispered:
+
+"Thou wilt not betray, Acte, wilt thou?"
+
+"By the shade of my mother," answered the freedwoman, "I will not; but
+pray to thy God that Ursus be able to bear thee away."
+
+The blue, childlike eyes of the giant were gleaming with happiness.  He
+had not been able to frame any plan, though he had been breaking his
+poor head; but a thing like this he could do,--and whether in the day or
+in the night it was all one to him!  He would go to the bishop, for the
+bishop can read in the sky what is needed and what is not.  Besides, he
+could assemble Christians himself.  Are his acquaintances few among
+slaves, gladiators, and free people, both in the Subura and beyond the
+bridges?  He can collect a couple of thousand of them.  He will rescue
+his lady, and take her outside the city, and he can go with her.  They
+will go to the end of the world, even to that place from which they had
+come, where no one has heard of Rome.
+
+Here he began to look forward, as if to see things in the future and
+very distant.
+
+"To the forest?  Ai, what a forest, what a forest!"
+
+But after a while he shook himself out of his visions.  Well, he will go
+to the bishop at once, and in the evening will wait with something like
+a hundred men for the litter.  And let not slaves, but even pretorians,
+take her from him!  Better for any man not to come under his fist, even
+though in iron armor,--for is iron so strong? When he strikes iron
+earnestly, the head underneath will not survive.
+
+But Lygia raised her finger with great and also childlike seriousness.
+
+"Ursus, do not kill," said she.
+
+Ursus put his fist, which was like a maul, to the back of his head, and,
+rubbing his neck with great seriousness, began to mutter.  But he must
+rescue "his light."  She herself had said that his turn had come.  He
+will try all he can.  But if something happens in spite of him?  In
+every case he must save her.  But should anything happen, he will
+repent, and so entreat the Innocent Lamb that the Crucified Lamb will
+have mercy on him, poor fellow.  He has no wish to offend the Lamb; but
+then his hands are so heavy.
+
+Great tenderness was expressed on his face; but wishing to hide it, he
+bowed and said,--"Now I will go to the holy bishop."
+
+Acte put her arms around Lygia's neck, and began to weep.  Once more the
+freedwoman understood that there was a world in which greater happiness
+existed, even in suffering, than in all the excesses and luxury of
+Cćsar's house.  Once more a kind of door to the light was opened a
+little before her, but she felt at once that she was unworthy to pass
+through it.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter IX
+
+
+LYGIA was grieved to lose Pomponia Grćcina, whom she loved with her
+whole soul, and she grieved for the household of Aulus; still her
+despair passed away.  She felt a certain delight even in the thought
+that she was sacrificing plenty and comfort for her Truth, and was
+entering on an unknown and wandering existence. Perhaps there was in
+this a little also of childish curiosity as to what that life would be,
+off somewhere in remote regions, among wild beasts and barbarians.  But
+there was still more a deep and trusting faith, that by acting thus she
+was doing as the Divine Master had commanded, and that henceforth He
+Himself would watch over her, as over an obedient and faithful child.
+In such a case what harm could meet her?  If sufferings come, she will
+endure them in His name.  If sudden death comes, He will take her; and
+some time, when Pomponia dies, they will be together for all eternity.
+More than once when she was in the house of Aulus, she tortured her
+childish head because she, a Christian, could do nothing for that
+Crucified, of whom Ursus spoke with such tenderness.  But now the moment
+had come.  Lygia felt almost happy, and began to speak of her happiness
+to Acte, who could not understand her, however.  To leave everything,--
+to leave house, wealth, the city, gardens, temples, porticos, everything
+that is beautiful; leave a sunny land and people near to one--and for
+what purpose?  To hide from the love of a young and stately knight. In
+Acte's head these things could not find place.  At times she felt that
+Lygia's action was right, that there must be some immense mysterious
+happiness in it; but she could not give a clear account to herself of
+the matter, especially since an adventure was before Lygia which might
+have an evil ending,--an adventure in which she might lose her life
+simply.  Acte was timid by nature, and she thought with dread of what
+the coming evening might bring.  But she was loath to mention her fears
+to Lygia; meanwhile, as the day was clear and the sun looked into the
+atrium, she began to persuade her to take the rest needed after a night
+without sleep. Lygia did not refuse; and both went to the cubiculum,
+which was spacious and furnished with luxury because of Acte's former
+relations with Cćsar.  There they lay down side by side, but in spite of
+her weariness Acte could not sleep.  For a long time she had been sad
+and unhappy, but now she was seized by a certain uneasiness which she
+had never felt before.  So far life had seemed to her simply grievous
+and deprived of a morrow; now all at once it seemed to her dishonorable.
+
+Increasing chaos rose in her head.  Again the door to light began to
+open and close.  But in the moment when it opened, that light so dazzled
+her that she could see nothing distinctly.  She divined, merely, that in
+that light there was happiness of some kind, happiness beyond measure,
+in presence of which every other was nothing, to such a degree that if
+Cćsar, for example, were to set aside Poppća, and love her, Acte, again,
+it would be vanity. Suddenly the thought came to her that that Cćsar
+whom she loved, whom she held involuntarily as a kind of demigod, was as
+pitiful as any slave, and that palace, with columns of Numidian marble,
+no better than a heap of stones.  At last, however, those feelings which
+she had not power to define began to torment her; she wanted to sleep,
+but being tortured by alarm she could not. Thinking that Lygia,
+threatened by so many perils and uncertainties, was not sleeping either,
+she turned to her to speak of her flight in the evening.  But Lygia was
+sleeping calmly.  Into the dark cubiculum, past the curtain which was
+not closely drawn, came a few bright rays, in which golden dust-motes
+were playing. By the light of these rays Acte saw her delicate face,
+resting on her bare arm, her closed eyes, and her mouth slightly open.
+She was breathing regularly, but as people breathe while asleep.
+
+"She sleeps,--she is able to sleep," thought Acte.  "She is a child
+yet."  Still, after a while it came to her mind that that child chose to
+flee rather than remain the beloved of Vinicius; she preferred want to
+shame, wandering to a lordly house, to robes, jewels, and feasts, to the
+sound of lutes and citharas.
+
+"Why?"
+
+And she gazed at Lygia, as if to find an answer in her sleeping face.
+She looked at her clear forehead, at the calm arch of her brows, at her
+dark tresses, at her parted lips, at her virgin bosom moved by calm
+breathing; then she thought again,--"How different from me!"
+
+Lygia seemed to her a miracle, a sort of divine vision, something
+beloved of the gods, a hundred times more beautiful than all the flowers
+in Cćsar's garden, than all the statues in his palace.  But in the Greek
+woman's heart there was no envy.  On the contrary, at thought of the
+dangers which threatened the girl, great pity seized her.  A certain
+motherly feeling rose in the woman.  Lygia seemed to her not only as
+beautiful as a beautiful vision, but also very dear, and, putting her
+lips to her dark hair, she kissed it.
+
+But Lygia slept on calmly, as if at home, under the care of Pomponia
+Grćcina.  And she slept rather long.  Midday had passed when she opened
+her blue eyes and looked around the cubiculum in astonishment.
+Evidently she wondered that she was not in the house of Aulus.
+
+"That is thou, Acte?" said she at last, seeing in the darkness the face
+of the Greek.
+
+"I, Lygia."
+
+"Is it evening?"
+
+"No, child; but midday has passed."
+
+"And has Ursus not returned?"
+
+"Ursus did not say that he would return; he said that he would watch in
+the evening, with Christians, for the litter."
+
+"True."
+
+Then they left the cubiculum and went to the bath, where Acte bathed
+Lygia; then she took her to breakfast and afterward to the gardens of
+the palace, in which no dangerous meeting might be feared, since Cćsar
+and his principal courtiers were sleeping yet. For the first time in her
+life Lygia saw those magnificent gardens, full of pines, cypresses,
+oaks, olives, and myrtles, among which appeared white here and there a
+whole population of statues.  The mirror of ponds gleamed quietly;
+groves of roses were blooming, watered with the spray of fountains;
+entrances to charming grottos were encircled with a growth of ivy or
+woodbine; silver-colored swans were sailing on the water; amidst statues
+and trees wandered tame gazelles from the deserts of Africa, and rich-
+colored birds from all known countries on earth.
+
+The gardens were empty; but here and there slaves were working, spade in
+hand, singing in an undertone; others, to whom was granted a moment of
+rest, were sitting by ponds or in the shade of groves, in trembling
+light produced by sun-rays breaking in between leaves; others were
+watering roses or the pale lily-colored blossoms of the saffron.  Acte
+and Lygia walked rather long, looking at all the wonders of the gardens;
+and though Lygia's mind was not at rest, she was too much a child yet to
+resist pleasure, curiosity, and wonder.  It occurred to her, even, that
+if Cćsar were good, he might be very happy in such a palace, in such
+gardens.
+
+But at last, tired somewhat, the two women sat down on a bench hidden
+almost entirely by dense cypresses and began to talk of that which
+weighed on their hearts most,--that is, of Lygia's escape in the
+evening.  Acte was far less at rest than Lygia touching its success.  At
+times it seemed to her even a mad project, which could not succeed.  She
+felt a growing pity for Lygia.  It seemed to her that it would be a
+hundred times safer to try to act on Vinicius.  After a while she
+inquired of Lygia how long she had known him, and whether she did not
+think that he would let himself be persuaded to return her to Pomponia.
+
+But Lygia shook her dark head in sadness.  "No. In Aulus's house,
+Vinicius had been different, he had been very kind, but since
+yesterday's feast she feared him, and would rather flee to the Lygians."
+
+"But in Aulus's house," inquired Acte, "he was dear to thee, was he
+not?"
+
+"He was," answered Lygia, inclining her head.
+
+"And thou wert not a slave, as I was," said Acte, after a moment's
+thought.  "Vinicius might marry thee.  Thou art a hostage, and a
+daughter of the Lygian king.  Aulus and Pomponia love thee as their own
+child; I am sure that they are ready to adopt thee. Vinicius might marry
+thee, Lygia."
+
+But Lygia answered calmly, and with still greater sadness, "I would
+rather flee to the Lygians."
+
+"Lygia, dost thou wish me to go directly to Vinicius, rouse him, if he
+is sleeping, and tell him what I have told thee?  Yes, my precious one,
+I will go to him and say, 'Vinicius, this is a king's daughter, and a
+dear child of the famous Aulus; if thou love her, return her to Aulus
+and Pomponia, and take her as wife from their house.'"
+
+But the maiden answered with a voice so low that Acte could barely hear
+it,--
+
+"I would rather flee to the Lygians."  And two tears were hanging on her
+drooping lids.
+
+Further conversation was stopped by the rustle of approaching steps, and
+before Acte had time to see who was coming, Poppća Sabina appeared in
+front of the bench with a small retinue of slave women.  Two of them
+held over her head bunches of ostrich feathers fixed to golden wires;
+with these they fanned her lightly, and at the same time protected her
+from the autumn sun, which was hot yet.  Before her a woman from Egypt,
+black as ebony, and with bosom swollen as if from milk, bore in her arms
+an infant wrapped in purple fringed with gold.  Acte and Lygia rose,
+thinking that Poppća would pass the bench without turning attention to
+either; but she halted before them and said,--"Acte, the bells sent by
+thee for the doll were badly fastened; the child tore off one and put it
+to her mouth; luckily Lilith saw it in season."
+
+"Pardon, divinity," answered Acte, crossing her arms on her breast and
+bending her head.
+
+But Poppća began to gaze at Lygia.
+
+"What slave is this?" asked she, after a pause.
+
+"She is not a slave, divine Augusta, but a foster child of Pomponia
+Grćcina, and a daughter of the Lygian king given by him as hostage to
+Rome."
+
+"And has she come to visit thee?"
+
+"No, Augusta.  She is dwelling in the palace since the day before
+yesterday."
+
+"Was she at the feast last night?"
+
+"She was, Augusta."
+
+"At whose command?"
+
+"At Cćsar's command."
+
+Poppća looked still more attentively at Lygia, who stood with bowed
+head, now raising her bright eyes to her with curiosity, now covering
+them with their lids.  Suddenly a frown appeared between the brows of
+the Augusta.  Jealous of her own beauty and power, she lived in
+continual alarm lest at some time a fortunate rival might ruin her, as
+she had ruined Octavia.  Hence every beautiful face in the palace roused
+her suspicion.  With the eye of a critic she took in at once every part
+of Lygia's form, estimated every detail of her face, and was frightened.
+"That is simply a nymph," thought she, "and 'twas Venus who gave birth
+to her."  On a sudden this came to her mind which had never come before
+at sight of any beauty,--that she herself had grown notably older!
+Wounded vanity quivered in Poppća, alarm seized her, and various fears
+shot through her head.  "Perhaps Nero has not seen the girl, or, seeing
+her through the emerald, has not appreciated her.  But what would happen
+should he meet such a marvel in the daytime, in sunlight?  Moreover she
+is not a slave, she is the daughter of a king,--a king of barbarians,
+it is true, but a king.  Immortal gods! she is as beautiful as I am, but
+younger!"  The wrinkle between her brows increased, and her eyes began
+to shine under their golden lashes with a cold gleam.
+
+"Hast thou spoken with Cćsar?"
+
+"No, Augusta."
+
+"Why dost thou choose to be here rather than in the house of Aulus?"
+
+"I do not choose, lady.  Petronius persuaded Cćsar to take me from
+Pomponia.  I am here against my will."
+
+"And wouldst thou return to Pomponia?"
+
+This last question Poppća gave with a softer and milder voice; hence a
+sudden hope rose in Lygia's heart.
+
+"Lady," said she, extending her hand to her, "Cćsar promised to give me
+as a slave to Vinicius, but do thou intercede and return me to
+Pomponia."
+
+"Then Petronius persuaded Cćsar to take thee from Aulus, and give thee
+to Vinicius?"
+
+"True, lady.  Vinicius is to send for me to-day, but thou art good, have
+compassion on me."  When she had said this, she inclined, and, seizing
+the border of Poppća's robe, waited for her word with beating heart.
+Poppća looked at her for a while, with a face lighted by an evil smile,
+and said,--"Then I promise that thou wilt become the slave of Vinicius
+this day."  And she went on, beautiful as a vision, but evil.  To the
+ears of Lygia and Acte came only the wail of the infant, which began to
+cry, it was unknown for what reason.
+
+Lygia's eyes too were filled with tears; but after a while she took
+Acte's hand and said,--"Let us return.  Help is to be looked for only
+whence it can come."  And they returned to the atrium, which they did
+not leave till evening.
+
+When darkness had come and slaves brought in tapers with great flames,
+both women were very pale.  Their conversation failed every moment.
+Both were listening to hear if some one were coming.  Lygia repeated
+again and again that, though grieved to leave Acte, she preferred that
+all should take place that day, as Ursus must be waiting in the dark for
+her then.  But her breathing grew quicker from emotion, and louder.
+Acte collected feverishly such jewels as she could, and, fastening them
+in a corner of Lygia's peplus, implored her not to reject that gift and
+means of escape.  At moments came a deep silence full of deceptions for
+the ear.  It seemed to both that they heard at one time a whisper beyond
+the curtain, at another the distant weeping of a child, at another the
+barking of dogs.
+
+Suddenly the curtain of the entrance moved without noise, and a tall,
+dark man, his face marked with small-pox, appeared like a spirit in the
+atrium.  In one moment Lygia recognized Atacinus, a freedman of
+Vinicius, who had visited the house of Aulus.
+
+Acte screamed; but Atacinus bent low and said,--"A greeting, divine
+Lygia, from Marcus Vinicius, who awaits thee with a feast in his house
+which is decked in green."
+
+The lips of the maiden grew pale.
+
+"I go," said she.
+
+Then she threw her arms around Acte's neck in farewell.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter X
+
+
+THE house of Vinicius was indeed decked in the green of myrtle and ivy,
+which had been hung on the walls and over the doors.  The columns were
+wreathed with grape vine.  In the atrium, which was closed above by a
+purple woollen cloth as protection from the night cold, it was as clear
+as in daylight.  Eight and twelve flamed lamps were burning; these were
+like vessels, trees, animals, birds, or statues, holding cups filled
+with perfumed olive oil, lamps of alabaster, marble, or gilded
+Corinthian bronze, not so wonderful as that famed candlestick used by
+Nero and taken from the temple of Apollo, but beautiful and made by
+famous masters.  Some of the lights were shaded by Alexandrian glass, or
+transparent stuffs from the Indus, of red, blue, yellow, or violet
+color, so that the whole atrium was filled with many colored rays.
+Everywhere was given out the odor of nard, to which Vinicius had grown
+used, and which he had learned to love in the Orient.  The depths of the
+house, in which the forms of male and female slaves were movmg, gleamed
+also with light.  In the triclinium a table was laid for four persons.
+At the feast were to sit, besides Vinicius and Lygia, Petronius and
+Chrysothemis.  Vinicius had followed in everything the words of
+Petronius, who advised him not to go for Lygia, but to send Atacinus
+with the permission obtained from Cćsar, to receive her himself in the
+house, receive her with friendliness and even with marks of honor.
+
+"Thou wert drunk yesterday," said he; "I saw thee.  Thou didst act with
+her like a quarryman from the Alban Hills.  Be not over-insistent, and
+remember that one should drink good wine slowly.  Know too that it is
+sweet to desire, but sweeter to be desired."
+
+Chrysothemis had her own and a somewhat different opinion on this point;
+but Petronius, calling her his vestal and his dove, began to explain the
+difference which must exist between a trained charioteer of the Circus
+and the youth who sits on the quadriga for the first time.  Then,
+turning to Vinicius, he continued,--"Win her confidence, make her
+joyful, be magnanimous.  I have no wish to see a gloomy feast.  Swear to
+her, by Hades even, that thou wilt return her to Pomponia, and it will
+be thy affair that to-morrow she prefers to stay with thee."
+
+Then pointing to Chrysothemis, he added,--"For five years I have acted
+thus more or less with this timid dove, and I cannot complain of her
+harshness."
+
+Chrysothemis struck him with her fan of peacock feathers, and said,--
+"But I did not resist, thou satyr!"
+
+"Out of consideration for my predecessor--"
+
+"But wert thou not at my feet?"
+
+"Yes; to put rings on thy toes."
+
+Chrysothemis looked involuntarily at her feet, on the toes of which
+diamonds were really glittering; and she and Petronius began to laugh.
+But Vinicius did not give ear to their bantering.  His heart was beating
+unquietly under the robes of a Syrian priest, in which he had arrayed
+himself to receive Lygia.
+
+"They must have left the palace," said he, as if in a monologue.
+
+"They must," answered Petronius.  "Meanwhile I may mention the
+predictions of Apollonius of Tyana, or that history of Rufinus which I
+have not finished, I do not remember why."
+
+But Vinicius cared no more for Apollonius of Tyana than for the history
+of Rufinus.  His mind was with Lygia; and though he felt that it was
+more appropriate to receive her at home than to go in the rôle of a
+myrmidon to the palace, he was sorry at moments that he had not gone,
+for the single reason that he might have seen her sooner, and sat near
+her in the dark, in the double litter.
+
+Meanwhile slaves brought in a tripod ornamented with rams' heads, bronze
+dishes with coals, on which they sprinkled bits of myrrh and nard.
+
+"Now they are turning toward the Carinć," said Vinicius, again.
+
+"He cannot wait; he will run to meet the litter, and is likely to miss
+them!" exclaimed Chrysothemis.
+
+Vinicius smiled without thinking, and said,--"On the contrary, I will
+wait."
+
+But he distended his nostrils and panted; seeing which, Petronius
+shrugged his shoulders, and said,--"There is not in him a philosopher to
+the value of one sestertium, and I shall never make a man of that son of
+Mars."
+
+"They are now in the Carinć."
+
+In fact, they were turning toward the Carinć.  The slaves called
+lampadarii were in front; others called pedisequii, were on both sides
+of the litter.  Atacinus was right behind, overseeing the advance.  But
+they moved slowly, for lamps showed the way badly in a place not lighted
+at all.  The streets near the palace were empty; here and there only
+some man moved forward with a lantern, but farther on the place was
+uncommonly crowded.  From almost every alley people were pushing out in
+threes and fours, all without lamps, all in dark mantles.  Some walked
+on with the procession, mingling with the slaves; others in greater
+numbers came from the opposite direction.  Some staggered as if drunk.
+At moments the advance grew so difficult that the lampadarii cried,--
+"Give way to the noble tribune, Marcus Vinicius!"
+
+Lygia saw those dark crowds through the curtains which were pushed
+aside, and trembled with emotion.  She was carried away at one moment by
+hope, at another by fear.
+
+"That is he!--that is Ursus and the Christians!  Now it will happen
+quickly," said she, with trembling lips.  "O Christ, aid!  O Christ,
+save!"
+
+Atacinus himself, who at first did not notice the uncommon animation of
+the street, began at last to be alarmed.  There was something strange in
+this.  The lampadarii had to cry oftener and oftener, "Give way to the
+litter of the noble tribune!"  From the sides unknown people crowded up
+to the litter so much that Atacinus commanded the slaves to repulse them
+with clubs.
+
+Suddenly a cry was heard in front of the procession.  In one instant all
+the lights were extinguished.  Around the litter came a rush, an uproar,
+a struggle.
+
+Atacinus saw that this was simply an attack; and when he saw it he was
+frightened.  It was known to all that Cćsar with a crowd of attendants
+made attacks frequently for amusement in the Subura and in other parts
+of the city.  It was known that even at times he brought out of these
+night adventures black and blue spots; but whoso defended himself went
+to his death, even if a senator.  The house of the guards, whose duty it
+was to watch over the city, was not very far; but during such attacks
+the guards feigned to be deaf and blind.
+
+Meanwhile there was an uproar around the litter; people struck,
+struggled, threw, and trampled one another.  The thought flashed on
+Atacinus to save Lygia and himself, above all, and leave the rest to
+their fate.  So, drawing her out of the litter, he took her in his arms
+and strove to escape in the darkness.
+
+But Lygia called, "Ursus!  Ursus!"
+
+She was dressed in white; hence it was easy to see her.  Atacinus, with
+his other arm, which was free, was throwing his own mantle over her
+hastily, when terrible claws seized his neck, and on his head a
+gigantic, crushing mass fell like a stone.
+
+He dropped in one instant, as an ox felled by the back of an axe before
+the altar of Jove.
+
+The slaves for the greater part were either lying on the ground, or had
+saved themselves by scattering in the thick darkness, around the turns
+of the walls.  On the spot remained only the litter, broken in the
+onset.  Ursus bore away Lygia to the Subura; his comrades followed him,
+dispersing gradually along the way.
+
+The slaves assembled before the house of Vinicius, and took counsel.
+They had not courage to enter.  After a short deliberation they returned
+to the place of conflict, where they found a few corpses, and among them
+Atacinus.  He was quivering yet; but, after a moment of more violent
+convulsion, he stretched and was motionless.
+
+They took him then, and, returning, stopped before the gate a second
+time.  But they must declare to their lord what had happened.
+
+"Let Gulo declare it," whispered some voices; "blood is flowing from his
+face as from ours; and the master loves him; it is safer for Gulo than
+for others."
+
+Gulo, a German, an old slave, who had nursed Vinicius, and was inherited
+by him from his mother, the sister of Petronius, said,--
+
+"I will tell him; but do ye all come.  Do not let his anger fall on my
+head alone."
+
+Vinicius was growing thoroughly impatient.  Petronius and Chrysothemis
+were laughing; but he walked with quick step up and down the atrium.
+
+"They ought to be here!  They ought to be here!"
+
+He wished to go out to meet the litter, but Petronius and Chrysothemis
+detained him.
+
+Steps were heard suddenly in the entrance; the slaves rushed into the
+atrium in a crowd, and, halting quickly at the wall, raised their hands,
+and began to repeat with groaning,--"Aaaa!--aa!"
+
+Vinicius sprang toward them.
+
+"Where is Lygia?" cried he, with a terrible and changed voice.
+
+"Aaaa!"
+
+Then Gulo pushed forward with his bloody face, and exclaimed, in haste
+and pitifully,--
+
+"See our blood, lord!  We fought!  See our blood!  See our blood!"
+
+But he had not finished when Vinicius seized a bronze lamp, and with one
+blow shattered the skull of the slave; then, seizing his own head with
+both hands, he drove his fingers into his hair, repeating hoarsely,--"Me
+miserum! me miserum!"
+
+His face became blue, his eyes turned in his head, foam came out on his
+lips.
+
+"Whips!" roared he at last, with an unearthly voice.
+
+"Lord!  Aaaa!  Take pity!" groaned the slaves.
+
+Petronius stood up with an expression of disgust on his face. "Come,
+Chrysothemis!" said he.  "If 'tis thy wish to look on raw flesh, I will
+give command to open a butcher's stall on the Carinć!"
+
+And he walked out of the atrium.  But through the whole house,
+ornamented in the green of ivy and prepared for a feast, were heard,
+from moment to moment, groans and the whistling of whips, which lasted
+almost till morning.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XI
+
+
+VINICIUS did not lie down that night.  Some time after the departure of
+Petronius, when the groans of his flogged slaves could allay neither his
+rage nor his pain, he collected a crowd of other servants, and, though
+the night was far advanced, rushed forth at the head of these to look
+for Lygia.  He visited the district of the Esquiline, then the Subura,
+Vicus Sceleratus, and all the adjoining alleys.  Passing next around the
+Capitol, he went to the island over the bridge of Fabricius; after that
+he passed through a part of the Trans-Tiber.  But that was a pursuit
+without object, for he himself had no hope of finding Lygia, and if he
+sought her it was mainly to fill out with something a terrible night.
+In fact he returned home about daybreak, when the carts and mules of
+dealers in vegetables began to appear in the city, and when bakers were
+opening their shops.
+
+On returning he gave command to put away Gulo's corpse, which no one had
+ventured to touch.  The slaves from whom Lygia had been taken he sent to
+rural prisons,--a punishment almost more dreadful than death.  Throwing
+himself at last on a couch in the atrium, he began to think confusedly
+of how he was to find and seize Lygia.
+
+To resign her, to lose her, not to see her again, seemed to him
+impossible; and at this thought alone frenzy took hold of him.  For the
+first time in life the imperious nature of the youthful soldier met
+resistance, met another unbending will, and he could not understand
+simply how any one could have the daring to thwart his wishes.  Vinicius
+would have chosen to see the world and the city sink in ruins rather
+than fail of his purpose.  The cup of delight had been snatched from
+before his lips almost; hence it seemed to him that something unheard of
+had happened, something crying to divine and human laws for vengeance.
+
+But, first of all, he was unwilling and unable to be reconciled with
+fate, for never in life had he so desired anything as Lygia.  It seemed
+to him that he could not exist without her.  He could not tell himself
+what he was to do without her on the morrow, how he was to survive the
+days following.  At moments he was transported by a rage against her,
+which approached madness.  He wanted to have her, to beat her, to drag
+her by the hair to the cubiculum, and gloat over her; then, again, he
+was carried away by a terrible yearning for her voice, her form, her
+eyes, and he felt that he would be ready to lie at her feet.  He called
+to her, gnawed his fingers, clasped his head with his hands.  He strove
+with all his might to think calmly about searching for her,--and was
+unable. A thousand methods and means flew through his head, but one
+wilder than another.  At last the thought flashed on him that no one
+else had intercepted her but Aulus, that in every case Aulus must know
+where she was hiding.  And he sprang up to run to the house of Aulus.
+
+If they will not yield her to him, if they have no fear of his threats,
+he will go to Cćsar, accuse the old general of disobedience, and obtain
+a sentence of death against him; but before that, he will gain from them
+a confession of where Lygia is.  If they give her, even willingly, he
+will be revenged.  They received him, it is true, in their house and
+nursed him,--but that is nothing!  With this one injustice they have
+freed him from every debt of gratitude.  Here his vengeful and stubborn
+soul began to take pleasure at the despair of Pomponia Grćcina, when the
+centurion would bring the death sentence to old Aulus.  He was almost
+certain that he would get it.  Petronius would assist him.  Moreover,
+Cćsar never denies anything to his intimates, the Augustians, unless
+personal dislike or desire enjoins a refusal.
+
+Suddenly his heart almost died within him, under the influence of this
+terrible supposition,--"But if Cćsar himself has taken Lygia?"
+
+All knew that Nero from tedium sought recreation in night attacks. Even
+Petronius took part in these amusements.  Their main object was to seize
+women and toss each on a soldier's mantle till she fainted.  Even Nero
+himself on occasions called these expeditions "pearl hunts," for it
+happened that in the depth of districts occupied by a numerous and needy
+population they caught a real pearl of youth and beauty sometimes.  Then
+the "sagatio," as they termed the tossing, was changed into a genuine
+carrying away, and the pearl was sent either to the Palatine or to one
+of Cćsar's numberless villas, or finally Cćsar yielded it to one of his
+intimates.  So might it happen also with Lygia.  Cćsar had seen her
+during the feast; and Vinicius doubted not for an instant that she must
+have seemed to him the most beautiful woman he had seen yet.  How could
+it be otherwise?  It is true that Lygia had been in Nero's own house on
+the Palatine, and he might have kept her openly.  But, as Petronius said
+truly, Cćsar had no courage in crime, and, with power to act openly, he
+chose to act always in secret.  This time fear of Poppća might incline
+him also to secrecy.  It occurred now to the young soldier that Aulus
+would not have dared, perhaps, to carry off forcibly a girl given him,
+Vinicius, by Cćsar.  Besides, who would dare?  Would that gigantic blue-
+eyed Lygian, who had the courage to enter the triclinium and carry her
+from the feast on his arm?  But where could he hide with her; whither
+could he take her?  No! a slave would not have ventured that far.  Hence
+no one had done the deed except Cćsar.
+
+At this thought it grew dark in his eyes, and drops of sweat covered his
+forehead.  In that case Lygia was lost to him forever.  It was possible
+to wrest her from the hands of any one else, but not from the hands of
+Cćsar.  Now, with greater truth than ever, could he exclaim, "Vć misero
+mihi!"  His imagination represented Lygia in Nero's arms, and, for the
+first time in life, he understood that there are thoughts which are
+simply beyond man's endurance.  He knew then, for the first time, how he
+loved her.  As his whole life flashes through the memory of a drowning
+man, so Lygia began to pass through his.  He saw her, heard every word
+of hers,--saw her at the fountain, saw her at the house of Aulus, and at
+the feast; felt her near him, felt the odor of her hair, the warmth of
+her body, the delight of the kisses which at the feast he had pressed on
+her innocent lips.  She seemed to him a hundred times sweeter, more
+beautiful, more desired than ever,--a hundred times more the only one,
+the one chosen from among all mortals and divinities.  And when he
+thought that all this which had become so fixed in his heart, which had
+become his blood and life, might be possessed by Nero, a pain seized
+him, which was purely physical, and so piercing that he wanted to beat
+his head against the wall of the atrium, until he should break it.  He
+felt that he might go mad; and he would have gone mad beyond doubt, had
+not vengeance remained to him.  But as hitherto he had thought that he
+could not live unless he got Lygia, he thought now that he would not die
+till he had avenged her.  This gave him a certain kind of comfort. "I
+will be thy Cassius Chćrea!" [The slayer of Caligula] said he to himself
+in thinking of Nero.  After a while, seizing earth in his hands from the
+flower vases surrounding the impluvium, he made a dreadful vow to
+Erebus, Hecate, and his own household lares, that he would have
+vengeance.
+
+And he received a sort of consolation.  He had at least something to
+live for and something with which to fill his nights and days.  Then,
+dropping his idea of visiting Aulus, he gave command to bear him to the
+Palatine.  Along the way he concluded that if they would not admit him
+to Cćsar, or if they should try to find weapons on his person, it would
+be a proof that Cćsar had taken Lygia.  He had no weapons with him.  He
+had lost presence of mind in general; but as is usual with persons
+possessed by a single idea, he preserved it in that which concerned his
+revenge.  He did not wish his desire of revenge to fall away
+prematurely.  He wished above all to see Acte, for he expected to learn
+the truth from her.  At moments the hope flashed on him that he might
+see Lygia also, and at that thought he began to tremble.  For if Cćsar
+had carried her away without knowledge of whom he was taking, he might
+return her that day. But after a while he cast aside this supposition.
+Had there been a wish to return her to him, she would have been sent
+yesterday. Acte was the only person who could explain everything, and
+there was need to see her before others.
+
+Convinced of this, he commanded the slaves to hasten; and along the road
+he thought without order, now of Lygia, now of revenge. He had heard
+that Egyptian priests of the goddess Pasht could bring disease on
+whomever they wished, and he determined to learn the means of doing
+this.  In the Orient they had told him, too, that Jews have certain
+invocations by which they cover their enemies' bodies with ulcers.  He
+had a number of Jews among his domestic slaves; hence he promised
+himself to torture them on his return till they divulged the secret.  He
+found most delight, however, in thinking of the short Roman sword which
+lets out a stream of blood such as had gushed from Caius Caligula and
+made ineffaceable stains on the columns of the portico.  He was ready to
+exterminate all Rome; and had vengeful gods promised that all people
+should die except him and Lygia, he would have accepted the promise.
+
+In front of the arch he regained presence of mind, and thought when he
+saw the pretorian guard, "If they make the least difficulty in admitting
+me, they will prove that Lygia is in the palace by the will of Cćsar."
+
+But the chief centurion smiled at him in a friendly manner, then
+advanced a number of steps, and said,--"A greeting, noble tribune.  If
+thou desire to give an obeisance to Cćsar, thou hast found an
+unfortunate moment.  I do not think that thou wilt be able to see him."
+
+"What has happened?" inquired Vinicius.
+
+"The infant Augusta fell ill yesterday on a sudden.  Cćsar and the
+august Poppća are attending her, with physicians whom they have summoned
+from the whole city."
+
+This was an important event.  When that daughter was born to him, Cćsar
+was simply wild from delight, and received her with extra humanum
+gaudium.  Previously the senate had committed the womb of Poppća to the
+gods with the utmost solemnity.  A votive offering was made at Antium,
+where the delivery took place; splendid games were celebrated, and
+besides a temple was erected to the two Fortunes.  Nero, unable to be
+moderate in anything, loved the infant beyond measure; to Poppća the
+child was dear also, even for this, that it strengthened her position
+and made her influence irresistible.
+
+The fate of the whole empire might depend on the health and life of the
+infant Augusta; but Vinicius was so occupied with himself, his own case
+and his love, that without paying attention to the news of the centurion
+he answered, "I only wish to see Acte."  And he passed in.
+
+But Acte was occupied also near the child, and he had to wait a long
+time to see her.  She came only about midday, with a face pale and
+wearied, which grew paler still at sight of Vinicius.
+
+"Acte!" cried Vinicius, seizing her hand and drawing her to the middle
+of the atrium, "where is Lygia?"
+
+"I wanted to ask thee touching that," answered she, looking him in the
+eyes with reproach.
+
+But though he had promised himself to inquire of her calmly, he pressed
+his head with his hands again, and said, with a face distorted by pain
+and anger,--"She is gone.  She was taken from me on the way!"
+
+After a while, however, he recovered, and thrusting his face up to
+Acte's, said through his set teeth,--"Acte!  If life be dear to thee, if
+thou wish not to cause misfortunes which thou are unable even to
+imagine, answer me truly.  Did Cćsar take her?"
+
+"Cćsar did not leave the palace yesterday."
+
+"By the shade of thy mother, by all the gods, is she not in the palace?"
+
+"By the shade of my mother, Marcus, she is not in the palace, and Cćsar
+did not intercept her.  The infant Augusta is ill since yesterday, and
+Nero has not left her cradle."
+
+Vinicius drew breath.  That which had seemed the most terrible ceased to
+threaten him.
+
+"Ah, then," said he, sitting on the bench and clinching his fists,
+"Aulus intercepted her, and in that case woe to him!"
+
+"Aulus Plautius was here this morning.  He could not see me, for I was
+occupied with the child; but he inquired of Epaphroditus, and others of
+Cćsar's servants, touching Lygia, and told them that he would come again
+to see me."
+
+"He wished to turn suspicion from himself.  If he knew not what
+happened, he would have come to seek Lygia in my house."
+
+"He left a few words on a tablet, from which thou wilt see that, knowing
+Lygia to have been taken from his house by Cćsar, at thy request and
+that of Petronius, he expected that she would be sent to thee, and this
+morning early he was at thy house, where they told him what had
+happened."
+
+When she had said this, she went to the cubiculum and returned soon with
+the tablet which Aulus had left.
+
+Vinicius read the tablet, and was silent; Acte seemed to read the
+thoughts on his gloomy face, for she said after a while,--"No, Marcus.
+That has happened which Lygia herself wished."
+
+"It was known to thee that she wished to flee!" burst out Vinicius.
+
+"I knew that she would not become thy concubine."  And she looked at him
+with her misty eyes almost sternly.
+
+"And thou,--what hast thou been all thy life?"
+
+"I was a slave, first of all."
+
+But Vinicius did not cease to be enraged.  Cćsar had given him Lygia;
+hence he had no need to inquire what she had been before. He would find
+her, even under the earth, and he would do what he liked with her.  He
+would indeed!  She should be his concubine.  He would give command to
+flog her as often as he pleased.  If she grew distasteful to him, he
+would give her to the lowest of his slaves, or he would command her to
+turn a handmill on his lands in Africa.  He would seek her out now, and
+find her only to bend her, to trample on her, and conquer her.
+
+And, growing more and more excited, he lost every sense of measure, to
+the degree that even Acte saw that he was promising more than he could
+execute; that he was talking because of pain and anger.  She might have
+had even compassion on him, but his extravagance exhausted her patience,
+and at last she inquired why he had come to her.
+
+Vinicius did not find an answer immediately.  He had come to her because
+he wished to come, because he judged that she would give him
+information; but really he had come to Cćsar, and, not being able to see
+him, he came to her.  Lygia, by fleeing, opposed the will of Cćsar;
+hence he would implore him to give an order to search for her throughout
+the city and the empire, even if it came to using for that purpose all
+the legions, and to ransacking in turn every house within Roman
+dominion.  Petronius would support his prayer, and the search would
+begin from that day.
+
+"Have a care," answered Acte, "lest thou lose her forever the moment she
+is found, at command of Cćsar."
+
+Vinicius wrinkled his brows.  "What does that mean?" inquired he.
+
+"Listen to me, Marcus.  Yesterday Lygia and I were in the gardens here,
+and we met Poppća, with the infant Augusta, borne by an African woman,
+Lilith.  In the evening the child fell ill, and Lilith insists that she
+was bewitched; that that foreign woman whom they met in the garden
+bewitched her.  Should the child recover, they will forget this, but in
+the opposite case Poppća will be the first to accuse Lygia of
+witchcraft, and wherever she is found there will be no rescue for her."
+
+A moment of silence followed; then Vinicius said,--"But perhaps she did
+bewitch her, and has bewitched me."
+
+"Lilith repeats that the child began to cry the moment she carried her
+past us.  And really the child did begin to cry.  It is certain that she
+was sick when they took her out of the garden.  Marcus, seek for Lygia
+whenever it may please thee, but till the infant Augusta recovers, speak
+not of her to Cćsar, or thou wilt bring on her Poppća's vengeance.  Her
+eyes have wept enough because of thee already, and may all the gods
+guard her poor head."
+
+"Dost thou love her, Acte?" inquired Vinicius, gloomily.
+
+"Yes, I love her."  And tears glittered in the eyes of the freedwoman.
+
+"Thou lovest her because she has not repaid thee with hatred, as she has
+me."
+
+Acte looked at him for a time as if hesitating, or as if wishing to
+learn if he spoke sincerely; then she said,--"O blind and passionate
+man--she loved thee."
+
+Vinicius sprang up under the influence of those words, as if possessed.
+"It is not true."
+
+She hated him.  How could Acte know?  Would Lygia make a confession to
+her after one day's acquaintance?  What love is that which prefers
+wandering, the disgrace of poverty, the uncertainty of to-morrow, or a
+shameful death even, to a wreath-bedecked house, in which a lover is
+waiting with a feast?  It is better for him not to hear such things, for
+he is ready to go mad.  He would not have given that girl for all
+Cćsar's treasures, and she fled.  What kind of love is that which dreads
+delight and gives pain?  Who can understand it?  Who can fathom it?
+Were it not for the hope that he should find her, he would sink a sword
+in himself.  Love surrenders; it does not take away.  There were moments
+at the house of Aulus when he himself believed in near happiness, but
+now he knows that she hated him, that she hates him, and will die with
+hatred in her heart.
+
+But Acte, usually mild and timid, burst forth in her turn with
+indignation.  How had he tried to win Lygia?  Instead of bowing before
+Aulus and Pomponia to get her, he took the child away from her parents
+by stratagem.  He wanted to make, not a wife, but a concubine of her,
+the foster daughter of an honorable house, and the daughter of a king.
+He had her brought to this abode of crime and infamy; he defiled her
+innocent eyes with the sight of a shameful feast; he acted with her as
+with a wanton.  Had he forgotten the house of Aulus and Pomponia
+Grćcina, who had reared Lygia?  Had he not sense enough to understand
+that there are women different from Nigidia or Calvia Crispinilla or
+Poppća, and from all those whom he meets in Cćsar's house?  Did he not
+understand at once on seeing Lygia that she is an honest maiden, who
+prefers death to infamy?  Whence does he know what kind of gods she
+worships, and whether they are not purer and better than the wanton
+Venus, or than Isis, worshipped by the profligate women of Rome?  No!
+Lygia had made no confession to her, but she had said that she looked
+for rescue to him, to Vinicius: she had hoped that he would obtain for
+her permission from Cćsar to return home, that he would restore her to
+Pomponia.  And while speaking of this, Lygia blushed like a maiden who
+loves and trusts. Lygia's heart beat for him; but he, Vinicius, had
+terrified and offended her; had made her indignant; let him seek her now
+with the aid of Cćsar's soldiers, but let him know that should Poppća's
+child die, suspicion will fall on Lygia, whose destruction will then be
+inevitable.
+
+Emotion began to force its way through the anger and pain of Vinicius.
+The information that he was loved by Lygia shook him to the depth of his
+soul.  He remembered her in Aulus's garden, when she was listening to
+his words with blushes on her face and her eyes full of light.  It
+seemed to him then that she had begun to love him; and all at once, at
+that thought, a feeling of certain happiness embraced him, a hundred
+times greater than that which he desired. He thought that he might have
+won her gradually, and besides as one loving him.  She would have
+wreathed his door, rubbed it with wolf's fat, and then sat as his wife
+by his hearth on the sheepskin. He would have heard from her mouth the
+sacramental: "Where thou art, Caius, there am I, Caia."  And she would
+have been his forever.  Why did he not act thus?  True, he had been
+ready so to act.  But now she is gone, and it may be impossible to find
+her; and should he find her, perhaps he will cause her death, and should
+he not cause her death, neither she nor Aulus nor Pomponia Grćcina will
+favor him.  Here anger raised the hair on his head again; but his anger
+turned now, not against the house of Aulus, or Lygia, but against
+Petronius.  Petronius was to blame for everything.  Had it not been for
+him Lygia would not have been forced to wander; she would be his
+betrothed, and no danger would be hanging over her dear head.  But now
+all is past, and it is too late to correct the evil which will not yield
+to correction.
+
+"Too late!"  And it seemed to him that a gulf had opened before his
+feet.  He did not know what to begin, how to proceed, whither to betake
+himself.  Acte repeated as an echo the words, "Too late," which from
+another's mouth sounded like a death sentence.  He understood one thing,
+however, that he must find Lygia, or something evil would happen to him.
+
+And wrapping himself mechanically in his toga, he was about to depart
+without taking farewell even of Acte, when suddenly the curtain
+separating the entrance from the atrium was pushed aside, and he saw
+before him the pensive figure of Pomponia Grćcina.
+
+Evidently she too had heard of the disappearance of Lygia, and, judging
+that she could see Acte more easily than Aulus, had come for news to
+her.
+
+But, seeing Vinicius, she turned her pale, delicate face to him, and
+said, after a pause,--"May God forgive thee the wrong, Marcus, which
+thou hast done to us and to Lygia."
+
+He stood with drooping head, with a feeling of misfortune and guilt, not
+understanding what God was to forgive him or could forgive him.
+Pomponia had no cause to mention forgiveness; she ought to have spoken
+of revenge.
+
+At last he went out with a head devoid of counsel, full of grievous
+thoughts, immense care, and amazement.
+
+In the court and under the gallery were crowds of anxious people. Among
+slaves of the palace were knights and senators who had come to inquire
+about the health of the infant, and at the same time to show themselves
+in the palace, and exhibit a proof of their anxiety, even in presence of
+Nero's slaves.  News of the illness of the "divine" had spread quickly
+it was evident, for new forms appeared in the gateway every moment, and
+through the opening of the arcade whole crowds were visible.  Some of
+the newly arrived, seeing that Vinicius was coming from the palace,
+attacked him for news; but he hurried on without answering their
+questions, till Petronius, who had come for news too, almost struck his
+breast and stopped him.
+
+Beyond doubt Vinicius would have become enraged at sight of Petronius,
+and let himself do some lawless act in Cćsar's palace, had it not been
+that when he had left Acte he was so crushed, so weighed down and
+exhausted, that for the moment even his innate irascibility had left
+him.  He pushed Petronius aside and wished to pass; but the other
+detained him, by force almost.
+
+"How is the divine infant?" asked he.
+
+But this constraint angered Vinicius a second time, and roused his
+indignation in an instant.
+
+"May Hades swallow her and all this house!" said he, gritting his teeth.
+
+"Silence, hapless man!" said Petronius, and looking around he added
+hurriedly,--"If thou wish to know something of Lygia, come with me; I
+will tell nothing here!  Come with me; I will tell my thoughts in the
+litter."
+
+And putting his arm around the young tribune, he conducted him from the
+palace as quickly as possible.  That was his main concern, for he had no
+news whatever; but being a man of resources, and having, in spite of his
+indignation of yesterday, much sympathy for Vinicius, and finally
+feeling responsible for all that had happened, he had undertaken
+something already, and when they entered the litter he said,--"I have
+commanded my slaves to watch at every gate.  I gave them an accurate
+description of the girl, and that giant who bore her from the feast at
+Cćsar's,--for he is the man, beyond doubt, who intercepted her.  Listen
+to me: Perhaps Aulus and Pomponia wish to secrete her in some estate of
+theirs; in that case we shall learn the direction in which they took
+her.  If my slaves do not see her at some gate, we shall know that she
+is in the city yet, and shall begin this very day to search in Rome for
+her."
+
+"Aulus does not know where she is," answered Vinicius.
+
+"Art thou sure of that?"
+
+"I saw Pomponia.  She too is looking for her."
+
+"She could not leave the city yesterday, for the gates are closed at
+night.  Two of my people are watching at each gate.  One is to follow
+Lygia and the giant, the other to return at once and inform me.  If she
+is in the city, we shall find her, for that Lygian is easily recognized,
+even by his stature and his shoulders.  Thou art lucky that it was not
+Cćsar who took her, and I can assure thee that he did not, for there are
+no secrets from me on the Palatine."
+
+But Vinicius burst forth in sorrow still more than in anger, and in a
+voice broken by emotion told Petronius what he had heard from Acte, and
+what new dangers were threatening Lygia,--dangers so dreadful that
+because of them there would be need to hide her from Poppća most
+carefully, in case they discovered her.  Then he reproached Petronius
+bitterly for his counsel.  Had it not been for him, everything would
+have gone differently.  Lygia would have been at the house of Aulus, and
+he, Vinicius, might have seen her every day, and he would have been
+happier at that moment than Cćsar.  And carried away as he went on with
+his narrative, he yielded more and more to emotion, till at last tears
+of sorrow and rage began to fall from his eyes.
+
+Petronius, who had not even thought that the young man could love and
+desire to such a degree, when he saw the tears of despair said to
+himself, with a certain astonishment,--"O mighty Lady of Cyprus, thou
+alone art ruler of gods and men!"
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XII
+
+
+WHEN they alighted in front of the arbiter's house, the chief of the
+atrium answered them that of slaves sent to the gates none had returned
+yet.  The atriensis had given orders to take food to them, and a new
+command, that under penalty of rods they were to watch carefully all who
+left the city.
+
+"Thou seest," said Petronius, "that they are in Rome, beyond doubt, and
+in that case we shall find them.  But command thy people also to watch
+at the gates,--those, namely, who were sent for Lygia, as they will
+recognize her easily."
+
+"I have given orders to send them to rural prisons," said Vinicius, "but
+I will recall the orders at once, and let them go to the gates."
+
+And writing a few words on a wax-covered tablet, he handed it to
+Petronius, who gave directions to send it at once to the house of
+Vinicius.  Then they passed into the interior portico, and, sitting on a
+marble bench, began to talk.  The golden-haired Eunice and Iras pushed
+bronze footstools under their feet, and poured wine for them into
+goblets, out of wonderful narrow-necked pitchers from Volaterrć and
+Cćcina.
+
+"Hast thou among thy people any one who knows that giant Lygian?" asked
+Petronius.
+
+"Atacinus and Gulo knew him; but Atacinus fell yesterday at the litter,
+and Gulo I killed."
+
+"I am sorry for him," said Petronius.  "He carried not only thee, but
+me, in his arms."
+
+"I intended to free him," answered Vinicius; "but do not mention him.
+Let us speak of Lygia.  Rome is a sea-"
+
+"A sea is just the place where men fish for pearls.  Of course we shall
+not find her to-day, or to-morrow, but we shall find her surely.  Thou
+hast accused me just now of giving thee this method; but the method was
+good in itself, and became bad only when turned to bad.  Thou hast heard
+from Aulus himself, that he intends to go to Sicily with his whole
+family.  In that case the girl would be far from thee."
+
+"I should follow them," said Vinicius, "and in every case she would be
+out of danger; but now, if that child dies, Poppća will believe, and
+will persuade Cćsar, that she died because of Lygia."
+
+"True; that alarmed me, too.  But that little doll may recover. Should
+she die, we shall find some way of escape."
+
+Here Petronius meditated a while and added,--"Poppća, it is said,
+follows the religion of the Jews, and believes in evil spirits.  Cćsar
+is superstitious.  If we spread the report that evil spirits carried off
+Lygia, the news will find belief, especially as neither Cćsar nor Aulus
+Plautius intercepted her; her escape was really mysterious.  The Lygian
+could not have effected it alone; he must have had help.  And where
+could a slave find so many people in the course of one day?"
+
+"Slaves help one another in Rome."
+
+"Some person pays for that with blood at times.  True, they support one
+another, but not some against others.  In this case it was known that
+responsibility and punishment would fall on thy people.  If thou give
+thy people the idea of evil spirits, they will say at once that they saw
+such with their own eyes, because that will justify them in thy sight.
+Ask one of them, as a test, if he did not see spirits carrying off Lygia
+through the air, he will swear at once by the ćgis of Zeus that he saw
+them."
+
+Vinicius, who was superstitious also, looked at Petronius with sudden
+and great fear.
+
+"If Ursus could not have men to help him, and was not able to take her
+alone, who could take her?"
+
+Petronius began to laugh.
+
+"See," said he, "they will believe, since thou art half a believer
+thyself.  Such is our society, which ridicules the gods.  They, too,
+will believe, and they will not look for her.  Meanwhile we shall put
+her away somewhere far off from the city, in some villa of mine or
+thine."
+
+"But who could help her?"
+
+"Her co-religionists," answered Petronius.
+
+"Who are they?  What deity does she worship?  I ought to know that
+better than thou."
+
+"Nearly every woman in Rome honors a different one.  It is almost beyond
+doubt that Pomponia reared her in the religion of that deity which she
+herself worships; what one she worships I know not. One thing is
+certain, that no person has seen her make an offering to our gods in any
+temple.  They have accused her even of being a Christian; but that is
+not possible; a domestic tribunal cleared her of the charge.  They say
+that Christians not only worship an ass's head, but are enemies of the
+human race, and permit the foulest crimes.  Pomponia cannot be a
+Christian, as her virtue is known, and an enemy of the human race could
+not treat slaves as she does."
+
+"In no house are they treated as at Aulus's," interrupted Vinicius.
+
+"Ah! Pomponia mentioned to me some god, who must be one powerful and
+merciful.  Where she has put away all the others is her affair; it is
+enough that that Logos of hers cannot be very mighty, or rather he must
+be a very weak god, since he has had only two adherents,--Pomponia and
+Lygia,--and Ursus in addition.  It must be that there are more of those
+adherents, and that they assisted Lygia."
+
+"That faith commands forgiveness," said Vinicius.  "At Acte's I met
+Pomponia, who said to me: 'May God forgive thee the evil which thou hast
+done to us and to Lygia.'"
+
+"Evidently their God is some curator who is very mild.  Ha! let him
+forgive thee, and in sign of forgiveness return thee the maiden."
+
+"I would offer him a hecatomb to-morrow!  I have no wish for food, or
+the bath, or sleep.  I will take a dark lantern and wander through the
+city.  Perhaps I shall find her in disguise.  I am sick."
+
+Petronius looked at him with commiseration.  In fact, there was blue
+under his eyes, his pupils were gleaming with fever, his unshaven beard
+indicated a dark strip on his firmly outlined jaws, his hair was in
+disorder, and he was really like a sick man.  Iras and the golden-haired
+Eunice looked at him also with sympathy; but he seemed not to see them,
+and he and Petronius took no notice whatever of the slave women, just as
+they would not have noticed dogs moving around them.
+
+"Fever is tormenting thee," said Petronius.
+
+"It is."
+
+"Then listen to me.  I know not what the doctor has prescribed to thee,
+but I know how I should act in thy place.  Till this lost one is found I
+should seek in another that which for the moment has gone from me with
+her.  I saw splendid forms at thy villa.  Do not contradict me.  I know
+what love is; and I know that when one is desired another cannot take
+her place.  But in a beautiful slave it is possible to find even
+momentary distraction."
+
+"I do not need it," said Vinicius.
+
+But Petronius, who had for him a real weakness, and who wished to soften
+his pain, began to meditate how he might do so.
+
+"Perhaps thine have not for thee the charm of novelty," said he, after a
+while (and here he began to look in turn at Iras and Eunice, and finally
+he placed his palm on the hip of the golden-haired Eunice). "Look at
+this grace! for whom some days since Fonteius Capiton the younger
+offered three wonderful boys from Clazomene.  A more beautiful figure
+than hers even Skopas himself has not chiselled.  I myself cannot tell
+why I have remained indifferent to her thus far, since thoughts of
+Chrysothemis have not restrained me.  Well, I give her to thee; take her
+for thyself!"
+
+When the golden-haired Eunice heard this, she grew pale in one moment,
+and, looking with frightened eyes on Vinicius, seemed to wait for his
+answer without breath in her breast.
+
+But he sprang up suddenly, and, pressing his temples with his hands,
+said quickly, like a man who is tortured by disease, and will not hear
+anything,--"No, no!  I care not for her!  I care not for others!  I
+thank thee, but I do not want her.  I will seek that one through the
+city.  Give command to bring me a Gallic cloak with a hood.  I will go
+beyond the Tiber--if I could see even Ursus."
+
+And he hurried away.  Petronius, seeing that he could not remain in one
+place, did not try to detain him.  Taking, however, his refusal as a
+temporary dislike for all women save Lygia, and not wishing his own
+magnanimity to go for naught, he said, turning to the slave,--"Eunice,
+thou wilt bathe and anoint thyself, then dress: after that thou wilt go
+to the house of Vinicius."
+
+But she dropped before him on her knees, and with joined palms implored
+him not to remove her from the house.  She would not go to Vinicius, she
+said.  She would rather carry fuel to the hypocaustum in his house than
+be chief servant in that of Vinicius. She would not, she could not go;
+and she begged him to have pity on her.  Let him give command to flog
+her daily, only not send her away.
+
+And trembling like a leaf with fear and excitement, she stretched her
+hands to him, while he listened with amazement.  A slave who ventured to
+beg relief from the fulfilment of a command, who said "I will not and I
+cannot," was something so unheard-of in Rome that Petronius could not
+believe his own ears at first.  Finally he frowned.  He was too refined
+to be cruel.  His slaves, especially in the department of pleasure, were
+freer than others, on condition of performing their service in an
+exemplary manner, and honoring the will of their master, like that of a
+god.  In case they failed in these two respects, he was able not to
+spare punishment, to which, according to general custom, they were
+subject.  Since, besides this, he could not endure opposition, nor
+anything which ruffled his calmness, he looked for a while at the
+kneeling girl, and then said,--"Call Tiresias, and return with him."
+
+Eunice rose, trembling, with tears in her eyes, and went out; after a
+time she returned with the chief of the atrium, Tiresias, a Cretan.
+
+"Thou wilt take Eunice," said Petronius, "and give her five-and-twenty
+lashes, in such fashion, however, as not to harm her skin."
+
+When he had said this, he passed into the library, and, sitting down at
+a table of rose-colored marble, began to work on his "Feast of
+Trimalchion."  But the flight of Lygia and the illness of the infant
+Augusta had disturbed his mind so much that he could not work long.
+That illness, above all, was important.  It occurred to Petronius that
+were Cćsar to believe that Lygia had cast spells on the infant, the
+responsibility might fall on him also, for the girl had been brought at
+his request to the palace.  But he could reckon on this, that at the
+first interview with Cćsar he would be able in some way to show the
+utter absurdity of such an idea; he counted a little, too, on a certain
+weakness which Poppća had for him,--a weakness hidden carefully, it is
+true, but not so carefully that he could not divine it.  After a while
+he shrugged his shoulders at these fears, and decided to go to the
+triclinium to strengthen himself, and then order the litter to bear him
+once more to the palace, after that to the Campus Martius, and then to
+Chrysothemis.
+
+But on the way to the triclinium at the entrance to the corridor
+assigned to servants, he saw unexpectedly the slender form of Eunice
+standing, among other slaves, at the wall; and forgetting that he had
+given Tiresias no order beyond flogging her, he wrinkled his brow again,
+and looked around for the atriensis.  Not seeing him among the servants,
+he turned to Eunice.
+
+"Hast thou received the lashes?"
+
+She cast herself at his feet a second time, pressed the border of his
+toga to her lips, and said,--"Oh, yes, lord, I have received them! Oh,
+yes, lord!"  In her voice were heard, as it were, joy and gratitude.  It
+was clear that she looked on the lashes as a substitute for her removal
+from the house, and that now she might stay there. Petronius, who
+understood this, wondered at the passionate resistance of the girl; but
+he was too deeply versed in human nature not to know that love alone
+could call forth such resistance.
+
+"Dost thou love some one in this house?" asked he.
+
+She raised her blue, tearful eyes to him, and answered, in a voice so
+low that it was hardly possible to hear her,--"Yes, lord."
+
+And with those eyes, with that golden hair thrown back, with fear and
+hope in her face, she was so beautiful, she looked at him so
+entreatingly, that Petronius, who, as a philosopher, had proclaimed the
+might of love, and who, as a man of ćsthetic nature, had given homage to
+all beauty, felt for her a certain species of compassion.
+
+"Whom of those dost thou love?" inquired he, indicating the servants
+with his head.
+
+There was no answer to that question.  Eunice inclined her head to his
+feet and remained motionless.
+
+Petronius looked at the slaves, among whom were beautiful and stately
+youths.  He could read nothing on any face; on the contrary, all had
+certain strange smiles.  He looked then for a while on Eunice lying at
+his feet, and went in silence to the triclinium.
+
+After he had eaten, he gave command to bear him to the palace, and then
+to Chrysothemis, with whom he remained till late at night.  But when he
+returned, he gave command to call Tiresias.
+
+"Did Eunice receive the flogging?" inquired he.
+
+"She did, lord.  Thou didst not let the skin be cut, however."
+
+"Did I give no other command touching her?"
+
+"No, lord," answered the atriensis with alarm.
+
+"That is well.  Whom of the slaves does she love?"
+
+"No one, lord."
+
+"What dost thou know of her?"
+
+Tiresias began to speak in a somewhat uncertain voice:
+
+"At night Eunice never leaves the cubiculum in which she lives with old
+Acrisiona and Ifida; after thou art dressed she never goes to the
+bath-rooms.  Other slaves ridicule her, and call her Diana."
+
+"Enough," said Petronius.  "My relative, Vinicius, to whom I offered her
+to-day, did not accept her; hence she may stay in the house.  Thou art
+free to go."
+
+"Is it permitted me to speak more of Eunice, lord?"
+
+"I have commanded thee to say all thou knowest."
+
+"The whole familia are speaking of the flight of the maiden who was to
+dwell in the house of the noble Vinicius.  After thy departure, Eunice
+came to me and said that she knew a man who could find her."
+
+"Ah! What kind of man is he?"
+
+"I know not, lord; but I thought that I ought to inform thee of this
+matter."
+
+"That is well.  Let that man wait to-morrow in my house for the arrival
+of the tribune, whom thou wilt request in my name to meet me here."
+
+The atriensis bowed and went out.  But Petronius began to think of
+Eunice.  At first it seemed clear to him that the young slave wished
+Vinicius to find Lygia for this reason only, that she would not be
+forced from his house.  Afterward, however, it occurred to him that the
+man whom Eunice was pushing forward might be her lover, and all at once
+that thought seemed to him disagreeable.  There was, it is true, a
+simple way of learning the truth, for it was enough to summon Eunice;
+but the hour was late, Petronius felt tired after his long visit with
+Chrysothemis, and was in a hurry to sleep.  But on the way to the
+cubiculum he remembered--it is unknown why--that he had noticed
+wrinkles, that day, in the corners of Chrysothemis's eyes.  He thought,
+also, that her beauty was more celebrated in Rome than it deserved; and
+that Fonteius Capiton, who had offered him three boys from Clazomene for
+Eunice, wanted to buy her too cheaply.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XIII
+
+
+NEXT morning, Petronius had barely finished dressing in the unctorium
+when Vinicius came, called by Tiresias.  He knew that no news had come
+from the gates.  This information, instead of comforting him, as a proof
+that Lygia was still in Rome, weighed him down still more, for he began
+to think that Ursus might have conducted her out of the city immediately
+after her seizure, and hence before Petronius's slaves had begun to keep
+watch at the gates.  It is true that in autumn, when the days become
+shorter, the gates are closed rather early; but it is true, also, that
+they are opened for persons going out, and the number of these is
+considerable.  It was possible, also, to pass the walls by other ways,
+well known, for instance, to slaves who wish to escape from the city.
+Vinicius had sent out his people to all roads leading to the provinces,
+to watchmen in the smaller towns, proclaiming a pair of fugitive slaves,
+with a detailed description of Ursus and Lygia, coupled with the offer
+of a reward for seizing them.  But it was doubtful whether that pursuit
+would reach the fugitives; and even should it reach them, whether the
+local authorities would feel justified in making the arrest at the
+private instance of Vinicius, without the support of a pretor.  Indeed,
+there had not been time to obtain such support.  Vinicius himself,
+disguised as a slave, had sought Lygia the whole day before, through
+every corner of the city, but had been unable to find the least
+indication or trace of her.  He had seen Aulus's servants, it is true;
+but they seemed to be seeking something also, and that confirmed him in
+the belief that it was not Aulus who had intercepted the maiden, and
+that the old general did not know what had happened to her.
+
+When Tiresias announced to him, then, that there was a man who would
+undertake to find Lygia, he hurried with all speed to the house of
+Petronius; and barely had he finished saluting his uncle, when he
+inquired for the man.
+
+"We shall see him at once, Eunice knows him," said Petronius. "She will
+come this moment to arrange the folds of my toga, and will give nearer
+information concerning him."
+
+"Oh! she whom thou hadst the wish to bestow on me yesterday?"
+
+"The one whom thou didst reject; for which I am grateful, for she is the
+best vestiplica in the whole city."
+
+In fact, the vestiplica came in before he had finished speaking, and
+taking the toga, laid on a chair inlaid with pearl, she opened the
+garment to throw it on Petronius's shoulder.  Her face was clear and
+calm; joy was in her eyes.
+
+Petronius looked at her.  She seemed to him very beautiful.  After a
+while, when she had covered him with the toga, she began to arrange it,
+bending at times to lengthen the folds. He noticed that her arms had a
+marvellous pale rose-color, and her bosom and shoulders the transparent
+reflections of pearl or alabaster.
+
+"Eunice," said he, "has the man come to Tiresias whom thou didst mention
+yesterday?"
+
+"He has, lord."
+
+"What is his name?"
+
+"Chilo Chilonides."
+
+"Who is he?"
+
+"A physician, a sage, a soothsayer, who knows how to read people's fates
+and predict the future."
+
+"Has he predicted the future to thee?"
+
+Eunice was covered with a blush which gave a rosy color to her ears and
+her neck even.
+
+"Yes, lord."
+
+"What has he predicted?"
+
+"That pain and happiness would meet me."
+
+"Pain met thee yesterday at the hands of Tiresias; hence happiness also
+should come."
+
+"It has come, lord, already."
+
+"What?"
+
+"I remain," said she in a whisper.
+
+Petronius put his hand on her golden head.
+
+"Thou hast arranged the folds well to-day, and I am satisfied with thee,
+Eunice."
+
+Under that touch her eyes were mist-covered in one instant from
+happiness, and her bosom began to heave quickly.
+
+Petronius and Vinicius passed into the atrium, where Chilo Chilonides
+was waiting.  When he saw them, he made a low bow. A smile came to the
+lips of Petronius at thought of his suspicion of yesterday, that this
+man might be Eunice's lover.  The man who was standing before him could
+not be any one's lover.  In that marvellous figure there was something
+both foul and ridiculous. He was not old; in his dirty beard and curly
+locks a gray hair shone here and there.  He had a lank stomach and
+stooping shoulders, so that at the first cast of the eye he appeared to
+be hunchbacked; above that hump rose a large head, with the face of a
+monkey and also of a fox; the eye was penetrating.  His yellowish
+complexion was varied with pimples; and his nose, covered with them
+completely, might indicate too great a love for the bottle.  His
+neglected apparel, composed of a dark tunic of goat's wool and a mantle
+of similar material with holes in it, showed real or simulated poverty.
+At sight of him, Homer's Thersites came to the mind of Petronius.
+Hence, answering with a wave of the hand to his bow, he said,--
+
+"A greeting, divine Thersites!  How are the lumps which Ulysses gave
+thee at Troy, and what is he doing himself in the Elysian Fields?"
+
+"Noble lord," answered Chilo Chilonides, "Ulysses, the wisest of the
+dead, sends a greeting through me to Petronius, the wisest of the
+living, and the request to cover my lumps with a new mantle."
+
+"By Hecate Triformis!" exclaimed Petronius, "the answer deserves a new
+mantle."
+
+But further conversation was interrupted by the impatient Vinicius, who
+inquired directly,--"Dost thou know clearly what thou art undertaking?"
+
+"When two households in two lordly mansions speak of naught else, and
+when half Rome is repeating the news, it is not difficult to know,"
+answered Chilo.  "The night before last a maiden named Lygia, but
+specially Callina, and reared in the house of Aulus Plautius, was
+intercepted.  Thy slaves were conducting her, O lord, from Cćsar's
+palace to thy 'insula,' and I undertake to find her in the city, or, if
+she has left the city--which is little likely--to indicate to thee,
+noble tribune, whither she has fled and where she has hidden."
+
+"That is well," said Vinicius, who was pleased with the precision of the
+answer.  "What means hast thou to do this?"
+
+Chilo smiled cunningly.  "Thou hast the means, lord; I have the wit
+only."
+
+Petronius smiled also, for he was perfectly satisfied with his guest.
+
+"That man can find the maiden," thought he.  Meanwhile Vinicius wrinkled
+his joined brows, and said,--"Wretch, in case thou deceive me for gain,
+I will give command to beat thee with clubs."
+
+"I am a philosopher, lord, and a philosopher cannot be greedy of gain,
+especially of such as thou hast just offered magnanimously."
+
+"Oh, art thou a philosopher?" inquired Petronius.  "Eunice told me that
+thou art a physician and a soothsayer.  Whence knowest thou Eunice?"
+
+"She came to me for aid, for my fame struck her ears."
+
+"What aid did she want?"
+
+"Aid in love, lord.  She wanted to be cured of unrequited love."
+
+"Didst thou cure her?"
+
+"I did more, lord.  I gave her an amulet which secures mutuality.  In
+Paphos, on the island of Cyprus, is a temple, O lord, in which is
+preserved a zone of Venus.  I gave her two threads from that zone,
+enclosed in an almond shell."
+
+"And didst thou make her pay well for them?"
+
+"One can never pay enough for mutuality, and I, who lack two fingers on
+my right hand, am collecting money to buy a slave copyist to write down
+my thoughts, and preserve my wisdom for mankind."
+
+"Of what school art thou, divine sage?"
+
+"I am a Cynic, lord, because I wear a tattered mantle; I am a Stoic,
+because I bear poverty patiently; I am a Peripatetic, for, not owning a
+litter, I go on foot from one wine-shop to another, and on the way teach
+those who promise to pay for a pitcher of wine."
+
+"And at the pitcher thou dost become a rhetor?"
+
+"Heraclitus declares that 'all is fluid,' and canst thou deny, lord,
+that wine is fluid?"
+
+"And he declared that fire is a divinity; divinity, therefore, is
+blushing in thy nose."
+
+"But the divine Diogenes from Apollonia declared that air is the essence
+of things, and the warmer the air the more perfect the beings it makes,
+and from the warmest come the souls of sages. And since the autumns are
+cold, a genuine sage should warm his soul with wine; and wouldst thou
+hinder, O lord, a pitcher of even the stuff produced in Capua or Telesia
+from bearing heat to all the bones of a perishable human body?"
+
+"Chilo Chilonides, where is thy birthplace?"
+
+"On the Euxine Pontus.  I come from Mesembria."
+
+"Oh, Chilo, thou art great!"
+
+"And unrecognized," said the sage, pensively.
+
+But Vinicius was impatient again.  In view of the hope which had gleamed
+before him, he wished Chilo to set out at once on his work; hence the
+whole conversation seemed to him simply a vain loss of time, and he was
+angry at Petronius.
+
+"When wilt thou begin the search?" asked he, turning to the Greek.
+
+"I have begun it already," answered Chilo.  "And since I am here, and
+answering thy affable question, I am searching yet.  Only have
+confidence, honored tribune, and know that if thou wert to lose the
+string of thy sandal I should find it, or him who picked it up on the
+street."
+
+"Hast thou been employed in similar services?" asked Petronius.
+
+The Greek raised his eyes.  "To-day men esteem virtue and wisdom too
+low, for a philosopher not to be forced to seek other means of living."
+
+"What are thy means?"
+
+"To know everything, and to serve those with news who are in need of
+it."
+
+"And who pay for it?"
+
+"Ah, lord, I need to buy a copyist.  Otherwise my wisdom will perish
+with me."
+
+"If thou hast not collected enough yet to buy a sound mantle, thy
+services cannot be very famous."
+
+"Modesty hinders me.  But remember, lord, that to-day there are not such
+benefactors as were numerous formerly; and for whom it was as pleasant
+to cover service with gold as to swallow an oyster from Puteoli.  No; my
+services are not small, but the gratitude of mankind is small.  At
+times, when a valued slave escapes, who will find him, if not the only
+son of my father?  When on the walls there are inscriptions against the
+divine Poppća, who will indicate those who composed them?  Who will
+discover at the book-stalls verses against Cćsar?  Who will declare what
+is said in the houses of knights and senators?  Who will carry letters
+which the writers will not intrust to slaves?  Who will listen to news
+at the doors of barbers?  For whom have wine-shops and bake-shops no
+secret?  In whom do slaves trust?  Who can see through every house, from
+the atrium to the garden?  Who knows every street, every alley and
+hiding-place?  Who knows what they say in the baths, in the Circus, in
+the markets, in the fencing-schools, in slave-dealers' sheds, and even
+in the arenas?"
+
+"By the gods! enough, noble sage!" cried Petronius; "we are drowning in
+thy services, thy virtue, thy wisdom, and thy eloquence.  Enough!  We
+wanted to know who thou art, and we know!"
+
+But Vinicius was glad, for he thought that this man, like a hound, once
+put on the trail, would not stop till he had found out the hiding-place.
+
+"Well," said he, "dost thou need indications?"
+
+"I need arms."
+
+"Of what kind?" asked Vinicius, with astonishment.
+
+The Greek stretched out one hand; with the other he made the gesture of
+counting money.
+
+"Such are the times, lord," said he, with a sigh.
+
+"Thou wilt be the ass, then," said Petronius, "to win the fortress with
+bags of gold?"
+
+"I am only a poor philosopher," answered Chilo, with humility; "ye have
+the gold."
+
+Vinicius tossed him a purse, which the Greek caught in the air, though
+two fingers were lacking on his right hand.
+
+He raised his head then, and said: "I know more than thou thinkest. I
+have not come empty-handed.  I know that Aulus did not intercept the
+maiden, for I have spoken with his slaves.  I know that she is not on
+the Palatine, for all are occupied with the infant Augusta; and perhaps
+I may even divine why ye prefer to search for the maiden with my help
+rather than that of the city guards and Cćsar's soldiers.  I know that
+her escape was effected by a servant,--a slave coming from the same
+country as she.  He could not find assistance among slaves, for slaves
+all stand together, and would not act against thy slaves.  Only a
+co-religionist would help him."
+
+"Dost hear, Vinicius?" broke in Petronius.  "Have I not said the same,
+word for word, to thee?"
+
+"That is an honor for me," said Chilo.  "The maiden, lord," continued
+he, turning again to Vinicius, "worships beyond a doubt the same
+divinity as that most virtuous of Roman ladies, that genuine matron,
+Pomponia.  I have heard this, too, that Pomponia was tried in her own
+house for worshipping some kind of foreign god, but I could not learn
+from her slaves what god that is, or what his worshippers are called.
+If I could learn that, I should go to them, become the most devoted
+among them, and gain their confidence.  But thou, lord, who hast passed,
+as I know too, a number of days in the house of the noble Aulus, canst
+thou not give me some information thereon?"
+
+"I cannot," said Vinicius.
+
+"Ye have asked me long about various things, noble lords, and I have
+answered the questions; permit me now to give one.  Hast thou not seen,
+honored tribune, some statuette, some offering, some token, some amulet
+on Pomponia or thy divine Lygia?  Hast thou not seen them making signs
+to each other, intelligible to them alone?"
+
+"Signs?  Wait!  Yes; I saw once that Lygia made a fish on the sand."
+
+"A fish?  A-a! O-o-o! Did she do that once, or a number of times?"
+
+"Only once."
+
+"And art thou certain, lord, that she outlined a fish?  O-o?"
+
+"Yes," answered Vinicius, with roused curiosity.  "Dost thou divine what
+that means?"
+
+"Do I divine!" exclaimed Chilo.  And bowing in sign of farewell, he
+added: "May Fortune scatter on you both equally all gifts, worthy
+lords!"
+
+"Give command to bring thee a mantle," said Petronius to him at parting.
+
+"Ulysses gives thee thanks for Thersites," said the Greek; and bowing a
+second time, he walked out.
+
+"What wilt thou say of that noble sage?" inquired Petronius.
+
+"This, that he will find Lygia," answered Vinicius, with delight; "but I
+will say, too, that were there a kingdom of rogues he might be the king
+of it."
+
+"Most certainly.  I shall make a nearer acquaintance with this stoic;
+meanwhile I must give command to perfume the atrium."
+
+But Chilo Chilonides, wrapping his new mantle about him, threw up on his
+palm, under its folds, the purse received from Vinicius, and admired
+both its weight and its jingle.  Walking on slowly, and looking around
+to see if they were not looking at him from the house, he passed the
+portico of Livia, and, reaching the corner of the Clivus Virbius, turned
+toward the Subura.
+
+"I must go to Sporus," said he to himself, "and pour out a little wine
+to Fortuna.  I have found at last what I have been seeking this long
+time.  He is young, irascible, bounteous as mines in Cyprus, and ready
+to give half his fortune for that Lygian linnet.  Just such a man have I
+been seeking this long time.  It is needful, however, to be on one's
+guard with him, for the wrinkling of his brow forebodes no good.  Ah!
+the wolf-whelps lord it over the world to-day!  I should fear that
+Petronius less.  O gods! but the trade of procurer pays better at
+present than virtue.  Ah! she drew a fish on the sand!  If I know what
+that means, may I choke myself with a piece of goat's cheese!  But I
+shall know.  Fish live under water, and searching under water is more
+difficult than on land, ergo he will pay me separately for this fish.
+Another such purse and I might cast aside the beggar's wallet and buy
+myself a slave.  But what wouldst thou say, Chilo, were I to advise thee
+to buy not a male but a female slave?  I know thee; I know that thou
+wouldst consent. If she were beautiful, like Eunice, for instance, thou
+thyself wouldst grow young near her, and at the same time wouldst have
+from her a good and certain income.  I sold to that poor Eunice two
+threads from my old mantle.  She is dull; but if Petronius were to give
+her to me, I would take her.  Yes, yes, Chilo Chilonides, thou hast lost
+father and mother, thou art an orphan; therefore buy to console thee
+even a female slave.  She must indeed live somewhere, therefore Vinicius
+will hire her a dwelling, in which thou too mayest find shelter; she
+must dress, hence Vinicius will pay for the dress; and must eat, hence
+he will support her.  Och! what a hard life!  Where are the times in
+which for an obolus a man could buy as much pork and beans as he could
+hold in both hands, or a piece of goat's entrails as long as the arm of
+a boy twelve years old, and filled with blood?  But here is that villain
+Sporus!  In the wine-shop it will be easier to learn something."
+
+Thus conversing, he entered the wine-shop and ordered a pitcher of
+"dark" for himself.  Seeing the sceptical look of the shopkeeper, he
+took a gold coin from his purse, and, putting it on the table, said,--
+"Sporus, I toiled to-day with Seneca from dawn till midday, and this is
+what my friend gave me at parting."
+
+The plump eyes of Sporus became plumper still at this sight, and the
+wine was soon before Chilo.  Moistening his fingers in it, he drew a
+fish on the table, and said,--"Knowest what that means?"
+
+"A fish?  Well, a fish,--yes, that's a fish."
+
+"Thou art dull; though thou dost add so much water to the wine that thou
+mightst find a fish in it.  This is a symbol which, in the language of
+philosophers, means 'the smile of fortune.' If thou hadst divined it,
+thou too mightst have made a fortune.  Honor philosophy, I tell thee, or
+I shall change my wine-shop,--an act to which Petronius, my personal
+friend, has been urging me this long time."
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XIV
+
+
+FOR a number of days after the interview, Chilo did not show himself
+anywhere.  Vinicius, since he had learned from Acte that Lygia loved
+him, was a hundred times more eager to find her, and began himself to
+search.  He was unwilling, and also unable, to ask aid of Cćsar, who was
+in great fear because of the illness of the infant Augusta.
+
+Sacrifices in the temples did not help, neither did prayers and
+offerings, nor the art of physicians, nor all the means of enchantment
+to which they turned finally.  In a week the child died. Mourning fell
+upon the court and Rome.  Cćsar, who at the birth of the infant was wild
+with delight, was wild now from despair, and, confining himself in his
+apartments, refused food for two days; and though the palace was
+swarming with senators and Augustians, who hastened with marks of sorrow
+and sympathy, he denied audience to every one.  The senate assembled in
+an extraordinary session, at which the dead child was pronounced divine.
+It was decided to rear to her a temple and appoint a special priest to
+her service.  New sacrifices were offered in other temples in honor of
+the deceased; statues of her were cast from precious metals; and her
+funeral was one immense solemnity, during which the people wondered at
+the unrestrained marks of grief which Cćsar exhibited; they wept with
+him, stretched out their hands for gifts, and above all amused
+themselves with the unparalleled spectacle.
+
+That death alarmed Petronius.  All knew in Rome that Poppća ascribed it
+to enchantment.  The physicians, who were thus enabled to explain the
+vanity of their efforts, supported her; the priests, whose sacrifices
+proved powerless, did the same, as well as the sorcerers, who were
+trembling for their lives, and also the people. Petronius was glad now
+that Lygia had fled; for he wished no evil to Aulus and Pomponia, and he
+wished good to himself and Vinicius; therefore when the cypress, set out
+before the Palatine as a sign of mourning, was removed, he went to the
+reception appointed for the senators and Augustians to learn how far
+Nero had lent ear to reports of spells, and to neutralize results which
+might come from his belief.
+
+Knowing Nero, he thought, too, that though he did not believe in charms,
+he would feign belief, so as to magnify his own suffering, and take
+vengeance on some one, finally, to escape the suspicion that the gods
+had begun to punish him for crimes.  Petronius did not think that Cćsar
+could love really and deeply even his own child; though he loved her
+passionately, he felt certain, however, that he would exaggerate his
+suffering.  He was not mistaken.  Nero listened, with stony face and
+fixed eyes, to the consolation offered by knights and senators.  It was
+evident that, even if he suffered, he was thinking of this: What
+impression would his suffering make upon others?  He was posing as a
+Niobe, and giving an exhibition of parental sorrow, as an actor would
+give it on the stage.  He had not the power even then to endure in his
+silent and as it were petrified sorrow, for at moments he made a gesture
+as if to cast the dust of the earth on his head, and at moments he
+groaned deeply; but seeing Petronius, he sprang up and cried in a tragic
+voice, so that all present could hear him,--"Eheu!  And thou art guilty
+of her death!  At thy advice the evil spirit entered these walls,--the
+evil spirit which, with one look, drew the life from her breast!  Woe is
+me!  Would that my eyes had not seen the light of Helios!  Woe is me!
+Eheu! eheu!"
+
+And raising his voice still more, he passed into a despairing shout; but
+Petronius resolved at that moment to put everything on one cast of the
+dice; hence, stretching out his hand, he seized the silk kerchief which
+Nero wore around his neck always, and, placing it on the mouth of the
+Imperator, said solemnly,--"Lord, Rome and the world are benumbed with
+pain; but do thou preserve thy voice for us!"
+
+Those present were amazed; Nero himself was amazed for a moment.
+Petronius alone was unmoved; he knew too well what he was doing.  He
+remembered, besides, that Terpnos and Diodorus had a direct order to
+close Cćsar's mouth whenever he raised his voice too much and exposed it
+to danger.
+
+"O Cćsar!" continued he, with the same seriousness and sorrow, "we have
+suffered an immeasurable loss; let even this treasure of consolation
+remain to us!"
+
+Nero's face quivered, and after a while tears came from his eyes. All at
+once he rested his hands on Petronius's shoulders, and, dropping his
+head on his breast, began to repeat, amid sobs,
+
+"Thou alone of all thought of this,--thou alone, O Petronius! thou
+alone!"
+
+Tigellinus grew yellow from envy; but Petronius continued,--
+
+"Go to Antium! there she came to the world, there joy flowed in on thee,
+there solace will come to thee.  Let the sea air freshen thy divine
+throat; let thy breast breathe the salt dampness. We, thy devoted ones,
+will follow thee everywhere; and when we assuage thy pain with
+friendship, thou wilt comfort us with song.
+
+"True!" answered Nero, sadly, "I will write a hymn in her honor, and
+compose music for it."
+
+"And then thou wilt find the warm sun in Baić."
+
+"And afterward--forgetfulness in Greece."
+
+"In the birthplace of poetry and song."
+
+And his stony, gloomy state of mind passed away gradually, as clouds
+pass that are covering the sun; and then a conversation began which,
+though full of sadness, yet was full of plans for the future,--touching
+a journey, artistic exhibitions, and even the receptions required at the
+promised coming of Tiridates, King of Armenia.  Tigellinus tried, it is
+true, to bring forward again the enchantment; but Petronius, sure now of
+victory, took up the challenge directly.
+
+"Tigellinus," said he, "dost thou think that enchantments can injure the
+gods?"
+
+"Cćsar himself has mentioned them," answered the courtier.
+
+"Pain was speaking, not Cćsar; but thou--what is thy opinion of the
+matter?"
+
+"The gods are too mighty to be subject to charms."
+
+"Then wouldst thou deny divinity to Cćsar and his family?"
+
+"Peractum est!" muttered Eprius Marcellus, standing near, repeating that
+shout which the people gave always when a gladiator in the arena
+received such a blow that he needed no other.
+
+Tigellinus gnawed his own anger.  Between him and Petronius there had
+long existed a rivalry touching Nero.  Tigellinus had this superiority,
+that Nero acted with less ceremony, or rather with none whatever in his
+presence; while thus far Petronius overcame Tigellinus at every
+encounter with wit and intellect.
+
+So it happened now.  Tigellinus was silent, and simply recorded in his
+memory those senators and knights who, when Petronius withdrew to the
+depth of the chamber, surrounded him straightway, supposing that after
+this incident he would surely be Cćsar's first favorite.
+
+Petronius, on leaving the palace, betook himself to Vinicius, and
+described his encounter with Cćsar and Tigellinus.
+
+"Not only have I turned away danger," said he, "from Aulus Plautius,
+Pomponia, and us, but even from Lygia, whom they will not seek, even for
+this reason, that I have persuaded Bronzebeard, the monkey, to go to
+Antium, and thence to Naples or Baić and he will go.  I know that he has
+not ventured yet to appear in the theatre publicly; I have known this
+long time that he intends to do so at Naples.  He is dreaming, moreover,
+of Greece, where he wants to sing in all the more prominent cities, and
+then make a triumphal entry into Rome, with all the crowns which the
+'Grćculi' will bestow on him.  During that time we shall be able to seek
+Lygia unhindered and secrete her in safety.  But has not our noble
+philosopher been here yet?"
+
+"Thy noble philosopher is a cheat.  No; he has not shown himself, and he
+will not show himself again!"
+
+"But I have a better understanding, if not of his honesty, of his wit.
+He has drawn blood once from thy purse, and will come even for this, to
+draw it a second time."
+
+"Let him beware lest I draw his own blood."
+
+"Draw it not; have patience till thou art convinced surely of his
+deceit.  Do not give him more money, but promise a liberal reward if he
+brings thee certain information.  Wilt thou thyself undertake
+something?"
+
+"My two freedmen, Nymphidius and Demas, are searching for her with sixty
+men.  Freedom is promised the slave who finds her. Besides I have sent
+out special persons by all roads leading from Rome to inquire at every
+inn for the Lygian and the maiden.  I course through the city myself day
+and night, counting on a chance meeting."
+
+"Whenever thou hast tidings let me know, for I must go to Antium."
+
+"I will do so."
+
+"And if thou wake up some morning and say, 'It is not worth while to
+torment myself for one girl, and take so much trouble because of her,'
+come to Antium.  There will be no lack of women there, or amusement."
+
+Vinicius began to walk with quick steps.  Petronius looked for some time
+at him, and said at last,--"Tell me sincerely, not as a mad head, who
+talks something into his brain and excites himself, but as a man of
+judgment who is answering a friend: Art thou concerned as much as ever
+about this Lygia?"
+
+Vinicius stopped a moment, and looked at Petronius as if he had not seen
+him before; then he began to walk again.  It was evident that he was
+restraining an outburst.  At last, from a feeling of helplessness,
+sorrow, anger, and invincible yearning, two tears gathered in his eyes,
+which spoke with greater power to Petronius than the most eloquent
+words.
+
+Then, meditating for a moment, he said,--"It is not Atlas who carries
+the world on his shoulders, but woman; and sometimes she plays with it
+as with a ball."
+
+"True," said Vinicius.
+
+And they began to take farewell of each other.  But at that moment a
+slave announced that Chilo Chilonides was waiting in the antechamber,
+and begged to be admitted to the presence of the lord.
+
+Vinicius gave command to admit him immediately, and Petronius said,--
+"Ha! have I not told thee?  By Hercules! keep thy calmness; or he will
+command thee, not thou him."
+
+"A greeting and honor to the noble tribune of the army, and to thee,
+lord," said Chilo, entering.  "May your happiness be equal to your fame,
+and may your fame course through the world from the pillars of Hercules
+to the boundaries of the Arsacidć."
+
+"A greeting, O lawgiver of virtue and wisdom," answered Petronius.
+
+But Vinicius inquired with affected calmness, "What dost thou bring?"
+
+"The first time I came I brought thee hope, O lord; at present, I bring
+certainty that the maiden will be found."
+
+"That means that thou hast not found her yet?"
+
+"Yes, lord; but I have found what that sign means which she made. I know
+who the people are who rescued her, and I know the God among whose
+worshippers to seek her."
+
+Vinicius wished to spring from the chair in which he was sitting; but
+Petronius placed his hand on his shoulder, and turning to Chilo said,--
+"Speak on!"
+
+"Art thou perfectly certain, lord, that she drew a fish on the sand?"
+
+"Yes," burst out Vinicius.
+
+"Then she is a Christian and Christians carried her away."  A moment of
+silence followed.
+
+"Listen, Chilo," said Petronius.  "My relative has predestined to thee a
+considerable sum of money for finding the girl, but a no less
+considerable number of rods if thou deceive him.  In the first case thou
+wilt purchase not one, but three scribes; in the second, the philosophy
+of all the seven sages, with the addition of thy own, will not suffice
+to get thee ointment."
+
+"The maiden is a Christian, lord," cried the Greek.
+
+"Stop, Chilo.  Thou art not a dull man.  We know that Junia and Calvia
+Crispinilla accused Pomponia Grćcina of confessing the Christian
+superstition; but we know too, that a domestic court acquitted her.
+Wouldst thou raise this again?  Wouldst thou persuade us that Pomponia,
+and with her Lygia, could belong to the enemies of the human race, to
+the poisoners of wells and fountains, to the worshippers of an ass's
+head, to people who murder infants and give themselves up to the foulest
+license? Think, Chilo, if that thesis which thou art announcing to us
+will not rebound as an antithesis on thy own back."
+
+Chilo spread out his arms in sign that that was not his fault, and then
+said,--"Lord, utter in Greek the following sentence: Jesus Christ, Son
+of God, Saviour."  [Iesous Christos, Theou Uios, Soter.]
+
+"Well, I have uttered it.  What comes of that?"
+
+"Now take the first letters of each of those words and put them into one
+word."
+
+"Fish!" said Petronius with astonishment. [Ichthus, the Greek word for
+"fish."]
+
+"There, that is why fish has become the watchword of the Christians,"
+answered Chilo, proudly.
+
+A moment of silence followed.  But there was something so striking in
+the conclusions of the Greek that the two friends could not guard
+themselves from amazement.
+
+"Vinicius, art thou not mistaken?" asked Petronius.  "Did Lygia really
+draw a fish for thee?"
+
+"By all the infernal gods, one might go mad!" cried the young man, with
+excitement.  "If she had drawn a bird for me, I should have said a
+bird."
+
+"Therefore she is a Christian," repeated Chilo.
+
+"This signifies," said Petronius, "that Pomponia and Lygia poison wells,
+murder children caught on the street, and give themselves up to
+dissoluteness!  Folly!  Thou, Vinicius, wert at their house for a time,
+I was there a little while; but I know Pomponia and Aulus enough, I know
+even Lygia enough, to say monstrous and foolish! If a fish is the symbol
+of the Christians, which it is difficult really to deny, and if those
+women are Christians, then, by Proserpina! evidently Christians are not
+what we hold them to be."
+
+"Thou speakest like Socrates, lord," answered Chilo.  "Who has ever
+examined a Christian?  Who has learned their religion?  When I was
+travelling three years ago from Naples hither to Rome (oh, why did I not
+stay in Naples!), a man joined me, whose name was Glaucus, of whom
+people said that he was a Christian; but in spite of that I convinced
+myself that he was a good and virtuous man."
+
+"Was it not from that virtuous man that thou hast learned now what the
+fish means?"
+
+"Unfortunately, lord, on the way, at an inn, some one thrust a knife
+into that honorable old man; and his wife and child were carried away by
+slave-dealers.  I lost in their defence these two fingers; since, as
+people say, there is no lack among Christians of miracles, I hope that
+the fingers will grow out on my hand again."
+
+"How is that?  Hast thou become a Christian?"
+
+"Since yesterday, lord, since yesterday!  The fish made me a Christian.
+But see what a power there is in it.  For some days I shall be the most
+zealous of the zealous, so that they may admit me to all their secrets;
+and when they admit me to their secrets, I shall know where the maiden
+is hiding.  Perhaps then my Christianity will pay me better than my
+philosophy.  I have made a vow also to Mercury, that if he helps me to
+find the maiden, I will sacrifice to him two heifers of the same size
+and color and will gild their horns."
+
+"Then thy Christianity of yesterday and thy philosophy of long standing
+permit thee to believe in Mercury?"
+
+"I believe always in that in which I need to believe; that is my
+philosophy, which ought to please Mercury.  Unfortunately (ye know,
+worthy lords, what a suspicious god he is), he does not trust the
+promises even of blameless philosophers, and prefers the heifers in
+advance; meanwhile this outlay is immense.  Not every one is a Seneca,
+and I cannot afford the sacrifice; should the noble Vinicius, however,
+wish to give something, on account of that sum which he promised--"
+
+"Not an obolus, Chilo!" said Petronius, "not an obolus.  The bounty of
+Vinicius will surpass thy expectations, but only when Lygia is found,--
+that is, when thou shalt indicate to us her hiding-place. Mercury must
+trust thee for the two heifers, though I am not astonished at him for
+not wishing to do so; in this I recognize his acuteness."
+
+"Listen to me, worthy lords.  The discovery which I have made is great;
+for though I have not found the maiden yet, I have found the way in
+which I must seek her.  Ye have sent freedmen and slaves throughout the
+city and into the country; has any one given you a clew?  No! I alone
+have given one.  I tell you more.  Among your slaves there may be
+Christians, of whom ye have no knowledge, for this superstition has
+spread everywhere; and they, instead of aiding, will betray you.  It is
+unfortunate that they see me here; do thou therefore, noble Petronius,
+enjoin silence on Eunice; and thou too, noble Vinicius, spread a report
+that I sell thee an ointment which insures victory in the Circus to
+horses rubbed with it.  I alone will search for her, and single-handed I
+will find the fugitives; and do ye trust in me, and know that whatever I
+receive in advance will be for me simply an encouragement, for I shall
+hope always for more, and shall feel the greater certainty that the
+promised reward will not fail me.  Ah, it is true!  As a philosopher I
+despise money, though neither Seneca, nor even Musonius, nor Cornutus
+despises it, though they have not lost fingers in any one's defence, and
+are able themselves to write and leave their names to posterity.  But,
+aside from the slave, whom I intend to buy, and besides Mercury, to whom
+I have promised the heifers,--and ye know how dear cattle have become in
+these times,--the searching itself involves much outlay.  Only listen to
+me patiently.  Well, for the last few days my feet are wounded from
+continual walking.  I have gone to wine-shops to talk with people, to
+bakeries, to butcher-shops, to dealers in olive oil, and to fishermen.
+I have run through every street and alley; I have been in the hiding
+places of fugitive slaves; I have lost money, nearly a hundred ases, in
+playing mora; I have been in laundries, in drying-sheds, in cheap
+kitchens; I have seen mule-drivers and carvers; I have seen people who
+cure bladder complaints and pull teeth; I have talked with dealers in
+dried figs; I have been at cemeteries; and do ye know why?  This is why;
+so as to outline a fish everywhere, look people in the eyes, and hear
+what they would say of that sign.  For a long time I was unable to learn
+anything, till at last I saw an old slave at a fountain.  He was drawing
+water with a bucket, and weeping.  Approaching him, I asked the cause of
+his tears.  When we had sat down on the steps of the fountain, he
+answered that all his life he had been collecting sestertium after
+sestertium, to redeem his beloved son; but his master, a certain Pansa,
+when the money was delivered to him, took it, but kept the son in
+slavery. 'And so I am weeping,' said the old man, 'for though I repeat,
+Let the will of God be done, I, poor sinner, am not able to keep down my
+tears.' Then, as if penetrated by a forewarning, I moistened my finger
+in the water and drew a fish for him.  To this he answered, 'My hope,
+too, is in Christ.' I asked him then, 'Hast thou confessed to me by that
+sign?' 'I have,' said he; 'and peace be with thee.' I began then to draw
+him out, and the honest old man told me everything.  His master, that
+Pansa, is himself a freedman of the great Pansa; and he brings stones by
+the Tiber to Rome, where slaves and hired persons unload them from the
+boats, and carry them to buildings in the night time, so as not to
+obstruct movement in the streets during daylight.  Among these people
+many Christians work, and also his son; as the work is beyond his son's
+strength, he wished to redeem him.  But Pansa preferred to keep both the
+money and the slave. While telling me this, he began again to weep; and
+I mingled my tears with his,--tears came to me easily because of my kind
+heart, and the pain in my feet, which I got from walking excessively.  I
+began also to lament that as I had come from Naples only a few days
+since, I knew no one of the brotherhood, and did not know where they
+assembled for prayer.  He wondered that Christians in Naples had not
+given me letters to their brethren in Rome; but I explained to him that
+the letters were stolen from me on the road. Then he told me to come to
+the river at night, and he would acquaint me with brethren who would
+conduct me to houses of prayer and to elders who govern the Christian
+community.  When I heard this, I was so delighted that I gave him the
+sum needed to redeem his son, in the hope that the lordly Vinicius would
+return it to me twofold."
+
+"Chilo," interrupted Petronius, "in thy narrative falsehood appears on
+the surface of truth, as oil does on water.  Thou hast brought important
+information; I do not deny that.  I assert, even, that a great step is
+made toward finding Lygia; but do not cover thy news with falsehood.
+What is the name of that old man from whom thou hast learned that the
+Christians recognize each other through the sign of a fish?"
+
+"Euricius.  A poor, unfortunate old man!  He reminded me of Glaucus,
+whom I defended from murderers, and he touched me mainly by this."
+
+"I believe that thou didst discover him, and wilt be able to make use of
+the acquaintance; but thou hast given him no money.  Thou hast not given
+him an as; dost understand me?  Thou hast not given anything."
+
+"But I helped him to lift the bucket, and I spoke of his son with the
+greatest sympathy.  Yes, lord, what can hide before the penetration of
+Petronius?  Well, I did not give him money, or rather, I gave it to him,
+but only in spirit, in intention, which, had he been a real philosopher,
+should have sufficed him.  I gave it to him because I saw that such an
+act was indispensable and useful; for think, lord, how this act has won
+all the Christians at once to me, what access to them it has opened, and
+what confidence it has roused in them."
+
+"True," said Petronius, "and it was thy duty to do it."
+
+"For this very reason I have come to get the means to do it."
+
+Petronius turned to Vinicius,--"Give command to count out to him five
+thousand sestertia, but in spirit, in intention."
+
+"I will give thee a young man," said Vinicius, "who will take the sum
+necessary; thou wilt say to Euricius that the youth is thy slave, and
+thou wilt count out to the old man, in the youth's presence, this money.
+Since thou hast brought important tidings, thou wilt receive the same
+amount for thyself.  Come for the youth and the money this evening."
+
+"Thou art a real Cćsar!" said Chilo.  "Permit me, lord, to dedicate my
+work to thee; but permit also that this evening I come only for the
+money, since Euricius told me that all the boats had been unloaded, and
+that new ones would come from Ostia only after some days.  Peace be with
+you!  Thus do Christians take farewell of one another.  I will buy
+myself a slave woman,--that is, I wanted to say a slave man.  Fish are
+caught with a bait, and Christians with fish.  Fax vobiscum! pax! pax!
+pax!"
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XV
+
+PETRONIUS to VINICIUS:
+
+
+"I send to thee from Antium, by a trusty slave, this letter, to which,
+though thy hand is more accustomed to the sword and the javelin than the
+pen, I think that thou wilt answer through the same messenger without
+needless delay.  I left thee on a good trail, and full of hope; hence I
+trust that thou hast either satisfied thy pleasant desires in the
+embraces of Lygia, or wilt satisfy them before the real wintry wind from
+the summits of Soracte shall blow on the Campania.  Oh, my Vinicius! may
+thy preceptress be the golden goddess of Cyprus; be thou, on thy part,
+the preceptor of that Lygian Aurora, who is fleeing before the sun of
+love.  And remember always that marble, though most precious, is nothing
+of itself, and acquires real value only when the sculptor's hand turns
+it into a masterpiece.  Be thou such a sculptor, carissime!  To love is
+not sufficient; one must know how to love; one must know how to teach
+love.  Though the plebs, too, and even animals, experience pleasure, a
+genuine man differs from them in this especially, that he makes love in
+some way a noble art, and, admiring it, knows all its divine value,
+makes it present in his mind, thus satisfying not his body merely, but
+his soul.  More than once, when I think here of the emptiness, the
+uncertainty, the dreariness of life, it occurs to me that perhaps thou
+hast chosen better, and that not Cćsar's court, but war and love, are
+the only objects for which it is worth while to be born and to live.
+
+"Thou wert fortunate in war, be fortunate also in love; and if thou art
+curious as to what men are doing at the court of Cćsar, I will inform
+thee from time to time.  We are living here at Antium, and nursing our
+heavenly voice; we continue to cherish the same hatred of Rome, and
+think of betaking ourselves to Baić for the winter, to appear in public
+at Naples, whose inhabitants, being Greeks, will appreciate us better
+than that wolf brood on the banks of the Tiber.  People will hasten
+thither from Baić, from Pompeii, Puteoli, Cumć, and Stabia; neither
+applause nor crowns will be lacking, and that will be an encouragement
+for the proposed expedition to Achća.
+
+"But the memory of the infant Augusta?  Yes! we are bewailing her yet.
+We are singing hymns of our own composition, so wonderful that the
+sirens have been hiding from envy in Amphitrite's deepest caves.  But
+the dolphins would listen to us, were they not prevented by the sound of
+the sea.  Our suffering is not allayed yet; hence we will exhibit it to
+the world in every form which sculpture can employ, and observe
+carefully if we are beautiful in our suffering and if people recognize
+this beauty.  Oh, my dear! we shall die buffoons and comedians!
+
+"All the Augustians are here, male and female, not counting ten thousand
+servants, and five hundred she asses, in whose milk Poppća bathes.  At
+times even it is cheerful here.  Calvia Crispinilla is growing old.  It
+is said that she has begged Poppća to let her take the bath immediately
+after herself.  Lucan slapped Nigidia on the face, because he suspected
+her of relations with a gladiator.  Sporus lost his wife at dice to
+Senecio.  Torquatus Silanus has offered me for Eunice four chestnut
+horses, which this year will win the prize beyond doubt.  I would not
+accept!  Thanks to thee, also, that thou didst not take her.  As to
+Torquatus Silanus, the poor man does not even suspect that he is already
+more a shade than a man.  His death is decided.  And knowest what his
+crime is?  He is the great-grandson of the deified Augustus.  There is
+no rescue for him. Such is our world.
+
+"As is known to thee, we have been expecting Tiridates here; meanwhile
+Vologeses has written an offensive letter.  Because he has conquered
+Armenia, he asks that it be left to him for Tiridates; if not, he will
+not yield it in any case.  Pure comedy!  So we have decided on war.
+Corbulo will receive power such as Pompeius Magnus received in the war
+with pirates.  There was a moment, however, when Nero hesitated.  He
+seems afraid of the glory which Corbulo will win in case of victory.  It
+was even thought to offer the chief command to our Aulus.  This was
+opposed by Poppća, for whom evidently Pomponia's virtue is as salt in
+the eye.
+
+"Vatinius described to us a remarkable fight of gladiators, which is to
+take place in Beneventum.  See to what cobblers rise in our time, in
+spite of the saying, 'Ne sutor ultra crepidam!'  Vitelius is the
+descendant of a cobbler; but Vatinius is the son of one!  Perhaps he
+drew thread himself!  The actor Aliturus represented Śdipus yesterday
+wonderfully.  I asked him, by the way, as a Jew, if Christians and Jews
+were the same.  He answered that the Jews have an eternal religion, but
+that Christians are a new sect risen recently in Judea; that in the time
+of Tiberius the Jews crucified a certain man, whose adherents increase
+daily, and that the Christians consider him as God.  They refuse, it
+seems, to recognize other gods, ours especially.  I cannot understand
+what harm it would do them to recognize these gods.
+
+"Tigellinus shows me open enmity now.  So far he is unequal to me; but
+he is, superior in this, that he cares more for life, and is at the same
+time a greater scoundrel, which brings him nearer Ahenobarbus.  These
+two will understand each other earlier or later, and then my turn will
+come.  I know not when it will come; but I know this, that as things are
+it must come; hence let time pass.  Meanwhile we must amuse ourselves.
+Life of itself would not be bad were it not for Bronzebeard.  Thanks to
+him, a man at times is disgusted with himself.  It is not correct to
+consider the struggle for his favor as a kind of rivalry in a circus,--
+as a kind of game, as a struggle, in which victory flatters vanity.
+True, I explain it to myself in that way frequently; but still it seems
+to me sometimes that I am like Chilo, and better in nothing than he.
+When he ceases to be needful to thee, send him to me.  I have taken a
+fancy to his edifying conversation.  A greeting from me to thy divine
+Christian, or rather beg her in my name not to be a fish to thee.
+Inform me of thy health, inform me of thy love, know how to love, teach
+how to love, and farewell."
+
+VINICIUS to PETRONIUS:
+
+"Lygia is not found yet!  Were it not for the hope that I shall find her
+soon, thou wouldst not receive an answer; for when a man is disgusted
+with life, he has no wish to write letters.  I wanted to learn whether
+Chilo was not deceiving me; and at night when he came to get the money
+for Euricius, I threw on a military mantle, and unobserved followed him
+and the slave whom I sent with him. When they reached the place, I
+watched from a distance, hidden behind a portico pillar, and convinced
+myself that Euricius was not invented.  Below, a number of tens of
+people were unloading stones from a spacious barge, and piling them up
+on the bank.  I saw Chilo approach them, and begin to talk with some old
+man, who after a while fell at his feet.  Others surrounded them with
+shouts of admiration.  Before my eyes the boy gave a purse to Euricius,
+who on seizing it began to pray with upraised hands, while at his side
+some second person was kneeling, evidently his son.  Chilo said
+something which I could not hear, and blessed the two who were kneeling,
+as well as others, making in the air signs in the form of a cross, which
+they honor apparently, for all bent their knees.  The desire seized me
+to go among them, and promise three such purses to him who would deliver
+to me Lygia; but I feared to spoil Chilo's work, and after hesitating a
+moment went home.
+
+"This happened at least twelve days after thy departure.  Since then
+Chilo has been a number of times with me.  He says that he has gained
+great significance among the Christians; that if he has not found Lygia
+so far, it is because the Christians in Rome are innumerable, hence all
+are not acquainted with each person in their community, and cannot know
+everything that is done in it.  They are cautious, too, and in general
+reticent.  He gives assurance, however, that when he reaches the elders,
+who are called presbyters, he will learn every secret.  He has made the
+acquaintance of a number of these already, and has begun to inquire of
+them, though carefully, so as not to rouse suspicion by haste, and not
+to make the work still more difficult.  Though it is hard to wait,
+though patience fails, I feel that he is right, and I wait.
+
+"He learned, too, that they have places of meeting for prayer,
+frequently outside the city, in empty houses and even in sand-pits. There
+they worship Christ, sing hymns, and have feasts.  There are many such
+places.  Chilo supposes that Lygia goes purposely to different ones from
+Pomponia, so that the latter, in case of legal proceedings or an
+examination, might swear boldly that she knew nothing of Lygia's hiding
+place.  It may be that the presbyters have advised caution.  When Chilo
+discovers those places, I will go with him; and if the gods let me see
+Lygia, I swear to thee by Jupiter that she will not escape my hands this
+time.
+
+"I am thinking continually of those places of prayer.  Chilo is
+unwilling that I should go with him; he is afraid.  But I cannot stay at
+home.  I should know her at once, even in disguise or if veiled. They
+assemble in the night, but I should recognize her in the night even.  I
+should know her voice and motions anywhere.  I will go myself in
+disguise, and look at every person who goes in or out.  I am thinking of
+her always, and shall recognize her.  Chilo is to come to-morrow, and we
+shall go.  I will take arms.  Some of my slaves sent to the provinces
+have returned empty-handed.  But I am certain now that she is in the
+city,   perhaps not far away even.  I myself have visited many houses
+under pretext of renting them. She will fare better with me a hundred
+times; where she is, whole legions of poor people dwell.  Besides, I
+shall spare nothing for her sake.  Thou writest that I have chosen well.
+I have chosen suffering and sorrow.  We shall go first to those houses
+which are in the city, then beyond the gates.  Hope looks for something
+every morning, otherwise life would be impossible.  Thou sayest that one
+should know how to love.  I knew how to talk of love to Lygia.  But now
+I only yearn; I do nothing but wait for Chilo.  Life to me is
+unendurable in my own house.  Farewell!"
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XVI
+
+
+BUT Chilo did not appear for some time, and Vinicius knew not at last
+what to think of his absence.  In vain he repeated to himself that
+searching, if continued to a certain and successful issue, must be
+gradual.  His blood and impulsive nature rebelled against the voice of
+judgment.  To do nothing, to wait, to sit with folded arms, was so
+repulsive to him that he could not be reconciled to it in any way.  To
+search the alleys of the city in the dark garb of a slave, through this
+alone, that it was useless, seemed to him merely a mask for his own
+inefficiency, and could give no satisfaction.  His freedmen, persons of
+experience, whom he commanded to search independently, turned out a
+hundred times less expert than Chilo. Meanwhile there rose in him,
+besides his love for Lygia, the stubbornness of a player resolved to
+win.  Vinicius had been always a person of this kind.  From earliest
+youth he had accomplished what he desired with the passionateness of one
+who does not understand failure, or the need of yielding something.  For
+a time military discipline had put his self-will within bounds, but also
+it had engrafted into him the conviction that every command of his to
+subordinates must be fulfilled; his prolonged stay in the Orient, among
+people pliant and inured to slavish obedience, confirmed in him the
+faith that for his "I wish" there were no limits.  At present his
+vanity, too, was wounded painfully.  There was, besides, in Lygia's
+opposition and resistance, and in her flight itself, which was to him
+incomprehensible, a kind of riddle.  In trying to solve this riddle he
+racked his head terribly.  He felt that Acte had told the truth, and
+that Lygia was not indifferent.  But if this were true, why had she
+preferred wandering and misery to his love, his tenderness, and a
+residence in his splendid mansion?  To this question he found no answer,
+and arrived only at a kind of dim understanding that between him and
+Lygia, between their ideas, between the world which belonged to him and
+Petronius, and the world of Lygia and Pomponia, there existed some sort
+of difference, some kind of misunderstanding as deep as an abyss, which
+nothing could fill up or make even.  It seemed to him, then, that he
+must lose Lygia; and at this thought he lost the remnant of balance
+which Petronius wished to preserve in him.  There were moments in which
+he did not know whether he loved Lygia or hated her; he understood only
+that he must find her, and he would rather that the earth swallowed her
+than that he should not see and possess her.  By the power of
+imagination he saw her as clearly at times as if she had been before his
+face.  He recalled every word which he had spoken to her; every word
+which he had heard from her.  He felt her near; felt her on his bosom,
+in his arms; and then desire embraced him like a flame.  He loved her
+and called to her.
+
+And when he thought that he was loved, that she might do with
+willingness all that he wished of her, sore and endless sorrow seized
+him, and a kind of deep tenderness flooded his heart, like a mighty
+wave.  But there were moments, too, in which he grew pale from rage, and
+delighted in thoughts of the humiliation and tortures which he would
+inflict on Lygia when he found her.  He wanted not only to have her, but
+to have her as a trampled slave. At the same time he felt that if the
+choice were left him, to be her slave or not to see her in life again,
+he would rather be her slave. There were days in which he thought of the
+marks which the lash would leave on her rosy body, and at the same time
+he wanted to kiss those marks.  It came to his head also that he would
+be happy if he could kill her.
+
+In this torture, torment, uncertainty, and suffering, he lost health,
+and even beauty.  He became a cruel and incomprehensible master. His
+slaves, and even his freedmen, approached him with trembling; and when
+punishments fell on them causelessly,--punishments as merciless as
+undeserved,--they began to hate him in secret; while he, feeling this,
+and feeling his own isolation, took revenge all the more on them.  He
+restrained himself with Chilo alone, fearing lest he might cease his
+searches; the Greek, noting this, began to gain control of him, and grew
+more and more exacting.  At first he assured Vinicius at each visit that
+the affair would proceed easily and quickly; now he began to discover
+difficulties, and without ceasing, it is true, to guarantee the
+undoubted success of the searches, he did not hide the fact that they
+must continue yet for a good while.
+
+At last he came, after long days of waiting, with a face so gloomy that
+the young man grew pale at sight of him, and springing up had barely
+strength to ask,--"Is she not among the Christians?"  "She is, lord,"
+answered Chilo; "but I found Glaucus among them."  "Of what art thou
+speaking, and who is Glaucus?"  "Thou hast forgotten, lord, it seems,
+that old man with whom I journeyed from Naples to Rome, and in whose
+defence I lost these two fingers,--a loss which prevents me from
+writing.  Robbers, who bore away his wife and child, stabbed him with a
+knife.  I left him dying at an inn in Minturna, and bewailed him long.
+Alas!  I have convinced myself that he is alive yet, and belongs in Rome
+to the Christian community."
+
+Vinicius, who could not understand what the question was, understood
+only that Glaucus was becoming a hindrance to the discovery of Lygia;
+hence he suppressed his rising anger, and said,--"If thou didst defend
+him, he should be thankful and help thee."
+
+"Ah! worthy tribune, even gods are not always grateful, and what must
+the case be with men?  True, he should be thankful.  But, unhappily, he
+is an old man, of a mind weak and darkened by age and disappointment;
+for which reason, not only is he not grateful, but, as I learned from
+his co-religionists, he accuses me of having conspired with the robbers,
+and says that I am the cause of his misfortunes.  That is the recompense
+for my fingers!"
+
+"Scoundrel!  I am certain that it was as he says," replied Vinicius.
+
+"Then thou knowest more than he does, lord, for he only surmises that it
+was so; which, however, would not prevent him from summoning the
+Christians, and from revenging himself on me cruelly.  He would have
+done that undoubtedly, and others, with equal certainty, would have
+helped him; but fortunately he does not know my name, and in the house
+of prayer where we met, he did not notice me.  I, however, knew him at
+once, and at the first moment wished to throw myself on his neck.
+Wisdom, however, and the habit of thinking before every step which I
+intend to take, restrained me.  Therefore, on issuing from the house of
+prayer, I inquired concerning him, and those who knew him declared that
+he was the man who had been betrayed by his comrade on the journey from
+Naples.  Otherwise I should not have known that he gives out such a
+story."
+
+"How does this concern me?  Tell what thou sawest in the house of
+prayer."
+
+"It does not concern thee, lord, but it concerns me just as much as my
+life.  Since I wish that my wisdom should survive me, I would rather
+renounce the reward which thou hast offered, than expose my life for
+empty lucre; without which, I as a true philosopher shall be able to
+live and seek divine wisdom."
+
+But Vinicius approached him with an ominous countenance, and began in a
+suppressed voice,--"Who told thee that death would meet thee sooner at
+the hands of Glaucus than at mine?  Whence knowest thou, dog, that I
+will not have thee buried right away in my garden?"
+
+Chilo, who was a coward, looked at Vinicius, and in the twinkle of an
+eye understood that one more unguarded word and he was lost beyond
+redemption.
+
+"I will search for her, lord, and I will find her!" cried he, hurriedly.
+
+Silence followed, during which were heard the quick breathing of
+Vinicius, and the distant song of slaves at work in the garden.
+
+Only after a while did the Greek resume his speech, when he noticed that
+the young patrician was somewhat pacified.
+
+"Death passed me, but I looked on it with the calmness of Socrates.  No,
+lord, I have not said that I refuse to search for the maiden; I desired
+merely to tell thee that search for her is connected now with great
+peril to me.  On a time thou didst doubt that there was a certain
+Euricius in the world, and though thou wert convinced by thine own eyes
+that the son of my father told the truth to thee, thou hast suspicions
+now that I have invented Glaucus.  Ah! would that he were only a
+fiction, that I might go among the Christians with perfect safety, as I
+went some time since; I would give up for that the poor old slave woman
+whom I bought, three days since, to care for my advanced age and maimed
+condition.  But Glaucus is living, lord; and if he had seen me once,
+thou wouldst not have seen me again, and in that case who would find the
+maiden?"
+
+Here he was silent again, and began to dry his tears.
+
+"But while Glaucus lives," continued he, "how can I search for her?--for
+I may meet him at any step; and if I meet him I shall perish, and with
+me will cease all my searching."
+
+"What art thou aiming at?  What help is there?  What dost thou wish to
+undertake?" inquired Vinicius.
+
+"Aristotle teaches us, lord, that less things should be sacrificed for
+greater, and King Priam said frequently that old age was a grievous
+burden.  Indeed, the burden of old age and misfortune weighs upon
+Glaucus this long time, and so heavily that death would be to him a
+benefit.  For what is death, according to Seneca, but liberation?"
+
+"Play the fool with Petronius, not with me!  Tell what thy desire is."
+
+"If virtue is folly, may the gods permit me to be a fool all my life. I
+desire, lord, to set aside Glaucus, for while he is living my life and
+searches are in continual peril."
+
+"Hire men to beat him to death with clubs; I will pay them."
+
+"They will rob thee, lord, and afterward make profit of the secret.
+There are as many ruffians in Rome as grains of sand in the arena, but
+thou wilt not believe how dear they are when an honest man needs to
+employ their villainy.  No, worthy tribune!  But if watchmen catch the
+murderers in the act?  They would tell, beyond doubt, who hired them,
+and then thou wouldst have trouble.  They will not point to me, for I
+shall not give my name.  Thou art doing ill not to trust in me, for,
+setting aside my keenness, remember that there is a question of two
+other things,--of my life, and the reward which thou has promised me."
+
+"How much dost thou need?"
+
+"A thousand sestertia, for turn attention to this, that I must find
+honest ruffians, men who when they have received earnest money, will not
+take it off without a trace.  For good work there must be good pay!
+Something might be added, too, for my sake, to wipe away the tears which
+I shall shed out of pity for Glaucus.  I take the gods to witness how I
+love him.  If I receive a thousand sestertia to-day, two days hence his
+soul will be in Hades; and then, if souls preserve memory and the gift
+of thought, he will know for the first time how I loved him.  I will
+find people this very day, and tell them that for each day of the life
+of Glaucus I will withhold one hundred sestertia.  I have, besides, a
+certain idea, which seems to me infallible."
+
+Vinicius promised him once more the desired sum, forbidding him to
+mention Glaucus again; but asked what other news he brought, where he
+had been all the time, what he had seen, and what he had discovered.
+But Chilo was not able to tell much.  He had been in two more houses of
+prayer,--had observed each person carefully, especially the women,--but
+had seen no one who resembled Lygia: the Christians, however, looked on
+him as one of their own sect, and, since he redeemed the son of
+Euricius, they honored him as a man following in the steps of "Christ."
+He had learned from them, also, that a great lawgiver of theirs, a
+certain Paul of Tarsus, was in Rome, imprisoned because of charges
+preferred by the Jews, and with this man he had resolved to become
+acquainted. But most of all was he pleased by this,--that the supreme
+priest of the whole sect, who had been Christ's disciple, and to whom
+Christ had confided government over the whole world of Christians, might
+arrive in Rome any moment.  All the Christians desired evidently to see
+him, and hear his teachings.  Some great meetings would follow, at which
+he, Chilo, would be present; and what is more, since it is easy to hide
+in the crowd, he would take Vinicius to those meetings.  Then they would
+find Lygia certainly.  If Glaucus were once set aside, it would not be
+connected even with great danger.  As to revenge, the Christians, too,
+would revenge but in general they were peaceful people.
+
+Here Chilo began to relate, with a certain surprise, that he had never
+seen that they gave themselves up to debauchery, that they poisoned
+wells or fountains, that they were enemies of the human race, worshipped
+an ass, or ate the flesh of children.  No; he had seen nothing of that
+sort.  Certainly he would find among them even people who would hide
+away Glaucus for money; but their religion, as far as he knew, did not
+incite to crime,--on the contrary, it enjoined forgiveness of offences.
+
+Vinicius remembered what Pomponia had said to him at Acte's, and in
+general he listened to Chilo's words with pleasure.  Though his feeling
+for Lygia assumed at times the seeming of hatred, he felt a relief when
+he heard that the religion which she and Pomponia confessed was neither
+criminal nor repulsive.  But a species of undefined feeling rose in him
+that it was just that reverence for Christ, unknown and mysterious,
+which created the difference between himself and Lygia; hence he began
+at once to fear that religion and to hate it.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XVII
+
+
+FOR Chilo, it was really important to set aside Glaucus, who, though
+advanced in years, was by no means decrepit.  There was considerable
+truth in what Chilo had narrated to Vinicius.  He had known Glaucus on a
+time, he had betrayed him, sold him to robbers, deprived him of family,
+of property, and delivered him to murder.  But he bore the memory of
+these events easily, for he had thrown the man aside dying, not at an
+inn, but in a field near Minturna.  This one thing he had not foreseen,
+that Glaucus would be cured of his wounds and come to Rome.  When he saw
+him, therefore, in the house of prayer, he was in truth terrified, and
+at the first moment wished to discontinue the search for Lygia.  But on
+the other hand, Vinicius terrified him still more.  He understood that
+he must choose between the fear of Glaucus, and the pursuit and
+vengeance of a powerful patrician, to whose aid would come, beyond
+doubt, another and still greater, Petronius.  In view of this, Chilo
+ceased to hesitate.  He thought it better to have small enemies than
+great ones, and, though his cowardly nature trembled somewhat at bloody
+methods, he saw the need of killing Glaucus through the aid of other
+hands.
+
+At present the only question with him was the choice of people, and to
+this he was turning that thought of which he had made mention to
+Vinicius.  Spending his nights in wine-shops most frequently, and
+lodging in them, among men without a roof, without faith or honor, he
+could find persons easily to undertake any task, and still more easily
+others who, if they sniffed coin on his person, would begin, but when
+they had received earnest money, would extort the whole sum by
+threatening to deliver him to justice.  Besides, for a certain time past
+Chilo had felt a repulsion for nakedness, for those disgusting and
+terrible figures lurking about suspected houses in the Subura or in the
+Trans-Tiber.  Measuring everything with his own measure, and not having
+fathomed sufficiently the Christians or their religion, he judged that
+among them, too, he could find willing tools.  Since they seemed more
+reliable than others, he resolved to turn to them and present the affair
+in such fashion that they would undertake it, not for money's sake
+merely, but through devotion.
+
+In view of this, he went in the evening to Euricius, whom he knew as
+devoted with whole soul to his person, and who, he was sure, would do
+all in his power to assist him.  Naturally cautious, Chilo did not even
+dream of revealing his real intentions, which would be in clear
+opposition, moreover, to the faith which the old man had in his piety
+and virtue.  He wished to find people who were ready for anything, and
+to talk with them of the affair only in such a way that, out of regard
+to themselves, they would guard it as an eternal secret.
+
+The old man Euricius, after the redemption of his son, hired one of
+those little shops so numerous near the Circus Maximus, in which were
+sold olives, beans, unleavened paste, and water sweetened with honey, to
+spectators coming to the Circus.  Chilo found him at home arranging his
+shop; and when he had greeted him in Christ's name, he began to speak of
+the affair which had brought him. Since he had rendered them a service,
+he considered that they would pay him with gratitude.  He needed two or
+three strong and courageous men, to ward off danger threatening not only
+him, but all Christians.  He was poor, it was true, since he had given
+to Euricius almost all that he owned; still he would pay such men for
+their services if they would trust him and perform faithfully what he
+commanded.
+
+Euricius and his son Quartus listened to him as their benefactor almost
+on their knees.  Both declared that they were ready themselves to do all
+that he asked of them, believing that a man so holy could not ask for
+deeds inconsistent with the teaching of Christ.
+
+Chilo assured them that that was true, and, raising his eyes to heaven,
+he seemed to be praying; in fact, he was thinking whether it would not
+be well to accept their proposal, which might save him a thousand
+sestertia.  But after a moment of thought he rejected it.  Euricius was
+an old man, perhaps not so much weighted by years as weakened by care
+and disease.  Quartus was sixteen years of age.  Chilo needed dexterous,
+and, above all, stalwart men.  As to the thousand sestertia, he
+considered that--thanks to the plan which he had invented--he would be
+able in every case to spare a large part of it.
+
+They insisted for some time, but when he refused decisively they
+yielded.
+
+"I know the baker Demas," said Quartus, "in whose mills slaves and hired
+men are employed.  One of those hired men is so strong that he would
+take the place, not of two, but of four.  I myself have seen him lift
+stones from the ground which four men could not stir."
+
+"If that is a God-fearing man, who can sacrifice himself for the
+brotherhood, make me acquainted with him," said Chilo.
+
+"He is a Christian, lord," answered Quartus; "nearly all who work for
+Demas are Christians.  He has night as well as day laborers; this man is
+of the night laborers.  Were we to go now to the mill, we should find
+them at supper, and thou mightest speak to him freely. Demas lives near
+the Emporium."
+
+Chilo consented most willingly.  The Emporium was at the foot of the
+Aventine, hence not very far from the Circus Maximus.  It was possible,
+without going around the hill, to pass along the river through the
+Porticus Ćmilia, which would shorten the road considerably.
+
+"I am old," said Chilo, when they went under the Colonnade; "at times I
+suffer effacement of memory.  Yes, though our Christ was betrayed by one
+of his disciples, the name of the traitor I cannot recall at this
+moment--"
+
+"Judas, lord, who hanged himself," answered Quartus, wondering a little
+in his soul how it was possible to forget that name.
+
+"Oh, yes--Judas!  I thank thee," said Chilo.
+
+And they went on some time in silence.  When they came to the Emporium,
+which was closed, they passed it, and going around the storehouse, from
+which grain was distributed to the populace, they turned toward the
+left, to houses which stretched along the Via Ostiensis, up to the Mons
+Testaceus and the Forum Pistorium. There they halted before a wooden
+building, from the interior of which came the noise of millstones.
+Quartus went in; but Chilo, who did not like to show himself to large
+numbers of people, and was in continual dread that some fate might bring
+him to meet Glaucus, remained outside.
+
+"I am curious about that Hercules who serves in a mill," said he to
+himself, looking at the brightly shining moon.  "If he is a scoundrel
+and a wise man, he will cost me something; if a virtuous Christian and
+dull, he will do what I want without money."
+
+Further meditation was interrupted by the return of Quartus, who issued
+from the building with a second man, wearing only a tunic called
+"exomis," cut in such fashion that the right arm and right breast were
+exposed.  Such garments, since they left perfect freedom of movement,
+were used especially by laborers.  Chilo, when he saw the man coming,
+drew a breath of satisfaction, for he had not seen in his life such an
+arm and such a breast.
+
+"Here, lord," said Quartus, "is the brother whom it was thy wish to
+see."
+
+"May the peace of Christ be with thee!" answered Chilo.  "Do thou,
+Quartus, tell this brother whether I deserve faith and trust, and then
+return in the name of God; for there is no need that thy gray-haired
+father should be left in loneliness."
+
+"This is a holy man," said Quartus, "who gave all his property to redeem
+me from slavery,--me, a man unknown to him.  May our Lord the Saviour
+prepare him a heavenly reward therefor!"
+
+The gigantic laborer, hearing this, bent down and kissed Chilo's hand.
+
+"What is thy name, brother?" inquired the Greek.
+
+"At holy baptism, father, the name Urban was given me."
+
+"Urban, my brother, hast thou time to talk with me freely?"
+
+"Our work begins at midnight, and only now are they preparing our
+supper."
+
+"Then there is time sufficient.  Let us go to the river; there thou wilt
+hear my words."
+
+They went, and sat on the embankment, in a silence broken only by the
+distant sound of the millstones and the plash of the onflowing river.
+Chilo looked into the face of the laborer, which, notwithstanding a
+somewhat severe and sad expression, such as was usual on faces of
+barbarians living in Rome, seemed to him kind and honest.
+
+"This is a good-natured, dull man who will kill Glaucus for nothing,"
+thought Chilo.
+
+"Urban," inquired he then, "dost thou love Christ?"
+
+"I love him from the soul of my heart," said the laborer.
+
+"And thy brethren and sisters, and those who taught thee truth and faith
+in Christ?"
+
+"I love them, too, father."
+
+"Then may peace be with thee!"
+
+"And with thee, father!"
+
+Again silence set in, but in the distance the millstones were roaring,
+and the river was plashing below the two men.
+
+Chilo looked with fixed gaze into the clear moonlight, and with a slow,
+restrained voice began to speak of Christ's death.  He seemed not as
+speaking to Urban, but as if recalling to himself that death, or some
+secret which he was confiding to the drowsy city.  There was in this,
+too, something touching as well as impressive.  The laborer wept; and
+when Chilo began to groan and complain that in the moment of the
+Saviour's passion there was no one to defend him, if not from
+crucifixion, at least from the insults of Jews and soldiers, the
+gigantic fists of the barbarian began to squeeze from pity and
+suppressed rage.  The death only moved him; but at thought of that
+rabble reviling the Lamb nailed to the cross, the simple soul in him was
+indignant, and a wild desire of vengeance seized the man.
+
+"Urban, dost thou know who Judas was?" asked Chilo, suddenly.
+
+"I know, I know!--but he hanged himself!" exclaimed the laborer.
+
+And in his voice there was a kind of sorrow that the traitor had meted
+out punishment to himself, and that Judas could not fall into his hands.
+
+"But if he had not hanged himself," continued Chilo, "and if some
+Christian were to meet him on land or on sea, would it not be the duty
+of that Christian to take revenge for the torment, the blood, and the
+death of the Saviour?"
+
+"Who is there who would not take revenge, father?"
+
+"Peace be with thee, faithful servant of the Lamb!  True, it is
+permitted to forgive wrongs done ourselves; but who has the right to
+forgive a wrong done to God?  But as a serpent engenders a serpent, as
+malice breeds malice, and treason breeds treason, so from the poison of
+Judas another traitor has come; and as that one delivered to Jews and
+Roman soldiers the Saviour, so this man who lives among us intends to
+give Christ's sheep to the wolves; and if no one will anticipate the
+treason, if no one will crush the head of the serpent in time,
+destruction is waiting for us all, and with us will perish the honor of
+the Lamb."
+
+The laborer looked at Chilo with immense alarm, as if not understanding
+what he had heard.  But the Greek, covering his head with a corner of
+his mantle, began to repeat, with a voice coming as if from beneath the
+earth,--"Woe to you, servants of the true God! woe to you, Christian men
+and Christian women!"
+
+And again came silence, again were heard only the roar of the
+millstones, the deep song of the millers, and the sound of the river.
+
+"Father," asked the laborer at last, "what kind of traitor is that?"
+
+Chilo dropped his head.  "What kind of traitor?  A son of Judas, a son
+of his poison, a man who pretends to be a Christian, and goes to houses
+of prayer only to complain of the brotherhood to Cćsar,--declaring that
+they will not recognize Cćsar as a god; that they poison fountains,
+murder children, and wish to destroy the city, so that one stone may not
+remain on another.  Behold! in a few days a command will be given to the
+pretorians to cast old men, women, and children into prison, and lead
+them to death, just as they led to death the slaves of Pedanius
+Secundus.  All this has been done by that second Judas.  But if no one
+punished the first Judas, if no one took vengeance on him, if no one
+defended Christ in the hour of torment, who will punish this one, who
+will destroy the serpent before Cćsar hears him, who will destroy him,
+who will defend from destruction our brothers in the faith of Christ?"
+
+Urban, who had been sitting thus far on a stone, stood up on a sudden,
+and said,--"I will, father."
+
+Chilo rose also; he looked for a while on the face of the laborer,
+lighted up by the shining of the moon, then, stretching his arm, he put
+his hand slowly on his head.
+
+"Go among Christians," said he, with solemnity; "go to the houses of
+prayer, and ask the brethren about Glaucus; and when they show him to
+thee, slay him at once in Christ's name!"
+
+"About Glaucus?" repeated the laborer, as if wishing to fix that name in
+his memory.
+
+"Dost thou know him?"
+
+"No, I do not.  There are thousands of Christians in Rome, and they are
+not all known to one another.  But to-morrow, in Ostrianum, brethren and
+sisters will assemble in the night to the last soul, because a great
+apostle of Christ has come, who will teach them, and the brethren will
+point out to me Glaucus."
+
+"In Ostrianum?" inquired Chilo.  "But that is outside the city gates!
+The brethren and all the sisters,--at night?  Outside the city gates, in
+Ostrianum?"
+
+"Yes, father; that is our cemetery, between the Vić Salaria and
+Nomentana.  Is it not known to thee that the Great Apostle will teach
+there?"
+
+"I have been two days from home, hence I did not receive his epistle;
+and I do not know where Ostrianum is, for I came here not long since
+from Corinth, where I govern a Christian community. But it is as thou
+sayest,--there thou wilt find Glaucus among the brethren, and thou wilt
+slay him on the way home to the city.  For this all thy sins will be
+forgiven.  And now peace be with thee--"
+
+"Father--"
+
+"I listen to thee, servant of the Lamb."
+
+On the laborer's face perplexity was evident.  Not long before he had
+killed a man, and perhaps two, but the teaching of Christ forbids
+killing.  He had not killed them in his own defence, for even that is
+not permitted.  He had not killed them, Christ preserve! for profit.
+The bishop himself had given him brethren to assist, but had not
+permitted him to kill; he had killed inadvertently, for God had punished
+him with too much strength.  And now he was doing grievous penance.
+Others sing when the millstones are grinding; but he, hapless man, is
+thinking of his sin, of his offence against the Lamb.  How much has he
+prayed already and wept?  How much has he implored the Lamb?  And he
+feels that he has not done penance enough yet!  But now he has promised
+again to kill a traitor,--and done well!  He is permitted to pardon only
+offences against himself; hence he will kill Glaucus, even before the
+eyes of all the brethren and sisters, in Ostrianum to-morrow.  But let
+Glaucus be condemned previously by the elders among the brethren, by the
+bishop, or by the Apostle.  To kill is not a great thing; to kill a
+traitor is even as pleasant as to kill a bear or a wolf. But suppose
+Glaucus to perish innocently?  How take on his conscience a new murder,
+a new sin, a new offence against the Lamb?
+
+"There is no time for a trial, my son," said Chilo.  "The traitor will
+hurry from Ostrianum straightway to Cćsar in Antium, or hide in the
+house of a certain patrician whom he is serving.  I will give thee a
+sign; if thou show it after the death of Glaucus, the bishop and the
+Great Apostle will bless thy deed."
+
+Saying this, he took out a small coin, and began to search for a knife
+at his belt; having found it, he scratched with the point on the
+sestertium the sign of the cross; this coin he gave to the laborer.
+
+"Here is the sentence of Glaucus, and a sign for thee.  If thou show
+this to the bishop after the death of Glaucus, he will forgive thee the
+killing which thou hast done without wishing it."
+
+The laborer stretched out his hand involuntarily for the coin; but
+having the first murder too freshly in his memory just then, he
+experienced a feeling of terror.
+
+"Father," said he with a voice almost of entreaty, "dost thou take this
+deed on thy conscience, and hast thou thyself heard Glaucus betraying
+his brethren?"
+
+Chilo understood that he must give proofs, mention names, otherwise
+doubt might creep into the heart of the giant.  All at once a happy
+thought flashed through his head.
+
+"Listen, Urban," said he, "I dwell in Corinth, but I came from Kos; and
+here in Rome I instruct in the religion of Christ a certain serving
+maiden named Eunice.  She serves as vestiplica in the house of a friend
+of Cćsar, a certain Petronius.  In that house I have heard how Glaucus
+has undertaken to betray all the Christians; and, besides, he has
+promised another informer of Cćsar's, Vinicius, to find a certain maiden
+for him among the Christians."
+
+Here he stopped and looked with amazement at the laborer, whose eyes
+blazed suddenly like the eyes of a wild beast, and his face took on an
+expression of mad rage and threat.
+
+"What is the matter with thee?" asked Chilo, almost in fear.
+
+"Nothing, father; to-morrow I will kill Glaucus."
+
+The Greek was silent.  After a while he took the arm of the laborer,
+turned him so that the light of the moon struck his face squarely, and
+examined him with care.  It was evident that he was wavering in spirit
+whether to inquire further and bring everything out with clearness, or
+for that time to stop with what he had learned or surmised.
+
+At last, however, his innate caution prevailed.  He breathed deeply once
+and a second time; then, placing his hand on the laborer's head again,
+he asked, in an emphatic and solemn voice,--"But in holy baptism the
+name Urban was given thee?"
+
+"It was, father."
+
+"Then peace be with thee, Urban!"
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XVIII
+
+PETRONIUS to VINICIUS:
+
+
+"Thy case is a bad one, carissime.  It is clear that Venus has disturbed
+thy mind, deprived thee of reason and memory, as well as the power to
+think of aught else except love.  Read some time thy answer to my
+letter, and thou wilt see how indifferent thy mind is to all except
+Lygia; how exclusively it is occupied with her, how it returns to her
+always, and circles above her, as a falcon above chosen prey.  By
+Pollux! find her quickly, or that of thee which fire has not turned into
+ashes will become an Egyptian sphinx, which, enamored, as 'tis said, of
+pale Isis, grew deaf and indifferent to all things, waiting only for
+night, so as to gaze with stony eyes at the loved one.
+
+"Run disguised through the city in the evening, even honor Christian
+houses of prayer in thy philosopher's company.  Whatever excites hope
+and kills time is praiseworthy.  But for my friendship's sake do this
+one thing:  Ursus, Lygia's slave, is a man of uncommon strength very
+likely; hire Croton, and go out three together; that will be safer and
+wiser. The Christians, since Pomponia and Lygia belong to them, are
+surely not such scoundrels as most people imagine. But when a lamb of
+their flock is in question they are no triflers, as they have shown by
+carrying away Lygia.  When thou seest Lygia thou wilt not restrain
+thyself, I am sure, and wilt try to bear her away on the spot.  But how
+wilt thou and Chilonides do it?  Croton would take care of himself, even
+though ten like Ursus defended the maiden. Be not plundered by Chilo,
+but be not sparing of money on Croton. Of all counsels which I can give
+this is the best one.
+
+"Here they have ceased to speak of the infant Augusta, or to say that
+she perished through witchcraft.  Poppća mentions her at times yet; but
+Cćsar's mind is stuffed with something else. Moreover, if it be true
+that the divine Augusta is in a changed state again, the memory of that
+child will be blown away without trace. We have been in Naples for some
+days, or rather in Baić.  If thou art capable of any thought, echoes of
+our life must strike thy ear, for surely Rome talks of naught else.  We
+went directly to Baić, where at first memories of the mother attacked
+us, and reproaches of conscience.  But dost thou know to what
+Ahenobarbus has gone already?  To this, that for him even the murder of
+his mother is a mere theme for verses, and a reason for buffoonish
+tragic scenes.
+
+"Formerly he felt real reproaches only in so far as he was a coward;
+now, when he is convinced that the earth is under his feet as before,
+and that no god is taking vengeance, he feigns them only to move people
+by his fate.  He springs up at night sometimes declaring that the Furies
+are hunting him; he rouses us, looks around, assumes the posture of an
+actor playing the role of Orestes, and the posture of a bad actor too;
+he declaims Greek verses, and looks to see if we are admiring him.  We
+admire him apparently; and instead of saying to him, Go to sleep, thou
+buffoon! we bring ourselves also to the tone of tragedy, and protect the
+great artist from the Furies.  By Castor! this news at least must have
+reached thee, that he has appeared in public at Naples.  They drove in
+from the city and the surrounding towns all the Greek ruffians, who
+filled the arena with such a vile odor of sweat and garlic that I thank
+the gods that, instead of sitting in the first rows with the Augustians,
+I was behind the scenes with Ahenobarbus.  And wilt thou believe it, he
+was afraid really!  He took my hand and put it to his heart, which was
+beating with increased pulsation; his breath was short; and at the
+moment when he had to appear he grew as pale as a parchment, and his
+forehead was covered with drops of sweat.  Still he saw that in every
+row of seats were pretorians, armed with clubs, to rouse enthusiasm if
+the need came.  But there was no need.  No herd of monkeys from the
+environs of Carthage could howl as did this rabble.  I tell thee that
+the smell of garlic came to the stage; but Nero bowed, pressed his hand
+to his heart, sent kisses from his lips, and shed tears.  Then he rushed
+in among us, who were waiting behind the scenes, like a drunken man,
+crying, 'What were the triumphs of Julius compared with this triumph of
+mine?' But the rabble was howling yet and applauding, knowing that it
+would applaud to itself favors, gifts, banquets, lottery tickets, and a
+fresh exhibition by the Imperial buffoon.  I do not wonder that they
+applauded, for such a sight had not been seen till that evening.  And
+every moment he repeated: 'See what the Greeks are! see what the Greeks
+are!' From that evening it has seemed to me that his hatred for Rome is
+increasing.  Meanwhile special couriers were hurried to Rome announcing
+the triumph, and we expect thanks from the Senate one of these days.
+Immediately after Nero's first exhibition, a strange event happened
+here.  The theatre fell in on a sudden, but just after the audience had
+gone.  I was there, and did not see even one corpse taken from the
+ruins.  Many, even among the Greeks, see in this event the anger of the
+gods, because the dignity of Cćsar was disgraced; he, on the contrary,
+finds in it favor of the gods, who have his song, and those who listen
+to it, under their evident protection.  Hence there are offerings in all
+the temples, and great thanks.  For Nero it is a great encouragement to
+make the journey to Achća. A few days since he told me, however, that he
+had doubts as to what the Roman people might say; that they might revolt
+out of love for him, and fear touching the distribution of grain and
+touching the games, which might fail them in case of his prolonged
+absence.
+
+"We are going, however, to Beneventum to look at the cobbler
+magnificence which Vatinius will exhibit, and thence to Greece, under
+the protection of the divine brothers of Helen.  As to me, I have noted
+one thing, that when a man is among the mad he grows mad himself, and,
+what is more, finds a certain charm in mad pranks.  Greece and the
+journey in a thousand ships; a kind of triumphal advance of Bacchus
+among nymphs and bacchantes crowned with myrtle, vine, and honeysuckle;
+there will be women in tiger skins harnessed to chariots; flowers,
+thyrses, garlands, shouts of 'Evoe!' music, poetry, and applauding
+Hellas.  All this is well; but we cherish besides more daring projects.
+We wish to create a species of Oriental Imperium,--an empire of palm-
+trees, sunshine, poetry, and reality turned into a dream, reality turned
+into the delight of life only.  We want to forget Rome; to fix the
+balancing point of the world somewhere between Greece, Asia, and Egypt;
+to live the life not of men but of gods; not to know what commonness is;
+to wander in golden galleys under the shadow of purple sails along the
+Archipelago; to be Apollo, Osiris, and Baal in one person; to be rosy
+with the dawn, golden with the sun, silver with the moon; to command, to
+sing, to dream.  And wilt thou believe that I, who have still sound
+judgment to the value of a sestertium, and sense to the value of an as,
+let myself be borne away by these fantasies, and I do this for the
+reason that, if they are not possible, they are at least grandiose and
+uncommon?  Such a fabulous empire would be a thing which, some time or
+other, after long ages, would seem a dream to mankind.  Except when
+Venus takes the form of Lygia, or even of a slave Eunice, or when art
+beautifies it, life itself is empty, and many a time it has the face of
+a monkey.  But Bronzebeard will not realize his plans, even for this
+cause, that in his fabulous kingdom of poetry and the Orient no place is
+given to treason, meanness, and death; and that in him with the poses of
+a poet sits a wretched comedian, a dull charioteer, and a frivolous
+tyrant.  Meanwhile we are killing people whenever they displease us in
+any way.  Poor Torquatus Silanus is now a shade; he opened his veins a
+few days since.  Lecanius and Licinus will enter on the consulate with
+terror.  Old Thrasea will not escape death, for he dares to be honest.
+Tigellinus is not able yet to frame a command for me to open my veins.
+I am still needed not only as elegantić arbiter, but as a man without
+whose counsel and taste the expedition to Achća might fail.  More than
+once, however, I think that sooner or later it must end in opening my
+veins; and knowest thou what the question will be then with me?--that
+Bronzebeard should not get my goblet, which thou knowest and admirest.
+Shouldst thou be near at the moment of my death, I will give it to thee;
+shouldst thou be at a distance, I will break it. But meanwhile I have
+before me yet Beneventum of the cobblers and Olympian Greece; I have
+Fate too, which, unknown and unforeseen, points out the road to every
+one.
+
+"Be well, and engage Croton; otherwise they will snatch Lygia from thee
+a second time.  When Chilonides ceases to be needful, send him to me
+wherever I may be.  Perhaps I shall make him a second Vatinius, and
+consuls and senators may tremble before him yet, as they trembled before
+that knight Dratevka.  It would be worth while to live to see such a
+spectacle.  When thou hast found Lygia, let me know, so that I may offer
+for you both a pair of swans and a pair of doves in the round temple of
+Venus here.  Once I saw Lygia in a dream, sitting on thy knee, seeking
+thy kisses.  Try to make that dream prophetic.  May there be no clouds
+on thy sky; or if there be, let them have the color and the odor of
+roses!  Be in good health; and farewell!"
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XIX
+
+
+BARELY had Vinicius finished reading when Chilo pushed quietly into his
+library, unannounced by any one, for the servants had the order to admit
+him at every hour of the day or night.
+
+"May the divine mother of thy magnanimous ancestor Ćneas be full of
+favor to thee, as the son of Maia was kind to me."
+
+"What dost thou mean?" asked Vinicius, springing from the table at which
+he was sitting.
+
+Chilo raised his head and said, "Eureka!"
+
+The young patrician was so excited that for a long time he could not
+utter a word.
+
+"Hast thou seen her?" asked he, at last.
+
+"I have seen Ursus, lord, and have spoken with him."
+
+"Dost thou know where they are secreted?"
+
+"No, lord.  Another, through boastfulness, would have let the Lygian
+know that he divined who he was; another would have tried to extort from
+him the knowledge of where he lived, and would have received either a
+stroke of the fist,--after which all earthly affairs would have become
+indifferent to him,--or he would have roused the suspicion of the giant
+and caused this,--that a new hiding-place would be found for the girl,
+this very night perhaps.  I did not act thus.  It suffices me to know
+that Ursus works near the Emporium, for a miller named Demas, the same
+name as that borne by thy freedman; now any trusted slave of thine may
+go in the morning on his track, and discover their hiding place.  I
+bring thee merely the assurance that, since Ursus is here, the divine
+Lygia also is in Rome, and a second news that she will be in Ostrianum
+to-night, almost certainly--"
+
+"In Ostrianum?  Where is that?" interrupted Vinicius, wishing evidently
+to run to the place indicated.
+
+"An old hypogeum between the Vić Salaria and Nomentana.  That pontifex
+maximus of the Christians, of whom I spoke to thee, and whom they
+expected somewhat later, has come, and to-night he will teach and
+baptize in that cemetery.  They hide their religion, for, though there
+are no edicts to prohibit it as yet, the people hate them, so they must
+be careful.  Ursus himself told me that all, to the last soul, would be
+in Ostrianum to-night, for every one wishes to see and hear him who was
+the foremost disciple of Christ, and whom they call Apostle.  Since
+among them women hear instruction as well as men, Pomponia alone perhaps
+of women will not be there; she could not explain to Aulus, a worshipper
+of the ancient gods, her absence from home at night.  But Lygia, lord,
+who is under the care of Ursus and the Christian elders, will go
+undoubtedly with other women."
+
+Vinicius, who had lived hitherto in a fever, and upheld as it were, by
+hope alone, now that his hope seemed fulfilled felt all at once the
+weakness that a man feels after a journey which has proved beyond his
+strength.  Chilo noticed this, and resolved to make use of it.
+
+"The gates are watched, it is true, by thy people, and the Christians
+must know that.  But they do not need gates.  The Tiber, too, does not
+need them; and though it is far from the river to those roads, it is
+worth while to walk one road more to see the 'Great Apostle.' Moreover
+they may have a thousand ways of going beyond the walls, and I know that
+they have.  In Ostrianum thou wilt find Lygia; and even should she not
+be there, which I will not admit, Ursus will be there, for he has
+promised to kill Glaucus.  He told me himself that he would be there,
+and that he would kill him. Dost hear, noble tribune?  Either thou wilt
+follow Ursus and learn where Lygia dwells, or thou wilt command thy
+people to seize him as a murderer, and, having him in thy hand, thou
+wilt make him confess where he has hidden Lygia.  I have done my best!
+Another would have told thee that he had drunk ten cantars of the best
+wine with Ursus before he wormed the secret out of him; another would
+have told thee that he had lost a thousand sestertia to him in scriptś
+duodecim, or that he had bought the intelligence for two thousand; I
+know that thou wouldst repay me doubly, but in spite of that, once in my
+life--I mean, as always in my life--I shall be honest, for I think, as
+the magnanimous Petronius says, that thy bounty exceeds all my hopes and
+expectations."
+
+Vinicius, who was a soldier and accustomed not only to take counsel of
+himself in all cases, but to act, was overcome by a momentary weakness
+and said,--"Thou wilt not deceive thyself as to my liberality, but first
+thou wilt go with me to Ostrianum."
+
+"I, to Ostrianum?" inquired Chilo, who had not the least wish to go
+there.  "I, noble tribune, promised thee to point out Lygia, but I did
+not promise to take her away for thee.  Think, lord, what would happen
+to me if that Lygian bear, when he had torn Glaucus to pieces, should
+convince himself straightway that he had torn him not altogether
+justly?  Would he not look on me (of course without reason) as the cause
+of the accomplished murder?  Remember, lord, that the greater
+philosopher a man is, the more difficult it is for him to answer the
+foolish questions of common people; what should I answer him were he to
+ask me why I calumniated Glaucus?  But if thou suspect that I deceive
+thee, I say, pay me only when I point out the house in which Lygia
+lives; show me to-day only a part of thy liberality, so that if thou,
+lord (which may all the gods ward from thee), succumb to some accident,
+I shall not be entirely without recompense.  Thy heart could not endure
+that."
+
+Vinicius went to a casket called "area," standing on a marble pedestal,
+and, taking out a purse, threw it to Chilo.
+
+"There are scrupula," said he; "when Lygia shall be in my house, thou
+wilt get the same full of aurei."
+
+"Thou art Jove!" exclaimed Chilo.
+
+But Vinicius frowned.
+
+"Thou wilt receive food here," said he; "then thou mayest rest. Thou
+wilt not leave this house till evening, and when night falls thou wilt
+go with me to Ostrianum."
+
+Fear and hesitation were reflected on the Greek's face for a time; but
+afterward he grew calm, and said,--"Who can oppose thee, lord!  Receive
+these my words as of good omen, just as our great hero received words
+like them in the temple of Ammon.  As to me, these 'scruples'" (here he
+shook the purse) "have outweighed mine, not to mention thy society,
+which for me is delight and happiness."
+
+Vinicius interrupted him impatiently, and asked for details of his
+conversation with Ursus.  From them it seemed clear that either Lygia's
+hiding-place would be discovered that night, or he would be able to
+seize her on the road back from Ostrianum.  At thought of this, Vinicius
+was borne away by wild delight.  Now, when he felt clearly sure of
+finding Lygia, his anger against her, and his feeling of offence almost
+vanished.  In return for that delight he forgave her every fault.  He
+thought of her only as dear and desired, and he had the same impression
+as if she were returning after a long journey.  He wished to summon his
+slaves and command them to deck the house with garlands.  In that hour
+he had not a complaint against Ursus, even.  He was ready to forgive all
+people everything.  Chilo, for whom, in spite of his  services, he had
+felt hitherto a certain repulsion, seemed to him for the first time an
+amusing and also an uncommon person.  His house grew radiant; his eyes
+and his face became bright.  He began again to feel youth and the
+pleasure of life.  His former gloomy suffering had not given him yet a
+sufficient measure of how he loved Lygia.  He understood this now for
+the first time, when he hoped to possess her.  His desires woke in him,
+as the earth, warmed by the sun, wakes in spring; but his desires this
+time were less blind and wild, as it were, and more joyous and tender.
+He felt also within himself energy without bounds, and was convinced
+that should he but see Lygia with his own eyes, all the Christians on
+earth could not take her from him, nor could Cćsar himself.
+
+Chilo, emboldened by the young tribune's delight, regained power of
+speech and began to give advice.  According to him, it behooved Vinicius
+not to look on the affair as won, and to observe the greatest caution,
+without which all their work might end in nothing.  He implored Vinicius
+not to carry off Lygia from Ostrianum.  They ought to go there with
+hoods on their heads, with their faces hidden, and restrict themselves
+to looking at all who were present from some dark corner.  When they saw
+Lygia, it would be safest to follow her at a distance, see what house
+she entered, surround it next morning at daybreak, and take her away in
+open daylight.  Since she was a hostage and belonged specially to Cćsar,
+they might do that without fear of law.  In the event of not finding her
+in Ostrianum they could follow Ursus, and the result would be the same.
+To go to the cemetery with a crowd of attendants was impracticable,--
+that might draw attention to them easily; then the Christians need only
+put out the lights, as they did when she was intercepted, and scatter in
+the darkness, or betake themselves to places known to them only.  But
+Vinicius and he should arm, and, still better, take a couple of strong,
+trusty men to defend them in case of need.
+
+Vinicius saw the perfect truth of what he said, and, recalling
+Petronius's counsel, commanded his slaves to bring Croton.  Chilo, who
+knew every one in Rome, was set at rest notably when he heard the name
+of the famous athlete, whose superhuman strength in the arena he had
+wondered at more than once, and he declared that he would go to
+Ostrianum.  The purse filled with great aurei seemed to him much easier
+of acquisition through the aid of Croton.
+
+Hence he sat down in good spirits at the table to which, after a time,
+he was called by the chief of the atrium.
+
+While eating, he told the slaves that he had obtained for their master a
+miraculous ointment.  The worst horse, if rubbed on the hoofs with it,
+would leave every other far behind.  A certain Christian had taught him
+how to prepare that ointment, for the Christian elders were far more
+skilled in enchantment and miracles than even the Thessalians, though
+Thessaly was renowned for its witches.  The Christians had immense
+confidence in him--why, any one easily understands who knows what a fish
+means.  While speaking he looked sharply at the eyes of the slaves, in
+the hope of discovering a Christian among them and informing Vinicius.
+But when the hope failed him, he fell to eating and drinking uncommon
+quantities, not sparing praises on the cook, and declaring that he would
+endeavor to buy him of Vinicius.  His joyfulness was dimmed only by the
+thought that at night he must go to Ostrianum.  He comforted himself,
+however, as he would go in disguise, in darkness, and in the company of
+two men, one of whom was so strong that he was the idol of Rome; the
+other a patrician, a man of high dignity in the army.  "Even should they
+discover Vinicius," said he to himself, "they will not dare to raise a
+hand on him; as to me, they will be wise if they see the tip of my nose
+even."
+
+He fell then to recalling his conversation with the laborer; and the
+recollection of that filled him again with delight.  He had not the
+least doubt that that laborer was Ursus.  He knew of the uncommon
+strength of the man, from the narratives of Vinicius, and those who had
+brought Lygia from Cćsar's palace.  When he inquired of Euricius
+touching men of exceptional strength, there was nothing remarkable in
+this, that they pointed out Ursus.  Then the confusion and rage of the
+laborer at mention of Vinicius and Lygia left him no doubt that those
+persons concerned him particularly; the laborer had mentioned also his
+penance for killing a man,--Ursus had killed Atacinus; finally, the
+appearance of the laborer answered perfectly to the account which
+Vinicius had given of the Lygian. The change of name was all that could
+provoke doubt, but Chilo knew that frequently Christians took new names
+at baptism.
+
+"Should Ursus kill Glaucus," said Chilo to himself, "that will be better
+still; but should he not kill him, that will be a good sign, for it will
+show how difficult it is for Christians to murder.  I described Glaucus
+as a real son of Judas, and a traitor to all Christians; I was so
+eloquent that a stone would have been moved, and would have promised to
+fall on the head of Glaucus.  Still I hardly moved that Lygian bear to
+put his paw on him.  He hesitated, was unwilling, spoke of his penance
+and compunction.  Evidently murder is not common among them.  Offences
+against one's self must be forgiven, and there is not much freedom in
+taking revenge for others.  Ergo, stop! think, Chilo, what can threaten
+thee?  Glaucus is not free to avenge himself on thee.  If Ursus will not
+kill Glaucus for such a great crime as the betrayal of all Christians,
+so much the more will he not kill thee for the small offence of
+betraying one Christian.  Moreover, when I have once pointed out to this
+ardent wood-pigeon the nest of that turtle-dove, I will wash my hands of
+everything, and transfer myself to Naples.  The Christians talk, also,
+of a kind of washing of the hands; that is evidently a method by which,
+if a man has an affair with them, he may finish it decisively.  What
+good people these Christians are, and how ill men speak of them!  O God!
+such is the justice of this world.  But I love that religion, since it
+does not permit killing; but if it does not permit killing, it certainly
+does not permit stealing, deceit, or false testimony; hence I will not
+say that it is easy.  It teaches, evidently, not only to die honestly,
+as the Stoics teach, but to live honestly also.  If ever I have property
+and a house, like this, and slaves in such numbers as Vinicius, perhaps
+I shall be a Christian as long as may be convenient.  For a rich man can
+permit himself everything, even virtue.  This is a religion for the
+rich; hence I do not understand how there are so many poor among its
+adherents. What good is it for them, and why do they let virtue tie
+their hands?  I must think over this sometime.  Meanwhile praise to
+thee, Hermes! for helping me discover this badger.  But if thou hast
+done so for the two white yearling heifers with gilded horns, I know
+thee not.  Be ashamed, O slayer of Argos! such a wise god as thou, and
+not foresee that thou wilt get nothing!  I will offer thee my gratitude;
+and if thou prefer two beasts to it, thou art the third beast thyself,
+and in the best event thou shouldst be a shepherd, not a god.  Have a
+care, too, lest I, as a philosopher, prove to men that thou art non-
+existent, and then all will cease to bring thee offerings.  It is safer
+to be on good terms with philosophers."
+
+Speaking thus to himself and to Hermes, he stretched on the sofa, put
+his mantle under his head, and was sleeping when the slave removed the
+dishes.  He woke,--or rather they roused him,--only at the coming of
+Croton.  He went to the atrium, then, and began to examine with pleasure
+the form of the trainer, an ex-gladiator, who seemed to fill the whole
+place with his immensity.  Croton had stipulated as to the price of the
+trip, and was just speaking to Vinicius.
+
+"By Hercules! it is well, lord," said he, "that thou hast sent to-day
+for me, since I shall start to-morrow for Beneventum, whither the noble
+Vatinius has summoned me to make a trial, in presence of Cćsar, of a
+certain Syphax, the most powerful negro that Africa has ever produced.
+Dost thou imagine, lord, how his spinal column will crack in my arms, or
+how besides I shall break his black jaw with my fist?"
+
+"By Pollux!  Croton, I am sure that thou wilt do that," answered
+Vinicius.
+
+"And thou wilt act excellently," added Chilo.  "Yes, to break his jaw,
+besides!  That's a good idea, and a deed which befits thee.  But rub thy
+limbs with olive oil to-day, my Hercules, and gird thyself, for know
+this, you mayst meet a real Cacus.  The man who is guarding that girl in
+whom the worthy Vinicius takes interest, has exceptional strength very
+likely."
+
+Chilo spoke thus only to rouse Croton's ambition.
+
+"That is true," said Vinicius; "I have not seen him, but they tell me
+that he can take a bull by the horns and drag him wherever he pleases."
+
+"Oi!" exclaimed Chilo, who had not imagined that Ursus was so strong.
+But Croton laughed, from contempt.  "I undertake, worthy lord," said he,
+"to bear away with this hand whomever thou shalt point out to me, and
+with this other defend myself against seven such Lygians, and bring the
+maiden to thy dwelling though all the Christians in Rome were pursuing
+me like Calabrian wolves.  If not, I will let myself be beaten with
+clubs in this impluvium."
+
+"Do not permit that, lord," cried Chilo.  "They will hurl stones at us,
+and what could his strength effect?  Is it not better to take the girl
+from the house,--not expose thyself or her to destruction?"
+
+"This is true, Croton," said Vinicius.
+
+"I receive thy money, I do thy will!  But remember, lord, that to-morrow
+I go to Beneventum."
+
+"I have five hundred slaves in the city," answered Vinicius.
+
+He gave them a sign to withdraw, went to the library himself, and
+sitting down wrote the following words to Petronius,--
+
+"The Lygian has been found by Chilo.  I go this evening with him and
+Croton to Ostrianum, and shall carry her off from the house to-night or
+to-morrow.  May the gods pour down on thee everything favorable.  Be
+well, O carissime! for joy will not let me write further."
+
+Laying aside the reed then, he began to walk with quick step; for
+besides delight, which was overflowing his soul, he was tormented with
+fever.  He said to himself that to-morrow Lygia would be in that house.
+He did not know how to act with her, but felt that if she would love him
+he would be her servant.  He recalled Acte's assurance that he had been
+loved, and that moved him to the uttermost.  Hence it would be merely a
+question of conquering a certain maiden modesty, and a question of
+certain ceremonies which Christian teaching evidently commanded.  But if
+that were true, Lygia, when once in his house, would yield to persuasion
+or superior force; she would have to say to herself, "It has happened!"
+and then she would be amiable and loving.
+
+But Chilo appeared and interrupted the course of these pleasant
+thoughts.  "Lord," said the Greek, "this is what has come to my head.
+Have not the Christians signs, 'passwords,' without which no one will be
+admitted to Ostrianum?  I know that it is so in houses of prayer, and I
+have received those passwords from Euricius; permit me then to go to
+him, lord, to ask precisely, and receive the needful signs."
+
+"Well, noble sage," answered Vinicius, gladly; "thou speakest as a man
+of forethought, and for that praise belongs to thee.  Thou wit go, then,
+to Euricius, or whithersoever it may please thee; but as security thou
+wilt leave on this table here that purse which thou hast received from
+me."
+
+Chilo, who always parted with money unwillingly, squirmed; still he
+obeyed the command and went out.  From the Carinć to the Circus, near
+which was the little shop of Euricius, it was not very far; hence he
+returned considerably before evening.
+
+"Here are the signs, lord.  Without them they would not admit us.  I
+have inquired carefully about the road.  I told Euricius that I needed
+the signs only for my friends; that I would not go myself, since it was
+too far for my advanced age; that, moreover, I should see the Great
+Apostle myself to-morrow, and he would repeat to me the choicest parts
+of his sermon."
+
+"How!  Thou wilt not be there?  Thou must go!" said Vinicius.
+
+"I know that I must; but I will go well hooded, and I advise thee to go
+in like manner, or we may frighten the birds."
+
+In fact they began soon to prepare, for darkness had come on the world.
+They put on Gallic cloaks with hoods, and took lanterns; Vinicius,
+besides, armed himself and his companions with short, curved knives;
+Chilo put on a wig, which he obtained on the way from the old man's
+shop, and they went out, hurrying so as to reach the distant Nomentan
+Gate before it was closed.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XX
+
+
+THEY went through the Vicus Patricius, along the Viminal to the former
+Viminal gate, near the plain on which Diocletian afterward built
+splendid baths.  They passed the remains of the wall of Servius Tullius,
+and through places more and more deserted they reached the Via
+Nomentana; there, turning to the left, towards the Via Salaria, they
+found themselves among hills full of sand-pits, and here and there they
+found graveyards.
+
+Meanwhile it had grown dark completely, and since the moon had not risen
+yet, it would have been rather difficult for them to find the road were
+it not that the Christians themselves indicated it, as Chilo foresaw.
+
+In fact, on the right, on the left, and in front, dark forms were
+evident, making their way carefully toward sandy hollows.  Some of these
+people carried lanterns,--covering them, however, as far as possible
+with mantles; others, knowing the road better, went in the dark.  The
+trained military eye of Vinicius distinguished, by their movements,
+younger men from old ones, who walked with canes, and from women,
+wrapped carefully in long mantles.  The highway police, and villagers
+leaving the city, took those night wanderers, evidently, for laborers,
+going to sand-pits; or grave-diggers, who at times celebrated ceremonies
+of their own in the night-time.  In proportion, however, as the young
+patrician and his attendants pushed forward, more and more lanterns
+gleamed, and the number of persons grew greater.  Some of them sang
+songs in low voices, which to Vinicius seemed filled with sadness.  At
+moments a separate word or a phrase of the song struck his ear, as, for
+instance, "Awake, thou that sleepest," or "Rise from the dead"; at
+times, again, the name of Christ was repeated by men and women.
+
+But Vinicius turned slight attention to the words, for it came to his
+head that one of those dark forms might be Lygia.  Some, passing near,
+said, "Peace be with thee!" or "Glory be to Christ!" but disquiet seized
+him, and his heart began to beat with more life, for it seemed to him
+that he heard Lygia's voice.  Forms or movements like hers deceived him
+in the darkness every moment, and only when he had corrected mistakes
+made repeatedly did he begin to distrust his own eyes.
+
+The way seemed long to him.  He knew the neighborhood exactly, but could
+not fix places in the darkness.  Every moment they came to some narrow
+passage, or piece of wall, or booths, which he did not remember as being
+in the vicinity of the city.  Finally the edge of the moon appeared from
+behind a mass of clouds, and lighted the place better than dim lanterns.
+Something from afar began at last to glimmer like a fire, or the flame
+of a torch.  Vinicius turned to Chilo.
+
+"Is that Ostrianum?" asked he.
+
+Chilo, on whom night, distance from the city, and those ghostlike forms
+made a deep impression, replied in a voice somewhat uncertain,--"I know
+not, lord; I have never been in Ostrianum. But they might praise God in
+some spot nearer the city."
+
+After a while, feeling the need of conversation, and of strengthening
+his courage, he added,--"They come together like murderers; still they
+are not permitted to murder, unless that Lygian has deceived me
+shamefully."
+
+Vinicius, who was thinking of Lygia, was astonished also by the caution
+and mysteriousness with which her co-religionists assembled to hear
+their highest priest; hence he said,--"Like all religions, this has its
+adherents in the midst of us; but the Christians are a Jewish sect.  Why
+do they assemble here, when in the Trans-Tiber there are temples to
+which the Jews take their offerings in daylight?"
+
+"The Jews, lord, are their bitterest enemies.  I have heard that, before
+the present Cćsar's time, it came to war, almost, between Jews and
+Christians.  Those outbreaks forced Claudius Cćsar to expell all the
+Jews, but at present that edict is abolished.  The Christians, however,
+hide themselves from Jews, and from the populace, who, as is known to
+thee, accuse them of crimes and hate them."
+
+They walked on some time in silence, till Chilo, whose fear increased as
+he receded from the gates, said,--"When returning from the shop of
+Euricius, I borrowed a wig from a barber, and have put two beans in my
+nostrils.  They must not recognize me; but if they do, they will not
+kill me.  They are not malignant!  They are even very honest.  I esteem
+and love them."
+
+"Do not win them to thyself by premature praises," retorted Vinicius.
+
+They went now into a narrow depression, closed, as it were, by two
+ditches on the side, over which an aqueduct was thrown in one place.
+The moon came out from behind clouds, and at the end of the depression
+they saw a wall, covered thickly with ivy, which looked silvery in the
+moonlight.  That was Ostrianum.
+
+Vinicius's heart began to beat now with more vigor.  At the gate two
+quarryrnen took the signs from them.  In a moment Vinicius and his
+attendants were in a rather spacious place enclosed on all sides by a
+wall.  Here and there were separate monuments, and in the centre was the
+entrance to the hypogeum itself, or crypt.  In the lower part of the
+crypt, beneath the earth, were graves; before the entrance a fountain
+was playing.  But it was evident that no very large number of persons
+could find room in the hypogeum; hence Vinicius divined without
+difficulty that the ceremony would take place outside, in the space
+where a very numerous throng was soon gathered.
+
+As far as the eye could reach, lantern gleamed near lantern, but many of
+those who came had no light whatever.  With the exception of a few
+uncovered heads, all were hooded, from fear of treason or the cold; and
+the young patrician thought with alarm that, should they remain thus, he
+would not be able to recognize Lygia in that crowd and in the dim light.
+
+But all at once, near the crypt, some pitch torches were ignited and put
+into a little pile.  There was more light.  After a while the crowd
+began to sing a certain strange hymn, at first in a low voice, and then
+louder.  Vinicius had never heard such a hymn before.  The same yearning
+which had struck him in the hymns murmured by separate persons on the
+way to the cemetery, was heard now in that, but with far more
+distinctness and power; and at last it became as penetrating and immense
+as if together with the people, the whole cemetery, the hills, the pits,
+and the region about, had begun to yearn.  It might seem, also, that
+there was in it a certain calling in the night, a certain humble prayer
+for rescue in wandering and darkness.
+
+Eyes turned upward seemed to see some one far above, there on high, and
+outstretched hands seemed to implore him to descend. When the hymn
+ceased, there followed a moment as it were of suspense,--so impressive
+that Vinicius and his companions looked unwittingly toward the stars, as
+if in dread that something uncommon would happen, and that some one
+would really descend to them.
+
+Vinicius had seen a multitude of temples of most various structure in
+Asia Minor, in Egypt, and in Rome itself; he had become acquainted with
+a multitude of religions, most varied in character, and had heard many
+hymns; but here, for the first time, he saw people calling on a divinity
+with hymns,--not to carry out a fixed ritual, but calling from the
+bottom of the heart, with the genuine yearning which children might feel
+for a father or a mother.  One had to be blind not to see that those
+people not merely honored their God, but loved him with the whole soul.
+Vinicius had not seen the like, so far, in any land, during any
+ceremony, in any sanctuary; for in Rome and in Greece those who still
+rendered honor to the gods did so to gain aid for themselves or through
+fear; but it had not even entered any one's head to love those
+divinities.
+
+Though his mind was occupied with Lygia, and his attention with seeking
+her in the crowd, he could not avoid seeing those uncommon and wonderful
+things which were happening around him.  Meanwhile a few more torches
+were thrown on the fire, which filled the cemetery with ruddy light and
+darkened the gleam of the lanterns.  That moment an old man, wearing a
+hooded mantle but with a bare head, issued from the hypogeum.  This man
+mounted a stone which lay near the fire.
+
+The crowd swayed before him. Voices near Vinicius whispered, "Peter!
+Peter!"  Some knelt, others extended their hands toward him.  There
+followed a silence so deep that one heard every charred particle that
+dropped from the torches, the distant rattle of wheels on the Via
+Nomentana, and the sound of wind through the few pines which grew close
+to the cemetery.
+
+Chilo bent toward Vinicius and whispered,--"This is he!  The foremost
+disciple of Christ-a fisherman!"
+
+The old man raised his hand, and with the sign of the cross blessed
+those present, who fell on their knees simultaneously.  Vinicius and his
+attendants, not wishing to betray themselves, followed the example of
+others.  The young man could not seize his impressions immediately, for
+it seemed to him that the form which he saw there before him was both
+simple and uncommon, and, what was more, the uncommonness flowed just
+from the simplicity.  The old man had no mitre on his head, no garland
+of oak-leaves on his temples, no palm in his hand, no golden tablet on
+his breast, he wore no white robe embroidered with stars; in a word, he
+bore no insignia of the kind worn by priests--Oriental, Egyptian, or
+Greek--or by Roman flamens.  And Vinicius was struck by that same
+difference again which he felt when listening to the Christian hymns;
+for that "fisherman," too, seemed to him, not like some high priest
+skilled in ceremonial, but as it were a witness, simple, aged, and
+immensely venerable, who had journeyed from afar to relate a truth which
+he had seen, which he had touched, which he believed as he believed in
+existence, and he had come to love this truth precisely because he
+believed it.  There was in his face, therefore, such a power of
+convincing as truth itself has.  And Vinicius, who had been a sceptic,
+who did not wish to yield to the charm of the old man, yielded, however,
+to a certain feverish curiosity to know what would flow from the lips of
+that companion of the mysterious "Christus," and what that teaching was
+of which Lygia and Pomponia Grćcina were followers.
+
+Meanwhile Peter began to speak, and he spoke from the beginning like a
+father instructing his children and teaching them how to live. He
+enjoined on them to renounce excess and luxury, to love poverty, purity
+of life, and truth, to endure wrongs and persecutions patiently, to obey
+the government and those placed above them, to guard against treason,
+deceit, and calumny; finally, to give an example in their own society to
+each other, and even to pagans.
+
+Vinicius, for whom good was only that which could bring back to him
+Lygia, and evil everything which stood as a barrier between them, was
+touched and angered by certain of those counsels.  It seemed to him that
+by enjoining purity and a struggle with desires the old man dared, not
+only to condemn his love, but to rouse Lygia against him and confirm her
+in opposition.  He understood that if she were in the assembly listening
+to those words, and if she took them to heart, she must think of him as
+an enemy of that teaching and an outcast.
+
+Anger seized him at this thought.  "What have I heard that is new?"
+thought he.  "Is this the new religion?  Every one knows this, every one
+has heard it.  The Cynics enjoined poverty and a restriction of
+necessities; Socrates enjoined virtue as an old thing and a good one;
+the first Stoic one meets, even such a one as Seneca, who has five
+hundred tables of lemon-wood, praises moderation, enjoins truth,
+patience in adversity, endurance in misfortune,--and all that is like
+stale, mouse-eaten grain; but people do not wish to eat it because it
+smells of age."
+
+And besides anger, he had a feeling of disappointment, for he expected
+the discovery of unknown, magic secrets of some kind, and thought that
+at least he would hear a rhetor astonishing by his eloquence; meanwhile
+he heard only words which were immensely simple, devoid of every
+ornament.  He was astonished only by the mute attention with which the
+crowd listened.
+
+But the old man spoke on to those people sunk in listening,--told them
+to be kind, poor, peaceful, just, and pure; not that they might have
+peace during life, but that they might live eternally with Christ after
+death, in such joy and such glory, in such health and delight, as no one
+on earth had attained at any time.  And here Vinicius, though
+predisposed unfavorably, could not but notice that still there was a
+difference between the teaching of the old man and that of the Cynics,
+Stoics, and other philosophers; for they enjoin good and virtue as
+reasonable, and the only thing practical in life, while he promised
+immortality, and that not some kind of hapless immortality beneath the
+earth, in wretchednes, emptiness, and want, but a magnificent life,
+equal to that of the gods almost.  He spoke meanwhile of it as of a
+thing perfectly certain; hence, in view of such a faith, virtue acquired
+a value simply measureless, and the misfortunes of this life became
+incomparably trivial.  To suffer temporally for inexhaustible happiness
+is a thing absolutely different from suffering because such is the order
+of nature.  But the old man said further that virtue and truth should be
+loved for themselves, since the highest eternal good and the virtue
+existing before ages is God; whoso therefore loves them loves God, and
+by that same becomes a cherished child of His.
+
+Vinicius did not understand this well, but he knew previously, from
+words spoken by Pomponia Grćcina to Petronius, that, according to the
+belief of Christians, God was one and almighty; when, therefore, he
+heard now again that He is all good and all just, he thought
+involuntarily that, in presence of such a demiurge, Jupiter, Saturn,
+Apollo, Juno, Vesta, and Venus would seem like some vain and noisy
+rabble, in which all were interfering at once, and each on his or her
+own account.
+
+But the greatest astonishment seized him when the old man declared that
+God was universal love also; hence he who loves man fulfils God's
+supreme command.  But it is not enough to love men of one's own nation,
+for the God-man shed his blood for all, and found among pagans such
+elect of his as Cornelius the Centurion; it is not enough either to love
+those who do good to us, for Christ forgave the Jews who delivered him
+to death, and the Roman soldiers who nailed him to the cross, we should
+not only forgive but love those who injure us, and return them good for
+evil; it is not enough to love the good, we must love the wicked also,
+since by love alone is it possible to expel from them evil.
+
+Chilo at these words thought to himself that his work had gone for
+nothing, that never in the world would Ursus dare to kill Glaucus,
+either that night or any other night.  But he comforted himself at once
+by another inference from the teaching of the old man; namely, that
+neither would Glaucus kill him, though he should discover and recognize
+him.
+
+Vinicius did not think now that there was nothing new in the words of
+the old man, but with amazement he asked himself: "What kind of God is
+this, what kind of religion is this, and what kind of people are these?"
+All that he had just heard could not find place in his head simply.  For
+him all was an unheard-of medley of ideas.  He felt that if he wished,
+for example, to follow that teaching, he would have to place on a
+burning pile all his thoughts, habits, and character, his whole nature
+up to that moment, burn them into ashes, and then fill himself with a
+life altogether different, and an entirely new soul.  To him the science
+or the religion which commanded a Roman to love Parthians, Syrians,
+Greeks, Egyptians, Gauls, and Britons, to forgive enemies, to return
+them good for evil, and to love them, seemed madness.  At the same time
+he had a feeling that in that madness itself there was something
+mightier than all philosophies so far.  He thought that because of its
+madness it was impracticable, but because of its impracticability it was
+divine.  In his soul he rejected it; but he felt that he was parting as
+if from a field full of spikenard, a kind of intoxicating incense; when
+a man has once breathed of this he must, as in the land of the lotus-
+eaters, forget all things else ever after, and yearn for it only.
+
+It seemed to him that there was nothing real in that religion, but that
+reality in presence of it was so paltry that it deserved not the time
+for thought.  Expanses of some kind, of which hitherto he had not had a
+suspicion, surrounded him,--certain immensities, certain clouds.  That
+cemetery began to produce on him the impression of a meeting-place for
+madmen, but also of a place mysterious and awful, in which, as on a
+mystic bed, something was in progress of birth the like of which had not
+been in the world so far.  He brought before his mind all that, which
+from the first moment of his speech, the old man had said touching life,
+truth, love, God; and his thoughts were dazed from the brightness, as
+the eyes are blinded from lightning flashes which follow each other
+unceasingly.
+
+As is usual with people for whom life has been turned into one single
+passion, Vinicius thought of all this through the medium of his love for
+Lygia; and in the light of those flashes he saw one thing distinctly,
+that if Lygia was in the cemetery, if she confessed that religion,
+obeyed and felt it, she never could and never would be his mistress.
+
+For the first time, then, since he had made her acquaintance at Aulus's,
+Vinicius felt that though now he had found her he would not get her.
+Nothing similar had come to his head so far, and he could not explain it
+to himself then, for that was not so much an express understanding as a
+dim feeling of irreparable loss and misfortune.  There rose in him an
+alarm, which was turned soon into a storm of anger against the
+Christians in general, and against the old man in particular.  That
+fisherman, whom at the first cast of the eye he considered a peasant,
+now filled him with fear almost, and seemed some mysterious power
+deciding his fate inexorably and therefore tragically.
+
+The quarrymen again, unobserved, added torches to the fire; the wind
+ceased to sound in the pines; the flame rose evenly, with a slender
+point toward the stars, which were twinkling in a clear sky. Having
+mentioned the death of Christ, the old man talked now of Him only.  All
+held the breath in their breasts, and a silence set in which was deeper
+than the preceding one, so that it was possible almost to hear the
+beating of hearts.  That man had seen! and he narrated as one in whose
+memory every moment had been fixed in such a way that were he to close
+his eyes he would see yet.  He told, therefore, how on their return from
+the Cross he and John had sat two days and nights in the supper-chamber,
+neither sleeping nor eating, in suffering, in sorrow, in doubt, in
+alarm, holding their heads in their hands, and thinking that He had
+died.  Oh, how grievous, how grievous that was!  The third day had
+dawned and the light whitened the walls, but he and John were sitting in
+the chamber, without hope or comfort.  How desire for sleep tortured
+them (for they had spent the night before the Passion without sleep)!
+They roused themselves then, and began again to lament. But barely had
+the sun risen when Mary of Magdala, panting, her hair dishevelled,
+rushed in with the cry, "They have taken away the Lord!"  When they
+heard this, he and John sprang up and ran toward the sepulchre.  But
+John, being younger, arrived first; he saw the place empty, and dared
+not enter.  Only when there were three at the entrance did he, the
+person now speaking to them, enter, and find on the stone a shirt with a
+winding sheet; but the body he found not.
+
+Fear fell on them then, because they thought that the priests had borne
+away Christ, and both returned home in greater grief still. Other
+disciples came later and raised a lament, now in company, so that the
+Lord of Hosts might hear them more easily, and now separately and in
+turn.  The spirit died within them, for they had hoped that the Master
+would redeem Israel, and it was now the third day since his death; hence
+they did not understand why the Father had deserted the Son, and they
+preferred not to look at the daylight, but to die, so grievous was the
+burden.
+
+The remembrance of those terrible moments pressed even then from the
+eyes of the old man two tears, which were visible by the light of the
+fire, coursing down his gray beard.  His hairless and aged head was
+shaking, and the voice died in his breast.
+
+"That man is speaking the truth and is weeping over it," said Vinicius
+in his soul.  Sorrow seized by the throat the simple-hearted listeners
+also.  They had heard more than once of Christ's sufferings, and it was
+known to them that joy succeeded sorrow; but since an apostle who had
+seen it told this, they wrung their hands under the impression, and
+sobbed or beat their breasts.
+
+But they calmed themselves gradually, for the wish to hear more gained
+the mastery.  The old man closed his eyes, as if to see distant things
+more distinctly in his soul, and continued,--"When the disciples had
+lamented in this way, Mary of Magdala rushed in a second time, crying
+that she had seen the Lord.  Unable to recognize him, she thought him
+the gardener: but He said, 'Mary!' She cried 'Rabboni!' and fell at his
+feet.  He commanded her to go to the disciples, and vanished.  But they,
+the disciples, did not believe her; and when she wept for joy, some
+upbraided her, some thought that sorrow had disturbed her mind, for she
+said, too, that she had seen angels at the grave, but they, running
+thither a second time, saw the grave empty.  Later in the evening
+appeared Cleopas, who had come with another from Emmaus, and they
+returned quickly, saying:  'The Lord has indeed risen!' And they
+discussed with closed doors, out of fear of the Jews.  Meanwhile He
+stood among them, though the doors had made no sound, and when they
+feared, He said, 'Peace be with you!'
+
+"And I saw Him, as did all, and He was like light, and like the
+happiness of our hearts, for we believed that He had risen from the
+dead, and that the seas will dry and the mountains turn to dust, but His
+glory will not pass.
+
+"After eight days Thomas Didymus put his finger in the Lord's wounds and
+touched His side; Thomas fell at His feet then, and cried, 'My Lord and
+my God!'  'Because thou hast seen me thou hast believed; blessed are
+they who have not seen and have believed!' said the Lord.  And we heard
+those words, and our eyes looked at Him, for He was among us."
+
+Vinicius listened, and something wonderful took place in him.  He forgot
+for a moment where he was; he began to lose the feeling of reality, of
+measure, of judgment.  He stood in the presence of two impossibilities.
+He could not believe what the old man said; and he felt that it would be
+necessary either to be blind or renounce one's own reason, to admit that
+that man who said "I saw" was lying. There was something in his
+movements, in his tears, in his whole figure, and in the details of the
+events which he narrated, which made every suspicion impossible.  To
+Vinicius it seemed at moments that he was dreaming.  But round about he
+saw the silent throng; the odor of lanterns came to his nostrils; at a
+distance the torches were blazing; and before him on the stone stood an
+aged man near the grave, with a head trembling somewhat, who, while
+bearing witness, repeated, "I saw!"
+
+And he narrated to them everything up to the Ascension into heaven.  At
+moments he rested, for he spoke very circumstantially; but it could be
+felt that each minute detail had fixed itself in his memory, as a thing
+is fixed in a stone into which it has been engraved.  Those who listened
+to him were seized by ecstasy.  They threw back their hoods to hear him
+better, and not lose a word of those which for them were priceless.  It
+seemed to them that some superhuman power had borne them to Galilee;
+that they were walking with the disciples through those groves and on
+those waters; that the cemetery was turned into the lake of Tiberius;
+that on the bank, in the mist of morning, stood Christ, as he stood when
+John, looking from the boat, said, "It is the Lord," and Peter cast
+himself in to swim, so as to fall the more quickly at the beloved feet.
+In the faces of those present were evident enthusiasm beyond bounds,
+oblivion of life, happiness, and love immeasurable.  It was clear that
+during Peter's long narrative some of them had visions. When he began to
+tell how, at the moment of Ascension, the clouds closed in under the
+feet of the Saviour, covered Him, and hid Him from the eyes of the
+Apostles, all heads were raised toward the sky unconsciously, and a
+moment followed as it were of expectation, as if those people hoped to
+see Him or as if they hoped that He would descend again from the fields
+of heaven, and see how the old Apostle was feeding the sheep confided to
+him, and bless both the flock and him.
+
+Rome did not exist for those people, nor did the man Cćsar; there were
+no temples of pagan gods; there was only Christ, who filled the land,
+the sea, the heavens, and the world.
+
+At the houses scattered here and there along the Via Nomentana, the
+cocks began to crow, announcing midnight.  At that moment Chilo pulled
+the corner of Vinicius's mantle and whispered,--"Lord, I see Urban over
+there, not far from the old man, and with him is a maiden."
+
+Vinicius shook himself, as if out of a dream, and, turning in the
+direction indicated by the Greek, he saw Lygia.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XXI
+
+
+EVERY drop of blood quivered in the young patrician at sight of her.  He
+forgot the crowd, the old man, his own astonishment at the
+incomprehensible things which he had heard,--he saw only her. At last,
+after all his efforts, after long days of alarm, trouble, and suffering,
+he had found her!  For the first time he realized that joy might rush at
+the heart, like a wild beast, and squeeze it till breath was lost.  He,
+who had supposed hitherto that on "Fortuna" had been imposed a kind of
+duty to accomplish all his wishes, hardly believed his own eyes now and
+his own happiness.  Were it not for that disbelief, his passionate
+nature might have urged him to some unconsidered step; but he wished to
+convince himself first that that was not the continuation of those
+miracles with which his head was filled, and that he was not dreaming.
+But there was no doubt,--he saw Lygia, and an interval of barely a few
+steps divided them. She stood in perfect light, so that he could rejoice
+in the sight of her as much as he liked.  The hood had fallen from her
+head and dishevelled her hair; her mouth was open slightly, her eyes
+raised toward the Apostle, her face fixed in listening and delighted.
+She was dressed in a dark woollen mantle, like a daughter of the people,
+but never had Vinicius seen her more beautiful; and notwithstanding all
+the disorder which had risen in him, he was struck by the nobility of
+that wonderful patrician head in distinction to the dress, almost that
+of a slave.  Love flew over him like a flame, immense, mixed with a
+marvellous feeling of yearning, homage, honor, and desire.  He felt the
+delight which the sight of her caused him; he drank of her as of life-
+giving water after long thirst.  Standing near the gigantic Lygian, she
+seemed to him smaller than before, almost a child; he noticed, too, that
+she had grown more slender.  Her complexion had become almost
+transparent; she made on him the impression of a flower, and a spirit.
+But all the more did he desire to possess that woman, so different from
+all women whom he had seen or possessed in Rome or the Orient.  He felt
+that for her he would have given them all, and with them Rome and the
+world in addition.
+
+He  would have lost himself in gazing, and forgotten himself altogether,
+had it not been for Chilo, who pulled the corner of his mantle, out of
+fear that he might do something to expose them to danger.  Meanwhile the
+Christians began to pray and sing.  After a while Maranatha thundered
+forth, and then the Great Apostle baptized with water from the fountain
+those whom the presbyters presented as ready for baptism.  It seemed to
+Vinicius that that night would never end.  He wished now to follow Lygia
+as soon as possible, and seize her on the road or at her house.
+
+At last some began to leave the cemetery, and Chilo whispered,--"Let us
+go out before the gate, lord, we have not removed our hoods, and people
+look at us."
+
+Such was the case, for during the discourse of the Apostle all had cast
+aside their hoods so as to hear better, and they had not followed the
+general example.  Chilo's advice seemed wise, therefore.  Standing
+before the gate, they could look at all who passed; Ursus it was easy to
+recognize by his form and size.
+
+"Let us follow them," said Chilo; "we shall see to what house they go.
+To-morrow, or rather to-day, thou wilt surround the entrances with
+slaves and take her."
+
+"No!" said Vinicius.
+
+"What dost thou wish to do, lord?"
+
+"We will follow her to the house and take her now, if thou wilt
+undertake that task, Croton?"
+
+"I will," replied Croton, "and I will give myself to thee as a slave if
+I do not break the back of that bison who is guarding her."
+
+But Chilo fell to dissuading and entreating them by all the gods not to
+do so.  Croton was taken only for defence against attack in case they
+were recognized, not to carry off the girl.  To take her when there were
+only two of them was to expose themselves to death, and, what was worse,
+they might let her out of their hands, and then she would hide in
+another place or leave Rome.  And what could they do?  Why not act with
+certainty?  Why expose themselves to destruction and the whole
+undertaking to failure?
+
+Though Vinicius restrained himself with the greatest effort from seizing
+Lygia in his arms at once, right there in the cemetery, he felt that the
+Greek was right, and would have lent ear, perhaps, to his counsels, had
+it not been for Croton, to whom reward was the question.
+
+"Lord, command that old goat to be silent," said he, "or let me drop my
+fist on his head.  Once in Buxentum, whither Lucius Saturnius took me to
+a play, seven drunken gladiators fell on me at an inn, and none of them
+escaped with sound ribs.  I do not say to take the girl now from the
+crowd, for they might throw stones before our feet, but once she is at
+home I will seize her, carry her away, and take her whithersoever thou
+shalt indicate."
+
+Vinicius was pleased to hear those words, and answered,--"Thus let it
+be, by Hercules!  To-morrow we may not find her at home; if we surprise
+them they will remove the girl surely."
+
+"This Lygian seems tremendously strong!" groaned Chilo.
+
+"No one will ask thee to hold his hands," answered Croton.
+
+But they had to wait long yet, and the cocks had begun to crow before
+dawn when they saw Ursus coming through the gate, and with him Lygia.
+They were accompanied by a number of other persons.  It seemed to Chilo
+that he recognized among them the Great Apostle; next to him walked
+another old man, considerably lower in stature, two women who were not
+young, and a boy, who lighted the way with a lantern.  After that
+handful followed a crowd, about two hundred in number; Vinicius, Chilo,
+and Croton walked with these people.
+
+"Yes, lord," said Chilo, "thy maiden is under powerful protection. That
+is the Great Apostle with her, for see how passing people kneel to him."
+
+People did in fact kneel before him, but Vinicius did not look at them.
+He did not lose Lygia from his eyes for a moment; he thought only of
+bearing her away and, accustomed as he had been in wars to stratagems of
+all sorts, he arranged in his head the whole plan of seizure with
+soldierly precision.  He felt that the step on which he had decided was
+bold, but he knew well that bold attacks give success generally.
+
+The way was long; hence at moments he thought too of the gulf which that
+wonderful religion had dug between him and Lygia. Now he understood
+everything that had happened in the past, and why it had happened.  He
+was sufficiently penetrating for that. Lygia he had not known hitherto.
+He had seen in her a maiden wonderful beyond others, a maiden toward
+whom his feelings were inflamed: he knew now that her religion made her
+different from other women, and his hope that feeling, desire, wealth,
+luxury, would attract her he knew now to be a vain illusion.  Finally he
+understood this, which he and Petronius had not understood, that the new
+religion ingrafted into the soul something unknown to that world in
+which he lived, and that Lygia, even if she loved him, would not
+sacrifice any of her Christian truths for his sake, and that, if
+pleasure existed for her, it was a pleasure different altogether from
+that which he and Petronius and Cćsar's court and all Rome were
+pursuing.  Every other woman whom he knew might become his mistress, but
+that Christian would become only his victim.  And when he thought of
+this, he felt anger and burning pain, for he felt that his anger was
+powerless.  To carry off Lygia seemed to him possible; he was almost
+sure that he could take her, but he was equally sure that, in view of
+her religion, he himself with his bravery was nothing, that his power
+was nothing, and that through it he could effect nothing.  That Roman
+military tribune, convinced that the power of the sword and the fist
+which had conquered the world, would command it forever, saw for the
+first time in life that beyond that power there might be something else;
+hence he asked himself with amazement what it was.  And he could not
+answer distinctly; through his head flew merely pictures of the
+cemetery, the assembled crowd, and Lygia, listening with her whole soul
+to the words of the old man, as he narrated the passion, death, and
+resurrection of the God-man, who had redeemed the world, and promised it
+happiness on the other shore of the Styx.
+
+When he thought of this, chaos rose in his head.  But he was brought out
+of this chaos by Chilo, who fell to lamenting his own fate.  He had
+agreed to find Lygia.  He had sought for her in peril of his life, and
+he had pointed her out.  But what more do they want? Had he offered to
+carry the maiden away?  Who could ask anything like this of a maimed man
+deprived of two fingers, an old man, devoted to meditation, to science,
+and virtue?  What would happen were a lord of such dignity as Vinicius
+to meet some mishap while bearing the maiden away?  It is true that the
+gods are bound to watch over their chosen ones,--but have not such
+things happened more than once, as if the gods were playing games
+instead of watching what was passing in the world?  Fortune is
+blindfold, as is well known, and does not see even in daylight; what
+must the case be at night?  Let something happen,--let that Lygian bear
+hurl a millstone at the noble Vinicius, or a keg of wine, or, still
+worse, water,--who will give assurance that instead of a reward blame
+will not fall on the hapless Chilo? He, the poor sage, has attached
+himself to the noble Vinicius as Aristotle to Alexander of Macedon.  If
+the noble lord should give him at least that purse which he had thrust
+into his girdle before leaving home, there would be something with which
+to invoke aid in case of need, or to influence the Christians.  Oh, why
+not listen to the counsels of an old man, counsels dictated by
+experience and prudence?
+
+Vinicius, hearing this, took the purse from his belt, and threw it to
+the fingers of Chilo.
+
+"Thou hast it; be silent!"
+
+The Greek felt that it was unusually heavy, and gained confidence.
+
+"My whole hope is in this," said he, "that Hercules or Theseus performed
+deeds still more arduous; what is my personal, nearest friend, Croton,
+if not Hercules?  Thee, worthy lord, I will not call a demigod, for thou
+art a full god, and in future thou wilt not forget a poor, faithful
+servant, whose needs it will be necessary to provide for from time to
+time, for once he is sunk in books, he thinks of nothing else; some few
+stadia of garden land and a little house, even with the smallest
+portico, for coolness in summer, would befit such a donor.  Meanwhile I
+shall admire thy heroic deeds from afar, and invoke Jove to befriend
+thee, and if need be I will make such an outcry that half Rome will be
+roused to thy assistance.  What a wretched, rough road!  The olive oil
+is burned out in the lantern; and if Croton, who is as noble as he is
+strong, would bear me to the gate in his arms, he would learn, to begin
+with, whether he will carry the maiden easily; second, he would act like
+Ćneas, and win all the good gods to such a degree that touching the
+result of the enterprise I should be thoroughly satisfied."
+
+"I should rather carry a sheep which died of mange a month ago,"
+answered the gladiator; "but give that purse, bestowed by the worthy
+tribune, and I will bear thee to the gate."
+
+"Mayst thou knock the great toe from thy foot," replied the Greek; "what
+profit hast thou from the teachings of that worthy old man, who
+described poverty and charity as the two foremost virtues? Has he not
+commanded thee expressly to love me?  Never shall I make thee, I see,
+even a poor Christian; it would be easier for the sun to pierce the
+walls of the Mamertine prison than for truth to penetrate thy skull of a
+hippopotamus."
+
+"Never fear!" said Croton, who with the strength of a beast had no human
+feeling.  "I shall not be a Christian!  I have no wish to lose my
+bread."
+
+"But if thou knew even the rudiments of philosophy, thou wouldst know
+that gold is vanity."
+
+"Come to me with thy philosophy.  I will give thee one blow of my head
+in the stomach; we shall see then who wins."
+
+"An ox might have said the same to Aristotle," retorted Chilo.
+
+It was growing gray in the world.  The dawn covered with pale light the
+outlines of the walls.  The trees along the wayside, the buildings, and
+the gravestones scattered here and there began to issue from the shade.
+The road was no longer quite empty. Marketmen were moving toward the
+gates, leading asses and mules laden with vegetables; here and there
+moved creaking carts in which game was conveyed.  On the road and along
+both sides of it was a light mist at the very earth, which promised good
+weather. People at some distance seemed like apparitions in that mist.
+Vinicius stared at the slender form of Lygia, which became more silvery
+as the light increased.
+
+"Lord," said Chilo, "I should offend thee were I to foresee the end of
+thy bounty, but now, when thou hast paid me, I may not be suspected of
+speaking for my own interest only.  I advise thee once more to go home
+for slaves and a litter, when thou hast learned in what house the divine
+Lygia dwells; listen not to that elephant trunk, Croton, who undertakes
+to carry off the maiden only to squeeze thy purse as if it were a bag of
+curds."
+
+"I have a blow of the fist to be struck between the shoulders, which
+means that thou wilt perish," said Croton.
+
+"I have a cask of Cephalonian wine, which means that I shall be well,"
+answered Chilo.
+
+Vinicius made no answer, for he approached the gate, at which a
+wonderful sight struck his eyes.  Two soldiers knelt when the Apostle
+was passing; Peter placed his hand on their iron helmets for a moment,
+and then made the sign of the cross on them.  It had never occurred to
+the patrician before that there could be Christians in the army; with
+astonishment he thought that as fire in a burning city takes in more and
+more houses, so to all appearances that doctrine embraces new souls
+every day, and extends itself over all human understandings.  This
+struck him also with reference to Lygia, for he was convinced that, had
+she wished to flee from the city, there would be guards willing to
+facilitate her flight.  He thanked the gods then that this had not
+happened.
+
+After they had passed vacant places beyond the wall, the Christians
+began to scatter.  There was need, therefore, to follow Lygia more from
+a distance, and more carefully, so as not to rouse attention.  Chilo
+fell to complaining of wounds, of pains in his legs, and dropped more
+and more to the rear.  Vinicius did not oppose this, judging that the
+cowardly and incompetent Greek would not be needed.  He would even have
+permitted him to depart, had he wished; but the worthy sage was detained
+by circumspection. Curiosity pressed him evidently, since he continued
+behind, and at moments even approached with his previous counsels; he
+thought too that the old man accompanying the Apostle might be Glaucus,
+were it not for his rather low stature.
+
+They walked a good while before reaching the Trans-Tiber, and the sun
+was near rising when the group surrounding Lygia dispersed.  The
+Apostle, an old woman, and a boy went up the river; the old man of lower
+stature, Ursus, and Lygia entered a narrow vicus, and, advancing still
+about a hundred yards, went into a house in which were two shops,--one
+for the sale of olives, the other for poultry.
+
+Chilo, who walked about fifty yards behind Vinicius and Croton, halted
+all at once, as if fixed to the earth, and, squeezing up to the wall,
+began to hiss at them to turn.
+
+They did so, for they needed to take counsel.
+
+"Go, Chilo," said Vinicius, "and see if this house fronts on another
+street."  Chilo, though he had complained of wounds in his feet, sprang
+away as quickly as if he had had the wings of Mercury on his ankles, and
+returned in a moment.
+
+"No," said he, "there is but one entrance."
+
+Then, putting his hands together, he said, "I implore thee, lord, by
+Jupiter, Apollo, Vesta, Cybele, Isis, Osiris, Mithra Baal, and all the
+gods of the Orient and the Occident to drop this plan.  Listen to me--"
+
+But he stopped on a sudden, for he saw that Vinicius's face was pale
+from emotion, and that his eyes were glittering like the eyes of a wolf.
+It was enough to look at him to understand that nothing in the world
+would restrain him from the undertaking.  Croton began to draw air into
+his herculean breast, and to sway his undeveloped skull from side to
+side as bears do when confined in a cage, but on his face not the least
+fear was evident.
+
+"I will go in first," said he.
+
+"Thou wilt follow me," said Vinicius, in commanding tones.
+
+And after a while both vanished in the dark entrance.
+
+Chilo sprang to the corner of the nearest alley and watched from behind
+it, waiting for what would happen.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XXII
+
+
+ONLY inside the entrance did Vinicius comprehend the whole difficulty of
+the undertaking.  The house was large, of several stories, one of the
+kind of which thousands were built in Rome, in view of profit from rent;
+hence, as a rule, they were built so hurriedly and badly that scarcely a
+year passed in which numbers of them did not fall on the heads of
+tenants.  Real hives, too high and too narrow, full of chambers and
+little dens, in which poor people fixed themselves too numerously.  In a
+city where many streets had no names, those houses had no numbers; the
+owners committed the collection of rent to slaves, who, not obliged by
+the city government to give names of occupants, were ignorant themselves
+of them frequently.  To find some one by inquiry in such a house was
+often very difficult, especially when there was no gate-keeper.
+
+Vinicius and Croton came to a narrow, corridor-like passage walled in on
+four sides, forming a kind of common atrium for the whole house, with a
+fountain in the middle whose stream fell into a stone basin fixed in the
+ground.  At all the walls were internal stairways, some of stone, some
+of wood, leading to galleries from which there were entrances to
+lodgings.  There were lodgings on the ground, also; some provided with
+wooden doors, others separated from the yard by woollen screens only.
+These, for the greater part, were worn, rent, or patched.
+
+The hour was early, and there was not a living soul in the yard.  It was
+evident that all were asleep in the house except those who had returned
+from Ostrianum.
+
+"What shall we do, lord?" asked Croton, halting.
+
+"Let us wait here; some one may appear," replied Vinicius.  "We should
+not be seen in the yard."
+
+At this moment, he thought Chilo's counsel practical.  If there were
+some tens of slaves present, it would be easy to occupy the gate, which
+seemed the only exit, search all the lodgings simultaneously, and thus
+come to Lygia's; otherwise Christians, who surely were not lacking in
+that house, might give notice that people were seeking her.  In view of
+this, there was risk in inquiring of strangers.  Vinicius stopped to
+think whether it would not be better to go for his slaves.  Just then,
+from behind a screen hiding a remoter lodging, came a man with a sieve
+in his hand, and approached the fountain.
+
+At the first glance the young tribune recognized Ursus.
+
+"That is the Lygian!" whispered Vinicius.
+
+"Am I to break his bones now?"
+
+"Wait awhile!"
+
+Ursus did not notice the two men, as they were in the shadow of the
+entrance, and he began quietly to sink in water vegetables which filled
+the sieve.  It was evident that, after a whole night spent in the
+cemetery, he intended to prepare a meal.  After a while the washing was
+finished; he took the wet sieve and disappeared behind the screen.
+Croton and Vinicius followed him, thinking that they would come directly
+to Lygia's lodgings.  Their astonishment was great when they saw that
+the screen divided from the court, not lodgings, but another dark
+corridor, at the end of which was a little garden containing a few
+cypresses, some myrtle bushes, and a small house fixed to the windowless
+stone wall of another stone building.
+
+Both understood at once that this was for them a favoring circumstance.
+In the courtyard all the tenants might assemble; the seclusion of the
+little house facilitated the enterprise.  They would set aside
+defenders, or rather Ursus, quickly, and would reach the street just as
+quickly with the captured Lygia; and there they would help themselves.
+It was likely that no one would attack them; if attacked, they would say
+that a hostage was fleeing from Cćsar. Vinicius would declare himself
+then to the guards, and summon their assistance.
+
+Ursus was almost entering the little house, when the sound of steps
+attracted his attention; he halted, and, seeing two persons, put his
+sieve on the balustrade and turned to them.
+
+"What do ye want here?" asked he.
+
+"Thee!" said Vinicius.
+
+Then, turning to Croton, he said in a low, hurried voice:
+
+"Kill!"
+
+Croton rushed at him like a tiger, and in one moment, before the Lygian
+was able to think or to recognize his enemies, Croton had caught him in
+his arms of steel.
+
+Vinicius was too confident in the man's preternatural strength to wait
+for the end of the struggle.  He passed the two, sprang to the door of
+the little house, pushed it open and found himself in a room a trifle
+dark, lighted, however, by a fire burning in the chimney.  A gleam of
+this fire fell on Lygia's face directly.  A second person, sitting at
+the fire, was that old man who had accompanied the young girl and Ursus
+on the road from Ostrianum.
+
+Vinicius rushed in so suddenly that before Lygia could recognize him he
+had seized her by the waist, and, raising her, rushed toward the door
+again.  The old man barred the way, it is true; but pressing the girl
+with one arm to his breast, Vinicius pushed him aside with the other,
+which was free.  The hood fell from his head, and at sight of that face,
+which was known to her and which at that moment was terrible, the blood
+grew cold in Lygia from fright, and the voice died in her throat.  She
+wished to summon aid, but had not the power.  Equally vain was her wish
+to grasp the door, to resist. Her fingers slipped along the stone, and
+she would have fainted but for the terrible picture which struck her
+eyes when Vinicius rushed into the garden.
+
+Ursus was holding in his arms some man doubled back completely, with
+hanging head and mouth filled with blood.  When he saw them, he struck
+the head once more with his fist, and in the twinkle of an eye sprang
+toward Vinicius like a raging wild beast.
+
+"Death!" thought the young patrician.
+
+Then he heard, as through a dream, the scream of Lygia, "Kill not!"  He
+felt that something, as it were a thunderbolt, opened the arms with
+which he held Lygia; then the earth turned round with him, and the light
+of day died in his eyes.
+
+
+Chilo, hidden behind the angle of the corner house, was waiting for what
+would happen, since curiosity was struggling with fear in him.  He
+thought that if they succeeded in carrying off Lygia, he would fare well
+near Vinicius.  He feared Urban no longer, for he also felt certain that
+Croton would kill him.  And he calculated that in case a gathering
+should begin on the streets, which so far were empty,--if Christians, or
+people of any kind, should offer resistance,--he, Chilo, would speak to
+them as one representing authority, as an executor of Cćsar's will, and
+if need came, call the guards to aid the young patrician against the
+street rabble--thus winning to himself fresh favor.  In his soul he
+judged yet that the young tribune's method was unwise; considering,
+however, Croton's terrible strength, he admitted that it might succeed,
+and thought, "If it go hard with him, Vinicius can carry the girl, and
+Croton clear the way."  Delay grew wearisome, however; the silence of
+the entrance which he watched alarmed him.
+
+"If they do not hit upon her hiding-place, and make an uproar, they will
+frighten her."
+
+But this thought was not disagreeable; for Chilo understood that in that
+event he would be necessary again to Vinicius, and could squeeze afresh
+a goodly number of sestertia from the tribune.
+
+"Whatever they do," said he to himself, "they will work for me, though
+no one divines that.  O gods!  O gods! only permit me-"
+
+And he stopped suddenly, for it seemed to him that some one was bending
+forward through the entrance; then, squeezing up to the wall, he began
+to look, holding the breath in his breast.
+
+And he had not deceived himself, for a head thrust itself half out of
+the entrance and looked around.  After a while, however, it vanished.
+
+"That is Vinicius, or Croton," thought Chilo; "but if they have taken
+the girl, why does she not scream, and why are they looking out to the
+street?  They must meet people anyhow, for before they reach the Carinć
+there will be movement in the city--What is that?  By the immortal
+gods!"
+
+And suddenly the remnant of his hair stood on end.
+
+In the door appeared Ursus, with the body of Croton hanging on his arm,
+and looking around once more, he began to run, bearing it along the
+empty street toward the river.
+
+Chilo made himself as flat against the wall as a bit of mud.
+
+"I am lost if he sees me!" thought he.
+
+But Ursus ran past the corner quickly, and disappeared beyond the
+neighboring house.  Chilo, without further waiting, his teeth chattering
+from terror, ran along the cross street with a speed which even in a
+young man might have roused admiration.
+
+"If he sees me from a distance when he is returning, he will catch and
+kill me," said he to himself.  "Save me, Zeus; save me, Apollo; save me,
+Hermes; save me, O God of the Christians!  I will leave Rome, I will
+return to Mesembria, but save me from the hands of that demon!"
+
+And that Lygian who had killed Croton seemed to him at that moment some
+superhuman being.  While running, he thought that he might be some god
+who had taken the form of a barbarian.  At that moment he believed in
+all the gods of the world, and in all myths, at which he jeered usually.
+It flew through his head, too, that it might be the God of the
+Christians who had killed Croton; and his hair stood on end again at the
+thought that he was in conflict with such a power.
+
+Only when he had run through a number of alleys, and saw some workmen
+coming toward him from a distance, was he calmed somewhat.  Breath
+failed in his breast; so he sat on the threshold of a house and began to
+wipe, with a corner of his mantle, his sweat-covered forehead.
+
+"I am old, and need calm," said he.
+
+The people coming toward him turned into some little side street, and
+again the place round about was empty.  The city was sleeping yet.  In
+the morning movement began earlier in the wealthier parts of the city,
+where the slaves of rich houses were forced to rise before daylight; in
+portions inhabited by a free population, supported at the cost of the
+State, hence unoccupied, they woke rather late, especially in winter.
+Chilo, after he had sat some time on the threshold, felt a piercing
+cold; so he rose, and, convincing himself that he had not lost the purse
+received from Vinicius, turned toward the river with a step now much
+slower.
+
+"I may see Croton's body somewhere," said he to himself.  "O gods! that
+Lygian, if he is a man, might make millions of sestertia in the course
+of one year; for if he choked Croton, like a whelp, who can resist him?
+They would give for his every appearance in the arena as much gold as he
+himself weighs.  He guards that maiden better than Cerberus does Hades.
+But may Hades swallow him, for all that!  I will have nothing to do with
+him.  He is too bony.  But where shall I begin in this case?  A dreadful
+thing has happened.  If he has broken the bones of such a man as Croton,
+beyond a doubt the soul of Vinicius is puling above that cursed house
+now, awaiting his burial.  By Castor! but he is a patrician, a friend of
+Cćsar, a relative of Petronius, a man known in all Rome, a military
+tribune. His death cannot pass without punishment.  Suppose I were to go
+to the pretorian camp, or the guards of the city, for instance?"
+
+Here he stopped and began to think, but said after a while,--"Woe is me!
+Who took him to that house if not I?  His freedmen and his slaves know
+that I came to his house, and some of them know with what object.  What
+will happen if they suspect me of having pointed out to him purposely
+the house in which his death met him?  Though it appear afterward, in
+the court, that I did not wish his death, they will say that I was the
+cause of it.  Besides, he is a patrician; hence in no event can I avoid
+punishment.  But if I leave Rome in silence, and go far away somewhere,
+I shall place myself under still greater suspicion."
+
+It was bad in every case.  The only question was to choose the less
+evil.  Rome was immense; still Chilo felt that it might become too small
+for him.  Any other man might go directly to the prefect of the city
+guards and tell what had happened, and, though some suspicion might fall
+on him, await the issue calmly.  But Chilo's whole past was of such
+character that every closer acquaintance with the prefect of the city or
+the prefect of the guard must cause him very serious trouble, and
+confirm also every suspicion which might enter the heads of officials.
+
+On the other hand, to flee would be to confirm Petronius in the opinion
+that Vinicius had been betrayed and murdered through conspiracy.
+Petronius was a powerful man, who could command the police of the whole
+Empire, and who beyond doubt would try to find the guilty parties even
+at the ends of the earth.  Still, Chilo thought to go straight to him,
+and tell what had happened.  Yes; that was the best plan.  Petronius was
+calm, and Chilo might be sure of this, at least, that he would hear him
+to the end.  Petronius, who knew the affair from its inception, would
+believe in Chilo's innocence more easily than would the prefects.
+
+But to go to him, it was needful to know with certainty what had
+happened to Vinicius.  Chilo did not know that.  He had seen, it is
+true, the Lygian stealing with Croton's body to the river, but nothing
+more.  Vinicius might be killed; but he might be wounded or detained.
+Now it occurred to Chilo for the first time, that surely the Christians
+would not dare to kill a man so powerful,--a friend of Cćsar, and a high
+military official,--for that kind of act might draw on them a general
+persecution.  It was more likely that they had detained him by superior
+force, to give Lygia means to hide herself a second time.
+
+This thought filled Chilo with hope.
+
+"If that Lygian dragon has not torn him to pieces at the first attack,
+he is alive, and if he is alive he himself will testify that I have not
+betrayed him; and then not only does nothing threaten me, but--O Hermes,
+count again on two heifers--a fresh field is opening.  I can inform one
+of the freedmen where to seek his lord; and whether he goes to the
+prefect or not is his affair, the only point being that I should not go.
+Also, I can go to Petronius, and count on a reward.  I have found Lygia;
+now I shall find Vinicius, and then again Lygia.  It is needful to know
+first whether Vinicius is dead or living."
+
+Here it occurred to him that he might go in the night to the baker Demas
+and inquire about Ursus.  But he rejected that thought immediately.  He
+preferred to have nothing to do with Ursus.  He might suppose, justly,
+that if Ursus had not killed Glaucus he had been warned, evidently, by
+the Christian elder to whom he had confessed his design,--warned that
+the affair was an unclean one, to which some traitor had persuaded him.
+In every case, at the mere recollection of Ursus, a shiver ran through
+Chilo's whole body.  But he thought that in the evening he would send
+Euricius for news to that house in which the thing had happened.
+Meanwhile he needed refreshment, a bath, and rest.  The sleepless night,
+the journey to Ostrianum, the flight from the Trans-Tiber, had wearied
+him exceedingly.
+
+One thing gave him permanent comfort: he had on his person two purses,--
+that which Vinicius had given him at home, and that which he had thrown
+him on the way from the cemetery.  In view of this happy circumstance,
+and of all the excitement through which he had passed, he resolved to
+eat abundantly, and drink better wine than he drank usually.
+
+When the hour for opening the wine-shop came at last, he did so in such
+a marked measure that he forgot the bath; he wished to sleep, above all,
+and drowsiness overcame his strength so that he returned with tottering
+step to his dwelling in the Subura, where a slave woman, purchased with
+money obtained from Vinicius, was waiting for him.
+
+When he had entered a sleeping-room, as dark as the den of a fox, he
+threw himself on the bed, and fell asleep in one instant.  He woke only
+in the evening, or rather he was roused by the slave woman, who called
+him to rise, for some one was inquiring, and wished to see him on urgent
+business.
+
+The watchful Chilo came to himself in one moment, threw on his hooded
+mantle hastily, and, commanding the slave woman to stand aside, looked
+out cautiously.
+
+And he was benumbed! for he saw before the door of the sleeping-room the
+gigantic form of Ursus.
+
+At that sight he felt his feet and head grow icy-cold, the heart ceased
+to beat in his bosom, and shivers were creeping along his back.  For a
+time he was unable to speak; then with chattering teeth he said, or
+rather groaned,--
+
+"Syra--I am not at home--I don't know that--good man-"
+
+"I told him that thou wert at home, but asleep, lord," answered the
+girl; "he asked to rouse thee."
+
+"O gods!  I will command that thou--"
+
+But Ursus, as if impatient of delay, approached the door of the
+sleeping-room, and, bending, thrust in his head.
+
+"O Chilo Chilonides!" said he.
+
+"Pax tecum! pax! pax!" answered Chilo.  "O best of Christians!  Yes, I
+am Chilo; but this is a mistake,--I do not know thee!"
+
+"Chilo Chilonides," repeated Ursus, "thy lord, Vinicius, summons thee to
+go with me to him."
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XXIII
+
+
+A PIERCING pain roused Vinicius.  At the first moment he could not
+understand where he was, nor what was happening.  He felt a roaring in
+his head, and his eyes were covered as if with mist. Gradually, however,
+his consciousness returned, and at last he beheld through that mist
+three persons bending over him.  Two he recognized: one was Ursus, the
+other the old man whom he had thrust aside when carrying off Lygia.  The
+third, an utter stranger, was holding his left arm, and feeling it from
+the elbow upward as far as the shoulder-blade.  This caused so terrible
+a pain that Vinicius, thinking it a kind of revenge which they were
+taking, said through his set teeth, "Kill me!"  But they paid no
+apparent heed to his words, just as though they heard them not, or
+considered them the usual groans of suffering.  Ursus, with his anxious
+and also threatening face of a barbarian, held a bundle of white cloth
+torn in long strips.  The old man spoke to the person who was pressing
+the arm of Vinicius,--"Glaucus, art thou certain that the wound in the
+head is not mortal?"
+
+"Yes, worthy Crispus," answered Glaucus.  "While serving in the fleet as
+a slave, and afterward while living at Naples, I cured many wounds, and
+with the pay which came to me from that occupation I freed myself and my
+relatives at last.  The wound in the head is slight.  When this one
+[here he pointed to Ursus with his head] took the girl from the young
+man, he pushed him against the wall; the young man while falling put out
+his arm, evidently to save himself; he broke and disjointed it, but by
+so doing saved his head and his life."
+
+"Thou hast had more than one of the brotherhood in thy care," added
+Crispus, "and hast the repute of a skilful physician; therefore I sent
+Ursus to bring thee."
+
+"Ursus, who on the road confessed that yesterday he was ready to kill
+me!"
+
+"He confessed his intention earlier to me than to thee; but I, who know
+thee and thy love for Christ, explained to him that the traitor is not
+thou, but the unknown, who tried to persuade him to murder."
+
+"That was an evil spirit, but I took him for an angel," said Ursus, with
+a sigh.
+
+"Some other time thou wilt tell me, but now we must think of this
+wounded man."  Thus speaking, he began to set the arm.  Though Crispus
+sprinkled water on his face, Vinicius fainted repeatedly from suffering;
+that was, however, a fortunate circumstance, since he did not feel the
+pain of putting his arm into joint, nor of setting it.  Glaucus fixed
+the limb between two strips of wood, which he bound quickly and firmly,
+so as to keep the arm motionless.  When the operation was over, Vinicius
+recovered consciousness again and saw Lygia above him.  She stood there
+at the bed holding a brass basin with water, in which from time to time
+Glaucus dipped a sponge and moistened the head of his patient.
+
+Vinicius gazed and could not believe his eyes.  What he saw seemed a
+dream, or the pleasant vision brought by fever, and only after a long
+time could he whisper,--"Lygia!"
+
+The basin trembled in her hand at that sound, but she turned on him eyes
+full of sadness.
+
+"Peace be with thee!" answered she, in a low voice.
+
+She stood there with extended arms, her face full of pity and sorrow.
+But he gazed, as if to fill his sight with her, so that after his lids
+were closed the picture might remain under them.  He looked at her face,
+paler and smaller than it had been, at the tresses of dark hair, at the
+poor dress of a laboring woman; he looked so intently that her snowy
+forehead began to grow rose-colored under the influence of his look.
+And first he thought that he would love her always; and second, that
+that paleness of hers and that poverty were his work,--that it was he
+who had driven her from a house where she was loved, and surrounded with
+plenty and comfort, and thrust her into that squalid room, and clothed
+her in that poor robe of dark wool.
+
+He would have arrayed her in the costliest brocade, in all the jewels of
+the earth; hence astonishment, alarm, and pity seized him, and sorrow so
+great that he would have fallen at her feet had he been able to move.
+
+"Lygia," said he, "thou didst not permit my death."
+
+"May God return health to thee," she answered, with sweetness.
+
+For Vinicius, who had a feeling both of those wrongs which he had
+inflicted on her formerly, and those which he had wished to inflict on
+her recently, there was a real balsam in Lygia's words.  He forgot at
+the moment that through her mouth Christian teaching might speak; he
+felt only that a beloved woman was speaking, and that in her answer
+there was a special tenderness, a goodness simply preterhuman, which
+shook him to the depth of his soul.  As just before he had grown weak
+from pain, so now he grew weak from emotion.  A certain faintness came
+on him, at once immense and agreeable.  He felt as if falling into some
+abyss, but he felt that to fall was pleasant, and that he was happy.  He
+thought at that moment of weakness that a divinity was standing above
+him.
+
+Meanwhile Glaucus had finished washing the wound in his head, and had
+applied a healing ointment.  Ursus took the brass basin from Lygia's
+hands; she brought a cup of water and wine which stood ready on the
+table, and put it to the wounded man's lips. Vinicius drank eagerly, and
+felt great relief.  After the operation the pain had almost passed; the
+wound and contusion began to grow firm; perfect consciousness returned
+to him.
+
+"Give me another drink," said he.
+
+Lygia took the empty cup to the next room; meanwhile Crispus, after a
+few words with Glaucus, approached the bed saying,--
+
+"God has not permitted thee, Vinicius, to accomplish an evil deed, and
+has preserved thee in life so that thou shouldst come to thy mind.  He,
+before whom man is but dust, delivered thee defenceless into our hands;
+but Christ, in whom we believe, commanded us to love even our enemies.
+Therefore we have dressed thy wounds, and, as Lygia has said, we will
+implore God to restore thy health, but we cannot watch over thee longer.
+Be in peace, then, and think whether it beseems thee to continue thy
+pursuit of Lygia.  Thou hast deprived her of guardians, and us of a
+roof, though we return thee good for evil."
+
+"Do ye wish to leave me? inquired Vinicius.
+
+"We wish to leave this house, in which prosecution by the prefect of the
+city may reach us.  Thy companion was killed; thou, who art powerful
+among thy own people, art wounded.  This did not happen through our
+fault, but the anger of the law might fall on us."
+
+"Have no fear of prosecution," replied Vinicius; "I will protect you."
+
+Crispus did not like to tell him that with them it was not only a
+question of the prefect and the police, but of him; they wished to
+secure Lygia from his further pursuit.
+
+"Lord," said he, "thy right arm is well.  Here are tablets and a stilus;
+write to thy servants to bring a litter this evening and bear thee to
+thy own house, where thou wilt have more comfort than in our poverty.
+We dwell here with a poor widow, who will return soon with her son, and
+this youth will take thy letter; as to us, we must all find another
+hiding-place."
+
+Vinicius grew pale, for he understood that they wished to separate him
+from Lygia, and that if he lost her now he might never see her in life
+again.  He knew indeed that things of great import had come between him
+and her, in virtue of which, if he wished to possess her, he must seek
+some new methods which he had not had time yet to think over.  He
+understood too that whatever he might tell these people, though he
+should swear that he would return Lygia to Pomponia Grćcina, they would
+not believe him, and were justified in refusing belief.  Moreover, he
+might have done that before.  Instead of hunting for Lygia, he might
+have gone to Pomponia and sworn to her that he renounced pursuit, and in
+that case Pomponia herself would have found Lygia and brought her home.
+No; he felt that such promises would not restrain them, and no solemn
+oath would be received, the more since, not being a Christian, he could
+swear only by the immortal gods, in whom he did not himself believe
+greatly, and whom they considered evil spirits.
+
+He desired desperately to influence Lygia and her guardians in some way,
+but for that there was need of time.  For him it was all-important to
+see her, to look at her for a few days even.  As every fragment of a
+plank or an oar seems salvation to a drowning man, so to him it seemed
+that during those few days he might say something to bring him nearer to
+her, that he might think out something, that something favorable might
+happen.  Hence he collected his thoughts and said,--
+
+"Listen to me, Christians.  Yesterday I was with you in Ostrianum, and I
+heard your teaching; but though I did not know it, your deeds have
+convinced me that you are honest and good people.  Tell that widow who
+occupies this house to stay in it, stay in it yourselves, and let me
+stay.  Let this man [here he turned to Glaucus], who is a physician, or
+at least understands the care of wounds, tell whether it is possible to
+carry me from here to-day.  I am sick, I have a broken arm, which must
+remain immovable for a few days even; therefore I declare to you that I
+will not leave this house unless you bear me hence by force!"
+
+Here he stopped, for breath failed in his breast, and Crispus said,--"We
+will use no force against thee, lord; we will only take away our own
+heads."
+
+At this the young man, unused to resistance, frowned and said,--"Permit
+me to recover breath"; and after a time he began again to speak,--"Of
+Croton, whom Ursus killed, no one will inquire.  He had to go to-day to
+Beneventum, whither he was summoned by Vatinius, therefore all will
+think that he has gone there.  When I entered this house in company with
+Croton, no one saw us except a Greek who was with us in Ostrianum.  I
+will indicate to you his lodgings; bring that man to me.  On him I will
+enjoin silence; he is paid by me.  I will send a letter to my own house
+stating that I too went to Beneventum.  If the Greek has informed the
+prefect already, I will declare that I myself killed Croton, and that it
+was he who broke my arm.  I will do this, by my father's shade and by my
+mother's!  Ye may remain in safety here; not a hair will fall from the
+head of one of you.  Bring hither, and bring in haste, the Greek whose
+name is Chilo Chilonides!"
+
+"Then Glaucus will remain with thee," said Crispus, "and the widow will
+nurse thee."
+
+"Consider, old man, what I say," said Vinicius, who frowned still more.
+"I owe thee gratitude, and thou seemest good and honest; but thou dost
+not tell me what thou hast in the bottom of thy soul. Thou art afraid
+lest I summon my slaves and command them to take Lygia.  Is this true?"
+
+"It is," said Crispus, with sternness.
+
+"Then remember this, I shall speak before all to Chilo, and write a
+letter home that I have gone to Beneventum.  I shall have no messengers
+hereafter but you.  Remember this, and do not irritate me longer."
+
+Here he was indignant, and his face was contorted with anger. Afterward
+he began to speak excitedly,--
+
+"Hast thou thought that I would deny that I wish to stay here to see
+her? A fool would have divined that, even had I denied it.  But I will
+not try to take her by force any longer.  I will tell thee more: if she
+will not stay here, I will tear the bandages with this sound hand from
+my arm, will take neither food nor drink; let my death fall on thee and
+thy brethren.  Why hast thou nursed me?  Why hast thou not commanded to
+kill me?"  He grew pale from weakness and anger.
+
+Lygia, who had heard all from the other room and who was certain that
+Vinicius would do what he promised, was terrified.  She would not have
+him die for anything.  Wounded and defenceless, he roused in her
+compassion, not fear.  Living from the time of her flight among people
+in continual religious enthusiasm, thinking only of sacrifices,
+offerings, and boundless charity, she had grown so excited herself
+through that new inspiration, that for her it took the place of house,
+family, lost happiness, and made her one of those Christian maidens who,
+later on, changed the former soul of the world.  Vinicius had been too
+important in her fate, had been thrust too much on her, to let her
+forget him.  She had thought of him whole days, and more than once had
+begged God for the moment in which, following the inspiration of
+religion, she might return good for his evil, mercy for his persecution,
+break him, win him to Christ, save him.  And now it seemed to her that
+precisely that moment had come, and that her prayers had been heard.
+
+She approached Crispus therefore with a face as if inspired, and
+addressed him as though some other voice spoke through her,--"Let him
+stay among us, Crispus, and we will stay with him till Christ gives him
+health."
+
+The old presbyter, accustomed to seek in all things the inspiration of
+God, beholding her exaltation, thought at once that perhaps a higher
+power was speaking through her, and, fearing in his heart, he bent his
+gray head, saying,--"Let it be as thou sayest."
+
+On Vinicius, who the whole time had not taken his eyes from her, this
+ready obedience of Crispus produced a wonderful and pervading
+impression.  It seemed to him that among the Christians Lygia was a kind
+of sibyl or priestess whom they surrounded with obedience and honor; and
+he yielded himself also to that honor.  To the love which he felt was
+joined now a certain awe, in presence of which love itself became
+something almost insolent.  He could not familiarize himself, however,
+with the thought that their relations had changed: that now not she was
+dependent on his will, but he on hers; that he was lying there sick and
+broken; that he had ceased to be an attacking, a conquering force; that
+he was like a defenceless child in her care.  For his proud and
+commanding nature such relations with any other person would have been
+humiliating; now, however, not only did he not feel humiliated, but he
+was thankful to her as to his sovereign.  In him those were feelings
+unheard-of, feelings which he could not have entertained the day before,
+and which would have amazed him even on that day had he been able to
+analyze them clearly.  But he did not inquire at the moment why it was
+so, just as if the position had been perfectly natural; he merely felt
+happy because he remained there.
+
+And he wished to thank her with gratefulness, and still with a kind of
+feeling unknown to him in such a degree that he knew not what to call
+it, for it was simply submission.  His previous excitement had so
+exhausted him that he could not speak, and he thanked her only with his
+eyes, which were gleaming from delight because he remained near her, and
+would be able to see her--to-morrow, next day, perhaps a long time.
+That delight was diminished only by the dread that he might lose what he
+had gained.  So great was this dread that when Lygia gave him water a
+second time, and the wish seized him to take her hand, he feared to do
+so.  He feared!--he, that Vinicius who at Cćsar's feast had kissed her
+lips in spite of her! he, that Vinicius who after her flight had
+promised himself to drag her by the hair to the cubiculum, or give
+command to flog her!
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XXIV
+
+
+BUT he began also to fear that some outside force might disturb his
+delight.  Chilo might give notice of his disappearance to the prefect of
+the city, or to his freedmen at home; and in such an event an invasion
+of the house by the city guards was likely. Through his head flew the
+thought, it is true, that in that event he might give command to seize
+Lygia and shut her up in his house, but he felt that he ought not to do
+so, and he was not capable of acting thus.  He was tyrannical, insolent,
+and corrupt enough, if need be he was inexorable, but he was not
+Tigellinus or Nero. Military life had left in him a certain feeling of
+justice, and religion, and a conscience to understand that such a deed
+would be monstrously mean.  He would have been capable, perhaps, of
+committing such a deed during an access of anger and while in possession
+of his strength, but at that moment he was filled with tenderness, and
+was sick.  The only question for Vinicius at that time was that no one
+should stand between him and Lygia.
+
+He noticed, too, with astonishment, that from the moment when Lygia had
+taken his part, neither she herself nor Crispus asked from him any
+assurances, just as if they felt confident that, in case of need, some
+superhuman power would defend them.  The young tribune, in whose head
+the distinction between things possible and impossible had grown
+involved and faint since the discourse of the Apostle in Ostrianum, was
+also not too far from supposing that that might take place.  But
+considering things more soberly, he remembered what he had said of the
+Greek, and asked again that Chilo be brought to him.
+
+Crispus agreed, and they decided to send Ursus.  Vinicius, who in recent
+days, before his visit to Ostrianum, had sent slaves frequently to
+Chilo, though without result, indicated his lodgings accurately to the
+Lygian; then writing a few words on the tablet, he said, turning to
+Crispus,--"I give a tablet, for this man is suspicious and cunning.
+Frequently when summoned by me, he gave directions to answer my people
+that he was not at home; he did so always when he had no good news for
+me, and feared my anger."
+
+"If I find him, I will bring him, willing or unwilling," said Ursus.
+Then, taking his mantle, he went out hurriedly.
+
+To find any one in Rome was not easy, even with the most accurate
+directions; but in those cases the instinct of a hunter aided Ursus, and
+also his great knowledge of the city.  After a certain time, therefore,
+he found himself at Chilo's lodgings.
+
+He did not recognize Chilo, however.  He had seen him but once in his
+life before, and moreover, in the night.  Besides, that lofty and
+confident old man who had persuaded him to murder Glaucus was so unlike
+the Greek, bent double from terror, that no one could suppose the two to
+be one person.  Chilo, noticing that Ursus looked at him as a perfect
+stranger, recovered from his first fear.  The sight of the tablet, with
+the writing of Vinicius, calmed him still more. At least the suspicion
+that he would take him into an ambush purposely did not trouble him.  He
+thought, besides, that the Christians had not killed Vinicius, evidently
+because they had not dared to raise hands on so noted a person.
+
+"And then Vinicius will protect me in case of need," thought he; "of
+course he does not send to deliver me to death."
+
+Summoning some courage, therefore, he said: "My good man, has not my
+friend the noble Vinicius sent a litter?  My feet are swollen; I cannot
+walk so far."
+
+"He has not," answered Ursus; "we shall go on foot."
+
+"But if I refuse?"
+
+"Do not, for thou wilt have to go."
+
+"And I will go, but of my own will.  No one could force me, for I am a
+free man, and a friend of the prefect of the city.  As a sage, I have
+also means to overcome others, and I know how to turn people into trees
+and wild beasts.  But I will go, I will go!  I will only put on a mantle
+somewhat warmer, and a hood, lest the slaves of that quarter might
+recognize me; they would stop me every moment to kiss my hands."
+
+He put on a new mantle then, and let down a broad Gallic hood, lest
+Ursus might recognize his features on coming into clearer light.
+
+"Where wilt thou take me?" asked he on the road.
+
+"To the Trans-Tiber."
+
+"I am not long in Rome, and I have never been there, but there too, of
+course, live men who love virtue."
+
+But Ursus, who was a simple man, and had heard Vinicius say that the
+Greek had been with him in Ostrianum, and had seen him with Croton enter
+the house in which Lygia lived, stopped for a moment and said,--"Speak
+no untruth, old man, for to-day thou wert with Vinicius in Ostrianum and
+under our gate."
+
+"Ah!" said Chilo, "then is your house in the Trans-Tiber?  I have not
+been long in Rome, and know not how the different parts are named.  That
+is true, friend; I was under the gate, and implored Vinicius in the name
+of virtue not to enter.  I was in Ostrianum, and dost thou know why?  I
+am working for a certain time over the conversion of Vinicius, and
+wished him to hear the chief of the Apostles.  May the light penetrate
+his soul and thine!  But thou art a Christian, and wishest truth to
+overcome falsehood."
+
+"That is true," answered Ursus, with humility.
+
+Courage returned to Chilo completely.
+
+"Vinicius is a powerful lord," said he, "and a friend of Cćsar.  He
+listens often yet to the whisperings of the evil spirit; but if even a
+hair should fall from his head, Cćsar would take vengeance on all the
+Christians."
+
+"A higher power is protecting us."
+
+"Surely, surely!  But what do ye intend to do with Vinicius?" inquired
+Chilo, with fresh alarm.
+
+"I know not.  Christ commands mercy."
+
+"Thou hast answered excellently.  Think of this always, or thou wilt fry
+in hell like a sausage in a frying-pan."
+
+Ursus sighed, and Chilo thought that he could always do what he liked
+with that man, who was terrible at the moment of his first outburst.
+So, wishing to know what happened at the seizing of Lygia, he asked
+further, in the voice of a stern judge,--"How did ye treat Croton?
+Speak, and do not prevaricate."
+
+Ursus sighed a second time.  "Vinicius will tell thee."
+
+"That means that thou didst stab him with a knife, or kill him with a
+club."
+
+"I was without arms."
+
+The Greek could not resist amazement at the superhuman strength of the
+barbarian.
+
+"May Pluto--that is to say, may Christ pardon thee!"
+
+They went on for some time in silence; then Chilo said:
+
+"I will not betray thee; but have a care of the watches."
+
+"I fear Christ, not the watches."
+
+"And that is proper.  There is no more grievous crime than murder. I
+will pray for thee; but I know not if even my prayer can be effective,
+unless thou make a vow never to touch any one in life with a finger."
+
+"As it is, I have not killed purposely," answered Ursus.
+
+But Chilo, who desired to secure himself in every case, did not cease to
+condemn murder, and urge Ursus to make the vow.  He inquired also about
+Vinicius; but the Lygian answered his inquiries unwillingly, repeating
+that from Vinicius himself he would hear what he needed.  Speaking in
+this way, they passed at last the long road which separated the lodgings
+of the Greek from the Trans-Tiber, and found themselves before the
+house.  Chilo's heart began to beat again unquietly.  From dread it
+seemed to him that Ursus was beginning to look at him with a kind of
+greedy expression.
+
+"It is small consolation to me," said he to himself, "if he kills me
+unwillingly.  I prefer in every case that paralysis should strike him,
+and with him all the Lygians,--which do thou effect, O Zeus, if thou art
+able."
+
+Thus meditating, he wrapped himself more closely in his Gallic mantle,
+repeating that he feared the cold.  Finally, when they had passed the
+entrance and the first court, and found themselves in the corridor
+leading to the garden of the little house, he halted suddenly and said,
+--"Let me draw breath, or I shall not be able to speak with Vinicius and
+give him saving advice."
+
+He halted; for though he said to himself that no danger threatened,
+still his legs trembled under him at the thought that he was among those
+mysterious people whom he had seen in Ostrianum.
+
+Meanwhile a hymn came to their ears from the little house.
+
+"What is that?" inquired Chilo.
+
+"Thou sayest that thou art a Christian, and knowest not that among us it
+is the custom after every meal to glorify our Saviour with singing,"
+answered Ursus.  "Miriam and her son must have returned, and perhaps the
+Apostle is with them, for he visits the widow and Crispus every day."
+
+"Conduct me directly to Vinicius."
+
+"Vinicius is in the same room with all, for that is the only large one;
+the others are very small chambers, to which we go only to sleep.  Come
+in; thou wilt rest there."
+
+They entered.  It was rather dark in the room; the evening was cloudy
+and cold, the flames of a few candles did not dispel the darkness
+altogether.  Vinicius divined rather than recognized Chilo in the hooded
+man.  Chilo, seeing the bed in the corner of the room, and on it
+Vinicius, moved toward him directly, not looking at the others, as if
+with the conviction that it would be safest near him.
+
+"Oh, lord, why didst thou not listen to my counsels?" exclaimed he,
+putting his hands together.
+
+"Silence!" said Vinicius, "and listen!"
+
+Here he looked sharply into Chilo's eyes, and spoke slowly with
+emphasis, as if wishing the Greek to understand every word of his as a
+command, and to keep it forever in memory.
+
+"Croton threw himself on me to kill and rob me, dost understand?  I
+killed him then, and these people dressed the wounds which I received in
+the struggle."
+
+Chilo understood in a moment that if Vinicius spoke in this way it must
+be in virtue of some agreement with the Christians, and in that case he
+wished people to believe him.  He saw this, too, from his face; hence in
+one moment, without showing doubt or astonishment, he raised his eyes
+and exclaimed,--"That was a faith-breaking ruffian!  But I warned thee,
+lord, not to trust him; my teachings bounded from his head as do peas
+when thrown against a wall.  In all Hades there are not torments enough
+for him.  He who cannot be honest must be a rogue; what is more
+difficult than for a rogue to become honest?  But to fall on his
+benefactor, a lord so magnanimous--O gods!"
+
+Here he remembered that he had represented himself to Ursus on the way
+as a Christian, and stopped.
+
+"Were it not for the 'sica,' which I brought, he would have slain me,"
+said Vinicius.
+
+"I bless the moment in which I advised thee to take a knife even."
+
+Vinicius turned an inquiring glance on the Greek, and asked,--"What hast
+thou done to-day?"
+
+"How?  What! have I not told thee, lord, that I made a vow for thy
+health?"
+
+"Nothing more?"
+
+"I was just preparing to visit thee, when this good man came and said
+that thou hadst sent for me."
+
+"Here is a tablet.  Thou wilt go with it to my house; thou wilt find my
+freedman and give it to him.  It is written on the tablet that I have
+gone to Beneventum.  Thou wilt tell Demas from thyself that I went this
+morning, summoned by an urgent letter from Petronius." Here he repeated
+with emphasis: "I have gone to Beneventum, dost understand?"
+
+"Thou has gone, lord.  This morning I took leave of thee at the Porta
+Capena, and from the time of thy departure such sadness possesses me
+that if thy magnanimity will not soften it, I shall cry myself to death,
+like the unhappy wife of Zethos [Aedon turned into a nightingale] in
+grief for Itylos."
+
+Vinicius, though sick and accustomed to the Greek's suppleness, could
+not repress a smile.  He was glad, moreover, that Chilo understood in a
+flash; hence he said,
+
+"Therefore I will write that thy tears be wiped away.  Give me the
+candle."  Chilo, now pacified perfectly, rose, and, advancing a few
+steps toward the chimney, took one of the candles which was burning at
+the wall.  But while he was doing this, the hood slipped from his head,
+and the light fell directly on his face.  Glaucus sprang from his seat
+and, coming up quickly, stood before him.
+
+"Dost thou not recognize me, Cephas?" asked he.  In his voice there was
+something so terrible that a shiver ran through all present.
+
+Chilo raised the candle, and dropped it to the earth almost the same
+instant; then he bent nearly double and began to groan,--"I am not he--I
+am not he!  Mercy!"
+
+Glaucus turned toward the faithful, and said,--"This is the man who
+betrayed--who ruined me and my family!"
+
+That history was known to all the Christians and to Vinicius, who had
+not guessed who that Glaucus was,--for this reason only, that he fainted
+repeatedly from pain during the dressing of his wound, and had not heard
+his name.  But for Ursus that short moment, with the words of Glaucus,
+was like a lightning-flash in darkness. Recognizing Chilo, he was at his
+side with one spring, and, seizing his arm, bent it back, exclaiming,--
+"This is the man who persuaded me to kill Glaucus!"
+
+"Mercy!" groaned Chilo.  "I will give you--O lord!" exclaimed he,
+turning his head to Vinicius, "save me!  I trusted in thee, take my
+part.  Thy letter--I will deliver it.  O lord, lord!"
+
+But Vinicius, who looked with more indifference than any one at what was
+passing, first because all the affairs of the Greek were more or less
+known to him, and second because his heart knew not what pity was,
+said,--"Bury him in the garden; some one else will take the letter."
+
+It seemed to Chilo that those words were his final sentence.  His bones
+were shaking in the terrible hands of Ursus; his eyes were filled with
+tears from pain.
+
+"By your God, pity!" cried he; "I am a Christian! Pax vobiscum!  I am a
+Christian; and if ye do not believe me, baptize me again, baptize me
+twice, ten times!  Glaucus, that is a mistake!  Let me speak, make me a
+slave!  Do not kill me!  Have mercy!"
+
+His voice, stifled with pain, was growing weaker and weaker, when the
+Apostle Peter rose at the table; for a moment his white head shook,
+drooping toward his breast, and his eyes were closed; but he opened them
+then, and said amid silence,--
+
+"The Saviour said this to us: 'If thy brother has sinned against thee,
+chastise him; but if he is repentant, forgive him.  And if he has
+offended seven times in the day against thee, and has turned to thee
+seven times, saying, "Have mercy on me!" forgive him.'"
+
+Then came a still deeper silence.  Glaucus remained a long time with his
+hands covering his face; at last he removed them and said,--"Cephas,
+may God forgive thy offences, as I forgive them in the name of Christ."
+
+Ursus, letting go the arms of the Greek, added at once:
+
+"May the Saviour be merciful to thee as I forgive thee."
+
+Chilo dropped to the ground, and, supported on it with his hands, turned
+his head like a wild beast caught in a snare, looking around to see
+whence death might come.  He did not trust his eyes and ears yet, and
+dared not hope for forgiveness.  Consciousness returned to him slowly;
+his blue lips were still trembling from terror.
+
+"Depart in peace!" said the Apostle, meanwhile.
+
+Chilo rose, but could not speak.  He approached the bed of Vinicius, as
+if seeking protection in it still; for he had not time yet to think that
+that man, though he had used his services and was still his accomplice,
+condemned him, while those against whom he had acted forgave.  This
+thought was to come to him later.  At present simply astonishment and
+incredulity were evident in his look. Though he had seen that they
+forgave him, he wished to bear away his head at the earliest from among
+these incomprehensible people, whose kindness terrified him almost as
+much as their cruelty would have terrified.  It seemed to him that
+should he remain longer, something unexpected would happen again; hence,
+standing above Vinicius, he said with a broken voice,--
+
+"Give the letter, lord,--give the letter!"
+
+And snatching the tablet which Vinicius handed him, he made one
+obeisance to the Christians, another to the sick man, pushed along
+sidewise by the very wall, and hurried out through the door.  In the
+garden, when darkness surrounded him, fear raised the hair on his head
+again, for he felt sure that Ursus would rush out and kill him in the
+night.  He would have run with all his might, but his legs would not
+move; next moment they were perfectly uncontrollable, for Ursus stood
+near him really.
+
+Chilo fell with his face to the earth, and began to groan: "Urban--in
+Christ's name"--
+
+But Urban said: "Fear not.  The Apostle commanded me to lead thee out
+beyond the gate, lest thou might go astray in the darkness, and, if
+strength failed thee, to conduct thee home."
+
+"What dost thou say?" asked Chilo, raising his face.  "What?  Thou wilt
+not kill me?"
+
+"No, I will not; and if I seized thee too roughly and harmed a bone in
+thee, pardon me."
+
+"Help me to rise," said the Greek.  "Thou wilt not kill me?  Thou wilt
+not?  Take me to the Street; I will go farther alone."
+
+Ursus raised him as he might a feather, and placed him on his feet; then
+he conducted him through the dark corridor to the second court.  From
+there was a passage to the entrance and the street.  In the corridor
+Chilo repeated again in his soul, "It is all over with me!"  Only when
+he found himself on the street did he recover and say, "I can go on
+alone."
+
+"Peace be with thee."
+
+"And with thee! and with thee!  Let me draw breath."
+
+And after Ursus had gone, he breathed with a full breast.  He felt his
+waist and hips, as if to convince himself that he was living, and then
+moved forward with hurried step.
+
+"But why did they not kill me?"  And in spite of all his talk with
+Euricius about Christian teaching, in spite of his conversation at the
+river with Urban, and in spite of all that he had heard in Ostrianum, he
+could find no answer to that question.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XXV
+
+
+NEITHER could Vinicius discover the cause of what had happened; and in
+the bottom of his soul he was almost as much astonished as Chilo.  That
+those people should treat him as they had, and, instead of avenging his
+attack, dress his wounds carefully, he ascribed partly to the doctrine
+which they confessed, more to Lygia, and a little, also, to his great
+significance.  But their conduct with Chilo simply went beyond his
+understanding of man's power of forgiveness.  And the question thrust
+itself into his mind: Why did they not kill the Greek?  They might have
+killed him with impunity.  Ursus would have buried him in the garden, or
+borne him in the dark to the Tiber, which during that period of night-
+murders, committed by Cćsar himself even, cast up human bodies so
+frequently in the morning that no one inquired whence they came.  To his
+thinking, the Christians had not only the power, but the right to kill
+Chilo.  True, pity was not entirely a stranger to that world to which
+the young patrician belonged.  The Athenians raised an altar to pity,
+and opposed for a long time the introduction of gladiatorial combats
+into Athens.  In Rome itself the conquered received pardon sometimes,
+as, for instance, Calicratus, king of the Britons, who, taken prisoner
+in the time of Claudius, and provided for by him bountifully, dwelt in
+the city in freedom.  But vengeance for a personal wrong seemed to
+Vinicius, as to all, proper and justified.  The neglect of it was
+entirely opposed to his spirit.  True, he had heard in Ostrianum that
+one should love even enemies; that, however, he considered as a kind of
+theory without application in life.  And now this passed through his
+head: that perhaps they had not killed Chilo because the day was among
+festivals, or was in some period of the moon during which it was not
+proper for Christians to kill a man.  He had heard that there are days
+among various nations on which it is not permitted to begin war even.
+But why, in such a case, did they not deliver the Greek up to justice?
+Why did the Apostle say that if a man offended seven times, it was
+necessary to forgive him seven times; and why did Glaucus say to Chilo,
+"May God forgive thee, as I forgive thee"?
+
+Chilo had done him the most terrible wrong that one man could do
+another.  At the very thought of how he would act with a man who killed
+Lygia, for instance, the heart of Vinicius seethed up, as does water in
+a caldron; there were no torments which he would not inflict in his
+vengeance!  But Glaucus had forgiven; Ursus, too, had forgiven,--Ursus,
+who might in fact kill whomever he wished in Rome with perfect impunity,
+for all he needed was to kill the king of the grove in Nemi, and take
+his place.  Could the gladiator holding that office to which he had
+succeeded only by killing the previous "king," resist the man whom
+Croton could not resist? There was only one answer to all these
+questions: that they refrained from killing him through a goodness so
+great that the like of it had not been in the world up to that time, and
+through an unbounded love of man, which commands to forget one's self,
+one's wrongs, one's happiness and misfortune, and live for others. What
+reward those people were to receive for this, Vinicius heard in
+Ostrianum, but he could not understand it.  He felt, however, that the
+earthly life connected with the duty of renouncing everything good and
+rich for the benefit of others must be wretched.  So in what he thought
+of the Christians at that moment, besides the greatest astonishment,
+there was pity, and as it were a shade of contempt.  It seemed to him
+that they were sheep which earlier or later must be eaten by wolves; his
+Roman nature could yield no recognition to people who let themselves be
+devoured.  This one thing struck him, however,--that after Chilo's
+departure the faces of all were bright with a certain deep joy.  The
+Apostle approached Glaucus, placed his hand on his head, and said,--"In
+thee Christ has triumphed."
+
+The other raised his eyes, which were full of hope, and as bright with
+joy as if some great unexpected happiness had been poured on him.
+Vinicius, who could understand only joy or delight born of vengeance,
+looked on him with eyes staring from fever, and somewhat as he would on
+a madman.  He saw, however, and saw not without internal indignation,
+that Lygia pressed her lips of a queen to the hand of that man, who had
+the appearance of a slave; and it seemed to him that the order of the
+world was inverted utterly.  Next Ursus told how he had conducted Chilo
+to the street, and had asked forgiveness for the harm which he might
+have done his bones; for this the Apostle blessed him also.  Crispus
+declared that it was a day of great victory.  Hearing of this victory,
+Vinicius lost the thread of his thought altogether.
+
+But when Lygia gave him a cooling draught again, he held her hand for a
+moment, and asked,--"Then must thou also forgive me?"
+
+"We are Christians; it is not permitted us to keep anger in the heart."
+
+"Lygia," said he, "whoever thy God is, I honor Him only because He is
+thine."
+
+"Thou wilt honor Him in thy heart when thou lovest Him."
+
+"Only because He is thine," repeated Vinicius, in a fainter voice; and
+he closed his eyes, for weakness had mastered him again.
+
+Lygia went out, but returned after a time, and bent over him to learn if
+he were sleeping.  Vinicius, feeling that she was near, opened his eyes
+and smiled.  She placed her hand over them lightly, as if to incline him
+to slumber.  A great sweetness seized him then; but soon he felt more
+grievously ill than before, and was very ill in reality.  Night had
+come, and with it a more violent fever.  He could not sleep, and
+followed Lygia with his eyes wherever she went.
+
+At times he fell into a kind of doze, in which he saw and heard
+everything which happened around him, but in which reality was mingled
+with feverish dreams.  It seemed to him that in some old, deserted
+cemetery stood a temple, in the form of a tower, in which Lygia was
+priestess.  He did not take his eyes from her, but saw her on the summit
+of the tower, with a lute in her hands, all in the light, like those
+priestesses who in the night-time sing hymns in honor of the moon, and
+whom he had seen in the Orient.  He himself was climbing up winding
+steps, with great effort, to bear her away with him.  Behind was
+creeping up Chilo, with teeth chattering from terror, and repeating, "Do
+not do that, lord; she is a priestess, for whom He will take vengeance."
+Vinicius did not know who that He was, but he understood that he himself
+was going to commit some sacrilege, and he felt a boundless fear also.
+But when he went to the balustrade surrounding the summit of the tower,
+the Apostle with his silvery beard stood at Lygia's side on a sudden,
+and said:
+
+"Do not raise a hand; she belongs to me."  Then he moved forward with
+her, on a path formed by rays from the moon, as if on a path made to
+heaven.  He stretched his hands toward them, and begged both to take him
+into their company.
+
+Here he woke, became conscious, and looked before him.  The lamp on the
+tall staff shone more dimly, but still cast a light sufficiently clear.
+All were sitting in front of the fire warming themselves, for the night
+was chilly, and the chamber rather cold. Vinicius saw the breath coming
+as steam from their lips.  In the midst of them sat the Apostle; at his
+knees, on a low footstool, was Lygia; farther on, Glaucus, Crispus,
+Miriam, and at the edge, on one side Ursus, on the other Miriam's son
+Nazarius, a youth with a handsome face, and long, dark hair reaching
+down to his shoulders.
+
+Lygia listened with eyes raised to the Apostle, and every head was
+turned toward him, while he told something in an undertone. Vinicius
+gazed at Peter with a certain superstitious awe, hardly inferior to that
+terror which he felt during the fever dream.  The thought passed through
+his mind that that dream had touched truth; that the gray-haired man
+there, freshly come from distant shores, would take Lygia from him
+really, and take her somewhere away by unknown paths.  He felt sure also
+that the old man was speaking of him, perhaps telling how to separate
+him from Lygia, for it seemed to him impossible that any one could speak
+of aught else. Hence, collecting all his presence of mind, he listened
+to Peter's words.
+
+But he was mistaken altogether, for the Apostle was speaking of Christ
+again.
+
+"They live only through that name," thought Vinicius.
+
+The old man was describing the seizure of Christ.  "A company came, and
+servants of the priest to seize Him.  When the Saviour asked whom they
+were seeking, they answered, 'Jesus of Nazareth.' But when He said to
+them, 'I am He,' they fell on the ground, and dared not raise a hand on
+Him.  Only after the second inquiry did they seize Him."
+
+Here the Apostle stopped, stretched his hands toward the fire and
+continued:--"The night was cold, like this one, but the heart in me was
+seething; so, drawing a sword to defend Him, I cut an ear from the
+servant of the high-priest.  I would have defended Him more than my own
+life had He not said to me, 'Put thy sword into the sheath: the cup
+which my Father has given me, shall I not drink it?' Then they seized
+and bound Him."
+
+When he had spoken thus far, Peter placed his palm on his forehead, and
+was silent, wishing before he went further to stop the crowd of his
+recollections.  But Ursus, unable to restrain himself, sprang to his
+feet, trimmed the light on the staff till the sparks scattered in golden
+rain and the flame shot up with more vigor.  Then he sat down, and
+exclaimed:
+
+"No matter what happened.  I--"
+
+He stopped suddenly, for Lygia had put her finger to her lips.  But he
+breathed loudly, and it was clear that a storm was in his soul; and
+though he was ready at all times to kiss the feet of the Apostle, that
+act was one he could not accept; if some one in his presence had raised
+hands on the Redeemer, if he had been with Him on that night--Oi!
+splinters would have shot from the soldiers, the servants of the priest,
+and the officials.  Tears came to his eyes at the very thought of this,
+and because of his sorrow and mental struggle; for on the one hand he
+thought that he would not only have defended the Redeemer, but would
+have called Lygians to his aid,--splendid fellows,--and on the other, if
+he had acted thus he would have disobeyed the Redeemer, and hindered the
+salvation of man.  For this reason he could not keep back his tears.
+
+After a while Peter took his palm from his forehead, and resumed the
+narrative.  But Vinicius was overpowered by a new feverish, waking
+dream.  What he heard now was in his mind mixed up with what the Apostle
+had told the night previous in Ostrianum, of that day in which Christ
+appeared on the shore of the sea of Tiberius. He saw a sheet of water
+broadly spread out; on it the boat of a fisherman, and in the boat Peter
+and Lygia.  He himself was moving with all his might after that boat,
+but pain in his broken arm prevented him from reaching it.  The wind
+hurled waves in his eyes, he began to sink, and called with entreating
+voice for rescue. Lygia knelt down then before the Apostle, who turned
+his boat, and reached an oar, which Vinicius seized: with their
+assistance he entered the boat and fell on the bottom of it.
+
+It seemed to him, then, that he stood up, and saw a multitude of people
+sailing after them.  Waves covered their heads with foam; in the whirl
+only the hands of a few could be seen; but Peter saved the drowning time
+after time, and gathered them into his boat, which grew larger, as if by
+a miracle.  Soon crowds filled it, as numerous as those which were
+collected in Ostrianum, and then still greater crowds.  Vinicius
+wondered how they could find place there, and he was afraid that they
+would sink to the bottom.  But Lygia pacified him by showing him a light
+on the distant shore toward which they were sailing.  These dream
+pictures of Vinicius were blended again with descriptions which he had
+heard in Ostrianum, from the lips of the Apostle, as to how Christ had
+appeared on the lake once.  So that he saw now in that light on the
+shore a certain form toward which Peter was steering, and as he
+approached it the weather grew calmer, the water grew smoother, the
+light became greater.  The crowd began to sing sweet hymns; the air was
+filled with the odor of nard; the play of water formed a rainbow, as if
+from the bottom of the lake lilies and roses were looking, and at last
+the boat struck its breast safely against the sand.  Lygia took his hand
+then, and said, "Come, I will lead thee!" and she led him to the light.
+
+Vinicius woke again; but his dreaming ceased slowly, and he did not
+recover at once the sense of reality.  It seemed for a time to him that
+he was still on the lake, and surrounded by crowds, among which, not
+knowing the reason himself, he began to look for Petronius, and was
+astonished not to find him.  The bright light from the chimney, at which
+there was no one at that time, brought him completely to his senses.
+Olive sticks were burning slowly under the rosy ashes; but the splinters
+of pine, which evidently had been put there some moments before, shot up
+a bright flame, and in the light of this, Vinicius saw Lygia, sitting
+not far from his bedside.
+
+The sight of her touched him to the depth of his soul.  He remembered
+that she had spent the night before in Ostrianum, and had busied herself
+the whole day in nursing him, and now when all had gone to rest, she was
+the only one watching.  It was easy to divine that she must be wearied,
+for while sitting motionless her eyes were closed.  Vinicius knew not
+whether she was sleeping or sunk in thought.  He looked at her profile,
+at her drooping lashes, at her hands lying on her knees; and in his
+pagan head the idea began to hatch with difficulty that at the side of
+naked beauty, confident, and proud of Greek and Roman symmetry, there is
+another in the world, new, immensely pure, in which a soul has its
+dwelling.
+
+He could not bring himself so far as to call it Christian, but, thinking
+of Lygia, he could not separate her from the religion which she
+confessed.  He understood, even, that if all the others had gone to
+rest, and she alone were watching, she whom he had injured, it was
+because her religion commanded her to watch.  But that thought, which
+filled him with wonder for the religion, was disagreeable to him.  He
+would rather that Lygia acted thus out of love for him, his face, his
+eyes, his statuesque form,--in a word for reasons because of which more
+than once snow-white Grecian and Roman arms had been wound around his
+neck.
+
+Still he felt all at once, that, were she like other women, something
+would be lacking in her.  He was amazed, and knew not what was happening
+in him; for he saw that new feelings of some kind were rising in him,
+new likings, strange to the world in which he had lived hitherto.
+
+She opened her eyes then, and, seeing that Vinicius was gazing at her,
+she approached him and said,--"I am with thee."
+
+"I saw thy soul in a dream," replied he.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XXVI
+
+
+NEXT morning he woke up weak, but with a cool head and free of fever.
+It seemed to him that a whispered conversation had roused him; but when
+he opened his eyes, Lygia was not there.  Ursus, stooping before the
+chimney, was raking apart the gray ashes, and seeking live coals beneath
+them.  When he found some, he began to blow, not with his mouth, but as
+it were with the bellows of a blacksmith.  Vinicius, remembering how
+that man had crushed Croton the day before, examined with attention
+befitting a lover of the arena his gigantic back, which resembled the
+back of a Cyclops, and his limbs strong as columns.
+
+"Thanks to Mercury that my neck was not broken by him," thought
+Vinicius.  "By Pollux! if the other Lygians are like this one, the
+Danubian legions will have heavy work some time!"
+
+But aloud he said, "Hei, slave!"
+
+Ursus drew his head out of the chimney, and, smiling in a manner almost
+friendly, said,--"God give thee a good day, lord, and good health; but I
+am a free man, not a slave."
+
+On Vinicius who wished to question Ursus touching Lygia's birthplace,
+these words produced a certain pleasant impression; for discourse with a
+free though a common man was less disagreeable to his Roman and
+patrician pride, than with a slave, in whom neither law nor custom
+recognized human nature.
+
+"Then thou dost not belong to Aulus?" asked he.
+
+"No, lord, I serve Callina, as I served her mother, of my own will."
+
+Here he hid his head again in the chimney, to blow the coals, on which
+he had placed some wood.  When he had finished, he took it out and
+said,--"With us there are no slaves."
+
+"Where is Lygia?" inquired Vinicius.
+
+"She has gone out, and I am to cook food for thee.  She watched over
+thee the whole night."
+
+"Why didst thou not relieve her?"
+
+"Because she wished to watch, and it is for me to obey."  Here his eyes
+grew gloomy, and after a while he added:
+
+"If I had disobeyed her, thou wouldst not be living."
+
+"Art thou sorry for not having killed me?"
+
+"No, lord.  Christ has not commanded us to kill."
+
+"But Atacinus and Croton?"
+
+"I could not do otherwise," muttered Ursus.  And he looked with regret
+on his hands, which had remained pagan evidently, though his soul had
+accepted the cross.  Then he put a pot on the crane, and fixed his
+thoughtful eyes on the fire.
+
+"That was thy fault, lord," said he at last.  "Why didst thou raise thy
+hand against her, a king's daughter?"
+
+Pride boiled up, at the first moment, in Vinicius, because a common man
+and a barbarian had not merely dared to speak to him thus familiarly,
+but to blame him in addition.  To those uncommon and improbable things
+which had met him since yesterday, was added another.  But being weak
+and without his slaves, he restrained himself, especially since a wish
+to learn some details of Lygia's life gained the upper hand in him.
+
+When he had calmed himself, therefore, he inquired about the war of the
+Lygians against Vannius and the Suevi.  Ursus was glad to converse, but
+could not add much that was new to what in his time Aulus Plautius had
+told.  Ursus had not been in battle, for he had attended the hostages to
+the camp of Atelius Hister.  He knew only that the Lygians had beaten
+the Suevi and the Yazygi, but that their leader and king had fallen from
+the arrows of the Yazygi. Immediately after they received news that the
+Semnones had set fire to forests on their boundaries, they returned in
+haste to avenge the wrong, and the hostages remained with Atelius, who
+ordered at first to give them kingly honors.  Afterward Lygia's mother
+died. The Roman commander knew not what to do with the child.  Ursus
+wished to return with her to their own country, but the road was unsafe
+because of wild beasts and wild tribes.  When news came that an embassy
+of Lygians had visited Pomponius, offering him aid against the
+Marcomani, Hister sent him with Lygia to Pomponius.  When they came to
+him they learned, however, that no ambassadors had been there, and in
+that way they remained in the camp; whence Pomponius took them to Rome,
+and at the conclusion of his triumph he gave the king's daughter to
+Pomponia Grćcina.
+
+Though only certain small details of this narrative had been unknown to
+Vinicius, he listened with pleasure, for his enormous pride of family
+was pleased that an eye-witness had confirmed Lygia's royal descent.  As
+a king's daughter she might occupy a position at Cćsar's court equal to
+the daughters of the very first families, all the more since the nation
+whose ruler her father had been, had not warred with Rome so far, and,
+though barbarian, it might become terrible; for, according to Atelius
+Hister himself, it possessed an immense force of warriors.  Ursus,
+moreover, confirmed this completely.
+
+"We live in the woods," said he, in answer to Vinicius, "but we have so
+much land that no man knows where the end is, and there are many people
+on it.  There are also wooden towns in the forest, in which there is
+great plenty; for what the Semnones, the Marcomani, the Vandals, and the
+Quadi plunder through the world, we take from them.  They dare not come
+to us; but when the wind blows from their side, they burn our forests.
+We fear neither them nor the Roman Cćsar."
+
+"The gods gave Rome dominion over the earth," said Vinicius severely.
+
+"The gods are evil spirits," replied Ursus, with simplicity, "and where
+there are no Romans, there is no supremacy."
+
+Here he fixed the fire, and said, as if to himself,--"When Cćsar took
+Callina to the palace, and I thought that harm might meet her, I wanted
+to go to the forest and bring Lygians to help the king's daughter.  And
+Lygians would have moved toward the Danube, for they are virtuous people
+though pagan.  There I should have given them 'good tidings.' But as it
+is, if ever Callina returns to Pomponia Grćcina I will bow down to her
+for permission to go to them; for Christus was born far away, and they
+have not even heard of Him. He knew better than I where He should be
+born; but if He had come to the world with us, in the forests, we would
+not have tortured Him to death, that is certain.  We would have taken
+care of the Child, and guarded Him, so that never should He want for
+game, mushrooms, beaver-skins, or amber.  And what we plundered from the
+Suevi and the Marcomani we would have given Him, so that He might have
+comfort and plenty."
+
+Thus speaking, he put near the fire the vessel with food for Vinicius,
+and was silent.  His thoughts wandered evidently, for a time yet,
+through the Lygian wildernesses, till the liquid began to boil; then he
+poured it into a shallow plate, and, cooling it properly, said,--
+"Glaucus advises thee, lord, to move even thy sound arm as little as
+possible; Callina has commanded me to give thee food."
+
+Lygia commanded!  There was no answer to that.  It did not even come to
+Vinicius's head to oppose her will, just as if she had been the daughter
+of Cćsar or a goddess.  He uttered not a word, therefore; and Ursus,
+sitting near his bed, took out the liquid with a small cup, and put it
+to his mouth.  He did this so carefully, and with such a kindly smile,
+that Vinicius could not believe his own eyes, could not think him the
+same terrible Titan who the day before had crushed Croton, and, rushing
+on him like a storm, would have torn him to pieces but for Lygia's pity.
+The young patrician, for the first time in life, began to ponder over
+this: What can take place in the breast of a simple man, a barbarian,
+and a servant?
+
+But Ursus proved to be a nurse as awkward as painstaking; the cup was
+lost among his herculean fingers so completely that there was no place
+left for the mouth of the sick man.  After a few fruitless efforts the
+giant was troubled greatly, and said,--"Li! it would be easier to lead
+an aurochs out of a snare."
+
+The anxiety of the Lygian amused Vinicius, but his remark did not
+interest him less.  He had seen in circuses the terrible urus, brought
+from wildernesses of the north, against which the most daring bestiarii
+went with dread, and which yielded only to elephants in size and
+strength.
+
+"Hast thou tried to take such beasts by the horns?" inquired he, with
+astonishment.
+
+"Till the twentieth winter passed over me, I was afraid," answered
+Ursus; "but after that it happened."
+
+And he began to feed Vinicius still more awkwardly than before.
+
+"I must ask Miriam or Nazarius," said he.
+
+But now Lygia's pale face appeared from behind the curtain.
+
+"I will assist directly," said she.  And after a while she came from the
+cubiculum, in which she had been preparing to sleep, as it seemed, for
+she was in a single close tunic, called by the ancients capitium,
+covering the breast completely, and her hair was unbound.  Vinicius,
+whose heart beat with more quickness at sight of her, began to upbraid
+her for not thinking of sleep yet; but she answered joyously,--"I was
+just preparing to sleep, but first I will take the place of Ursus."
+
+She took the cup, and, sitting on the edge of the bed, began to give
+food to Vinicius, who felt at once overcome and delighted.  When she
+inclined toward him, the warmth of her body struck him, and her unbound
+hair fell on his breast.  He grew pale from the impression; but in the
+confusion and impulse of desires he felt also that that was a head dear
+above all and magnified above all, in comparison with which the whole
+world was nothing.  At first he had desired her; now he began to love
+her with a full breast. Before that, as generally in life and in
+feeling, he had been, like all people of that time, a blind,
+unconditional egotist, who thought only of himself; at present he began
+to think of her.
+
+After a while, therefore, he refused further nourishment; and though he
+found inexhaustible delight in her presence and in looking at her, he
+said,--"Enough!  Go to rest, my divine one."
+
+"Do not address me in that way," answered Lygia; "it is not proper for
+me to hear such words."
+
+She smiled at him, however, and said that sleep had fled from her, that
+she felt no toil, that she would not go to rest till Glaucus came. He
+listened to her words as to music; his heart rose with increasing
+delight, increasing gratitude, and his thought was struggling to show
+her that gratitude.
+
+"Lygia," said he, after a moment of silence, "I did not know thee
+hitherto.  But I know now that I wished to attain thee by a false way;
+hence I say, return to Pomponia Grćcina, and be assured that in future
+no hand will be raised against thee."
+
+Her face became sad on a sudden.  "I should be happy," answered she,
+"could I look at her, even from a distance; but I cannot return to her
+now."
+
+"Why?" inquired Vinicius, with astonishment.
+
+"We Christians know, through Acte, what is done on the Palatine. Hast
+thou not heard that Cćsar, soon after my flight and before his departure
+for Naples, summoned Aulus and Pomponia, and, thinking that they had
+helped me, threatened them with his anger? Fortunately Aulus was able to
+say to him, 'Thou knowest, lord, that a lie has never passed my lips; I
+swear to thee now that we did not help her to escape, and we do not
+know, as thou dost not, what has happened to her.' Cćsar believed, and
+afterward forgot.  By the advice of the elders I have never written to
+mother where I am, so that she might take an oath boldly at all times
+that she has no knowledge of me.  Thou wilt not understand this,
+perhaps, O Vinicius; but it is not permitted us to lie, even in a
+question involving life.  Such is the religion on which we fashion our
+hearts; therefore I have not seen Pomponia from the hour when I left her
+house.  From time to time distant echoes barely reach her that I am
+alive and not in danger."
+
+Here a longing seized Lygia, and her eyes were moist with tears; but she
+calmed herself quickly, and said,--"I know that Pomponia, too, yearns
+for me; but we have consolation which others have not."
+
+"Yes," answered Vinicius, "Christ is your consolation, but I do not
+understand that."
+
+"Look at us!  For us there are no partings, no pains, no sufferings; or
+if they come they are turned into pleasure.  And death itself, which for
+you is the end of life, is for us merely its beginning,--the exchange of
+a lower for a higher happiness, a happiness less calm for one calmer and
+eternal.  Consider what must a religion be which enjoins on us love even
+for our enemies, forbids falsehood, purifies our souls from hatred, and
+promises happiness inexhaustible after death."
+
+"I heard those teachings in Ostrianum, and I have seen how ye acted with
+me and with Chilo; when I remember your deeds, they are like a dream,
+and it seems to me that I ought not to believe my ears or eyes.  But
+answer me this question: Art thou happy?"
+
+"I am," answered Lygia.  "One who confesses Christ cannot be unhappy."
+Vinicius looked at her, as though what she said passed every measure of
+human understanding.
+
+"And hast thou no wish to return to Pomponia?"
+
+"I should like, from my whole soul, to return to her; and shall return,
+if such be God's will."
+
+"I say to thee, therefore, return; and I swear by my lares that I will
+not raise a hand against thee."
+
+Lygia thought for a moment, and answered,--"No, I cannot expose those
+near me to danger.  Cćsar does not like the Plautiuses. Should I return
+--thou knowest how every news is spread throughout Rome by slaves--my
+return would be noised about in the city.  Nero would hear of it surely
+through his slaves, and punish Aulus and Pomponia,--at least take me
+from them a second time."
+
+"True," answered Vinicius, frowning, "that would be possible.  He would
+do so, even to show that his will must be obeyed.  It is true that he
+only forgot thee, or would remember thee, because the loss was not his,
+but mine.  Perhaps, if he took thee from Aulus and Pomponia, he would
+send thee to me and I could give thee back to them."
+
+"Vinicius, wouldst thou see me again on the Palatine?" inquired Lygia.
+
+He set his teeth, and answered,--"No. Thou art right.  I spoke like a
+fool!  No!"
+
+And all at once he saw before him a precipice, as it were without
+bottom. He was a patrician, a military tribune, a powerful man; but
+above every power of that world to which he belonged was a madman whose
+will and malignity it was impossible to foresee.  Only such people as
+the Christians might cease to reckon with Nero or fear him,--people for
+whom this whole world, with its separations and sufferings, was as
+nothing; people for whom death itself was as nothing.  All others had to
+tremble before him.  The terrors of the time in which they lived showed
+themselves to Vinicius in all their monstrous extent.  He could not
+return Lygia to Aulus and Pomponia, then, through fear that the monster
+would remember her, and turn on her his anger; for the very same reason,
+if he should take her as wife, he might expose her, himself, and Aulus.
+A moment of ill-humor was enough to ruin all.  Vinicius felt, for the
+first time in life, that either the world must change and be
+transformed, or life would become impossible altogether.  He understood
+also this, which a moment before had been dark to him, that in such
+times only Christians could be happy.
+
+But above all, sorrow seized him, for he understood, too, that it was he
+who had so involved his own life and Lygia's that out of the
+complication there was scarcely an outcome.  And under the influence of
+that sorrow he began to speak:
+
+"Dost thou know that thou art happier than I?  Thou art in poverty, and
+in this one chamber, among simple people, thou hast thy religion and thy
+Christ; but I have only thee, and when I lacked thee I was like a beggar
+without a roof above him and without bread.  Thou art dearer to me than
+the whole world.  I sought thee, for I could not live without thee.  I
+wished neither feasts nor sleep. Had it not been for the hope of finding
+thee, I should have cast myself on a sword.  But I fear death, for if
+dead I could not see thee.  I speak the pure truth in saying that I
+shall not be able to live without thee.  I have lived so far only in the
+hope of finding and beholding thee.  Dost thou remember our
+conversations at the house of Aulus?  Once thou didst draw a fish for me
+on the sand, and I knew not what its meaning was.  Dost thou remember
+how we played ball?  I loved thee then above life, and thou hadst begun
+already to divine that I loved thee.  Aulus came, frightened us with
+Libitina, and interrupted our talk.  Pomponia, at parting, told
+Petronius that God is one, all-mighty and all-merciful, but it did not
+even occur to us that Christ was thy God and hers.  Let Him give thee to
+me and I will love Him, though He seems to me a god of slaves,
+foreigners, and beggars.  Thou sittest near me, and thinkest of Him
+only.  Think of me too, or I shall hate Him.  For me thou alone art a
+divinity.  Blessed be thy father and mother; blessed the land which
+produced thee!  I should wish to embrace thy feet and pray to thee, give
+thee honor, homage, offerings, thou thrice divine!  Thou knowest not, or
+canst not know, how I love thee."
+
+Thus speaking, he placed his hand on his pale forehead and closed his
+eyes.  His nature never knew bounds in love or anger.  He spoke with
+enthusiasm, like a man who, having lost self-control, has no wish to
+observe any measure in words or feelings.  But he spoke from the depth
+of his soul, and sincerely.  It was to be felt that the pain, ecstasy,
+desire, and homage accumulated in his breast had burst forth at last in
+an irresistible torrent of words.  To Lygia his words appeared
+blasphemous, but still her heart began to beat as if it would tear the
+tunic enclosing her bosom.  She could not resist pity for him and his
+suffering.  She was moved by the homage with which he spoke to her.  She
+felt beloved and deified without bounds; she felt that that unbending
+and dangerous man belonged to her now, soul and body, like a slave; and
+that feeling of his submission and her own power filled her with
+happiness.  Her recollections revived in one moment.  He was for her
+again that splendid Vinicius, beautiful as a pagan god; he, who in the
+house of Aulus had spoken to her of love, and roused as if from sleep
+her heart half childlike at that time; he from whose embraces Ursus had
+wrested her on the Palatine, as he might have wrested her from flames.
+But at present, with ecstasy, and at the same time with pain in his
+eagle face, with pale forehead and imploring eyes,--wounded, broken by
+love, loving, full of homage and submissive,--he seemed to her such as
+she would have wished him, and such as she would have loved with her
+whole soul, therefore dearer than he had ever been before.
+
+All at once she understood that a moment might come in which his love
+would seize her and bear her away, as a whirlwind; and when she felt
+this, she had the same impression that he had a moment before,--that she
+was standing on the edge of a precipice.  Was it for this that she had
+left the house of Aulus?  Was it for this that she had saved herself by
+flight?  Was it for this that she had hidden so long in wretched parts
+of the city?  Who was that Vinicius?  An Augustian, a soldier, a
+courtier of Nero!  Moreover he took part in his profligacy and madness,
+as was shown by that feast, which she could not forget; and he went with
+others to the temples, and made offerings to vile gods, in whom he did
+not believe, perhaps, but still he gave them official honor.  Still more
+he had pursued her to make her his slave and mistress, and at the same
+time to thrust her into that terrible world of excess, luxury, crime,
+and dishonor which calls for the anger and vengeance of God.  He seemed
+changed, it is true, but still he had just said to her that if she would
+think more of Christ than of him, he was ready to hate Christ.  It
+seemed to Lygia that the very idea of any other love than the love of
+Christ was a sin against Him and against religion.  When she saw then
+that other feelings and desires might be roused in the depth of her
+soul, she was seized by alarm for her own future and her own heart.
+
+At this moment of internal struggle appeared Glaucus, who had come to
+care for the patient and study his health.  In the twinkle of an eye,
+anger and impatience were reflected on the face of Vinicius.  He was
+angry that his conversation with Lygia had been interrupted; and when
+Glaucus questioned him, he answered with contempt almost.  It is true
+that he moderated himself quickly; but if Lygia had any illusions as to
+this,--that what he had heard in Ostrianum might have acted on his
+unyielding nature,--those illusions must vanish.  He had changed only
+for her; but beyond that single feeling there remained in his breast the
+former harsh and selfish heart, truly Roman and wolfish, incapable not
+only of the sweet sentiment of Christian teaching but even of gratitude.
+
+She went away at last filled with internal care and anxiety. Formerly in
+her prayers she had offered to Christ a heart calm, and really pure as a
+tear.  Now that calmness was disturbed.  To the interior of the flower a
+poisonous insect had come and began to buzz.  Even sleep, in spite of
+the two nights passed without sleep, brought her no relief.  She dreamed
+that at Ostrianum Nero, at the head of a whole band of Augustians,
+bacchantes, corybantes, and gladiators, was trampling crowds of
+Christians with his chariot wreathed in roses; and Vinicius seized her
+by the arm, drew her to the quadriga, and, pressing her to his bosom,
+whispered "Come with us."
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XXVII
+
+
+FROM that moment Lygia showed herself more rarely in the common chamber,
+and approached his couch less frequently.  But peace did not return to
+her.  She saw that Vinicius followed her with imploring glance; that he
+was waiting for every word of hers, as for a favor; that he suffered and
+dared not complain, lest he might turn her away from him; that she alone
+was his health and delight.  And then her heart swelled with compassion.
+Soon she observed, too, that the more she tried to avoid him, the more
+compassion she had for him; and by this itself the more tender were the
+feelings which rose in her.  Peace left her.  At times she said to
+herself that it was her special duty to be near him always, first,
+because the religion of God commands return of good for evil; second,
+that by conversing with him, she might attract him to the faith.  But at
+the same time conscience told her that she was tempting herself; that
+only love for him and the charm which he exerted were attracting her,
+nothing else.  Thus she lived in a ceaseless struggle, which was
+intensified daily.  At times it seemed that a kind of net surrounded
+her, and that in trying to break through it she entangled herself more
+and more.  She had also to confess that for her the sight of him was
+becoming more needful, his voice was becoming dearer, and that she had
+to struggle with all her might against the wish to sit at his bedside.
+When she approached him, and he grew radiant, delight filled her heart.
+On a certain day she noticed traces of tears on his eyelids, and for the
+first time in life the thought came to her, to dry them with kisses.
+Terrified by that thought, and full of self-contempt, she wept all the
+night following.
+
+He was as enduring as if he had made a vow of patience.  When at moments
+his eyes flashed with petulance, self-will, and anger, he restrained
+those flashes promptly, and looked with alarm at her, as if to implore
+pardon.  This acted still more on her.  Never had she such a feeling of
+being greatly loved as then; and when she thought of this, she felt at
+once guilty and happy.  Vinicius, too, had changed essentially.  In his
+conversations with Glaucus there was less pride.  It occurred to him
+frequently that even that poor slave physician and that foreign woman,
+old Miriam, who surrounded him with attention, and Crispus, whom he saw
+absorbed in continual prayer, were still human.  He was astonished at
+such thoughts, but he had them.  After a time he conceived a liking for
+Ursus, with whom he conversed entire days; for with him he could talk
+about Lygia.  The giant, on his part, was inexhaustible in narrative,
+and while performing the most simple services for the sick man, he began
+to show him also some attachment.  For Vinicius, Lygia had been at all
+times a being of another order, higher a hundred times than those around
+her: nevertheless, he began to observe simple and poor people,--a thing
+which he had never done before,--and he discovered in them various
+traits the existence of which he had never suspected.
+
+Nazarius, however, he could not endure, for it seemed to him that the
+young lad had dared to fall in love with Lygia.  He had restrained his
+aversion for a long time, it is true; but once when he brought her two
+quails, which he had bought in the market with his own earned money, the
+descendant of the Quirites spoke out in Vinicius, for whom one who had
+wandered in from a strange people had less worth than the meanest worm.
+When he heard Lygia's thanks, he grew terribly pale; and when Nazarius
+went out to get water for the birds, he said,--"Lygia, canst thou endure
+that he should give thee gifts?  Dost thou not know that the Greeks call
+people of his nation Jewish dogs?"
+
+"I do not know what the Greeks call them; but I know that Nazarius is a
+Christian and my brother."
+
+When she had said this she looked at Vinicius with astonishment and
+regret, for he had disaccustomed her to similar outbursts; and he set
+his teeth, so as not to tell her that he would have given command to
+beat such a brother with sticks, or would have sent him as a compeditus
+[A man who labors with chained feet] to dig earth in his Sicilian
+vineyards.  He restrained himself, however, throttled the anger within
+him, and only after a while did he say,--"Pardon me, Lygia.  For me thou
+art the daughter of a king and the adopted child of Plautius."  And he
+subdued himself to that degree that when Nazarius appeared in the
+chamber again, he promised him, on returning to his villa, the gift of a
+pair of peacocks or flamingoes, of which he had a garden full.
+
+Lygia understood what such victories over himself must have cost him;
+but the oftener he gained them the more her heart turned to him.  His
+merit with regard to Nazarius was less, however, than she supposed.
+Vinicius might be indignant for a moment, but he could not be jealous of
+him.  In fact the son of Miriam did not, in his eyes, mean much more
+than a dog; besides, he was a child yet, who, if he loved Lygia, loved
+her unconsciously and servilely. Greater struggles must the young
+tribune have with himself to submit, even in silence, to that honor with
+which among those people the name of Christ and His religion was
+surrounded.  In this regard wonderful things took place in Vinicius.
+That was in every case a religion which Lygia believed; hence for that
+single reason he was ready to receive it.  Afterward, the more he
+returned to health, the more he remembered the whole series of events
+which had happened since that night at Ostrianum, and the whole series
+of thoughts which had come to his head from that time, the more he was
+astonished at the superhuman power of that religion which changed the
+souls of men to their foundations.  He understood that in it there was
+something uncommon, something which had not been on earth before, and he
+felt that could it embrace the whole world, could it ingraft on the
+world its love and charity, an epoch would come recalling that in which
+not Jupiter, but Saturn had ruled.  He did not dare either to doubt the
+supernatural origin of Christ, or His resurrection, or the other
+miracles.  The eye-witnesses who spoke of them were too trustworthy and
+despised falsehood too much to let him suppose that they were telling
+things that had not happened.  Finally, Roman scepticism permitted
+disbelief in the gods, but believed in miracles.  Vinicius, therefore,
+stood before a kind of marvellous puzzle which he could not solve.  On
+the other hand, however, that religion seemed to him opposed to the
+existing state of things, impossible of practice, and mad in a degree
+beyond all others.  According to him, people in Rome and in the whole
+world might be bad, but the order of things was good.  Had Cćsar, for
+example, been an honest man, had the Senate been composed, not of
+insignificant libertines, but of men like Thrasea, what more could one
+wish?  Nay, Roman peace and supremacy were good; distinction among
+people just and proper. But that religion, according to the
+understanding of Vinicius, would destroy all order, all supremacy, every
+distinction.  What would happen then to the dominion and lordship of
+Rome?  Could the Romans cease to rule, or could they recognize a whole
+herd of conquered nations as equal to themselves?  That was a thought
+which could find no place in the head of a patrician.  As regarded him
+personally, that religion was opposed to all his ideas and habits, his
+whole character and understanding of life.  He was simply unable to
+imagine how he could exist were he to accept it. He feared and admired
+it; but as to accepting it, his nature shuddered at that.  He
+understood, finally, that nothing save that religion separated him from
+Lygia; and when he thought of this, he hated it with all the powers of
+his soul.
+
+Still he acknowledged to himself that it had adorned Lygia with that
+exceptional, unexplained beauty which in his heart had produced, besides
+love, respect, besides desire, homage, and had made of that same Lygia a
+being dear to him beyond all others in the world.  And then he wished
+anew to love Christ.  And he understood clearly that he must either love
+or hate Him; he could not remain indifferent.  Meanwhile two opposing
+currents were as if driving him: he hesitated in thoughts, in feelings;
+he knew not how to choose, he bowed his head, however, to that God by
+him uncomprehended, and paid silent honor for this sole reason, that He
+was Lygia's God.
+
+Lygia saw what was happening in him; she saw how he was breaking
+himself, how his nature was rejecting that religion; and though this
+mortified her to the death, compassion, pity, and gratitude for the
+silent respect which he showed Christ inclined her heart to him with
+irresistible force.  She recalled Pomponia Grćcina and Aulus.  For
+Pomponia a source of ceaseless sorrow and tears that never dried was the
+thought that beyond the grave she would not find Aulus.  Lygia began now
+to understand better that pain, that bitterness.  She too had found a
+being dear to her, and she was threatened by eternal separation from
+this dear one.
+
+At times, it is true, she was self-deceived, thinking that his soul
+would open itself to Christ's teaching; but these illusions could not
+remain.  She knew and understood him too well.  Vinicius a Christian!--
+These two ideas could find no place together in her unenlightened head.
+If the thoughtful, discreet Aulus had not become a Christian under the
+influence of the wise and perfect Pomponia, how could Vinicius become
+one?  To this there was no answer, or rather there was only one,--that
+for him there was neither hope nor salvation.
+
+But Lygia saw with terror that that sentence of condemnation which hung
+over him instead of making him repulsive made him still dearer simply
+through compassion.  At moments the wish seized her to speak to him of
+his dark future; but once, when she had sat near him and told him that
+outside Christian truth there was no life, he, having grown stronger at
+that time, rose on his sound arm and placed his head on her knees
+suddenly.  "Thou art life!" said he.  And that moment breath failed in
+her breast, presence of mind left her, a certain quiver of ecstasy
+rushed over her from head to feet.  Seizing his temples with her hands,
+she tried to raise him, but bent the while so that her lips touched his
+hair; and for a moment both were overcome with delight, with themselves,
+and with love, which urged them the one to the other.
+
+Lygia rose at last and rushed away, with a flame in her veins and a
+giddiness in her head; but that was the drop which overflowed the cup
+filled already to the brim.  Vinicius did not divine how dearly he would
+have to pay for that happy moment, but Lygia understood that now she
+herself needed rescue.  She spent the night after that evening without
+sleep, in tears and in prayer, with the feeling that she was unworthy to
+pray and could not be heard.  Next morning she went from the cubiculum
+early, and, calling Crispus to the garden summer-house, covered with ivy
+and withered vines, opened her whole soul to him, imploring him at the
+same time to let her leave Miriam's house, since she could not trust
+herself longer, and could not overcome her heart's love for Vinicius.
+
+Crispus, an old man, severe and absorbed in endless enthusiasm,
+consented to the plan of leaving Miriam's house, but he had no words of
+forgiveness for that love, to his thinking sinful.  His heart swelled
+with indignation at the very thought that Lygia, whom he had guarded
+since the time of her flight, whom he had loved, whom he had confirmed
+in the faith, and on whom he looked now as a white lily grown up on the
+field of Christian teaching undefiled by any earthly breath, could have
+found a place in her soul for love other than heavenly.  He had believed
+hitherto that nowhere in the world did there beat a heart more purely
+devoted to the glory of Christ.  He wanted to offer her to Him as a
+pearl, a jewel, the precious work of his own hands; hence the
+disappointment which he felt filled him with grief and amazement.
+
+"Go and beg God to forgive thy fault," said he, gloomily.  "Flee before
+the evil spirit who involved thee bring thee to utter fall, and before
+thou oppose the Saviour.  God died on the cross to redeem thy soul with
+His blood, but thou hast preferred to love him who wished to make thee
+his concubine.  God saved thee by a miracle of His own hands, but thou
+hast opened thy heart to impure desire, and hast loved the son of
+darkness.  Who is he?  The friend and servant of Antichrist, his
+copartner in crime and profligacy. Whither will he lead thee, if not to
+that abyss and to that Sodom in which he himself is living, but which
+God will destroy with the flame of His anger?  But I say to thee, would
+thou hadst died, would the walls of this house had fallen on thy head
+before that serpent had crept into thy bosom and beslimed it with the
+poison of iniquity."
+
+And he was borne away more and more, for Lygia's fault filled him not
+only with anger but with loathing and contempt for human nature in
+general, and in particular for women, whom even Christian truth could
+not save from Eve's weakness.  To him it seemed nothing that the maiden
+had remained pure, that she wished to flee from that love, that she had
+confessed it with compunction and penitence.  Crispus had wished to
+transform her into an angel, to raise her to heights where love for
+Christ alone existed, and she had fallen in love with an Augustian.  The
+very thought of that filled his heart with horror, strengthened by a
+feeling of disillusion and disappointment.  No, no, he could not forgive
+her.  Words of horror burned his lips like glowing coals; he struggled
+still with himself not to utter them, but he shook his emaciated hands
+over the terrified girl.  Lygia felt guilty, but not to that degree.
+She had judged even that withdrawal from Miriam's house would be her
+victory over temptation, and would lessen her fault.  Crispus rubbed her
+into the dust; showed her all the misery and insignificance of her soul,
+which she had not suspected hitherto.  She had judged even that the old
+presbyter, who from the moment of her flight from the Palatine had been
+to her as a father, would show some compassion, console her, give her
+courage, and strengthen her.
+
+"I offer my pain and disappointment to God," said he, "but thou hast
+deceived the Saviour also, for thou hast gone as it were to a quagmire
+which has poisoned thy soul with its miasma.  Thou mightst have offered
+it to Christ as a costly vessel, and said to Him, 'Fill it with grace, O
+Lord!' but thou hast preferred to offer it to the servant of the evil
+one.  May God forgive thee and have mercy on thee; for till thou cast
+out the serpent, I who held thee as chosen-"
+
+But he ceased suddenly to speak, for he saw that they were not alone.
+Through the withered vines and the ivy, which was green alike in summer
+and winter, he saw two men, one of whom was Peter the Apostle.  The
+other he was unable to recognize at once, for a mantle of coarse woollen
+stuff, called cilicium, concealed a part of his face.  It seemed to
+Crispus for a moment that that was Chilo.
+
+They, hearing the loud voice of Crispus, entered the summer-house and
+sat on a stone bench.  Peter's companion had an emaciated face; his
+head, which was growing bald, was covered at the sides with curly hair;
+he had reddened eyelids and a crooked nose; in the face, ugly and at the
+same time inspired, Crispus recognized the features of Paul of Tarsus.
+
+Lygia, casting herself on her knees, embraced Peter's feet, as if from
+despair, and, sheltering her tortured head in the fold of his mantle,
+remained thus in silence.
+
+"Peace to your souls!" said Peter.
+
+And seeing the child at his feet he asked what had happened. Crispus
+began then to narrate all that Lygia had confessed to him,--her sinful
+love, her desire to flee from Miriam's house,--and his sorrow that a
+soul which he had thought to offer to Christ pure as a tear had defiled
+itself with earthly feelings for a sharer in all those crimes into which
+the pagan world had sunk, and which called for God's vengeance.
+
+Lygia during his speech embraced with increasing force the feet of the
+Apostle, as if wishing to seek refuge near them, and to beg even a
+little compassion.
+
+But the Apostle, when he had listened to the end, bent down and placed
+his aged hand on her head; then he raised his eyes to the old presbyter,
+and said,--"Crispus, hast thou not heard that our beloved Master was in
+Cana, at a wedding, and blessed love between man and woman?"
+
+Crispus's hands dropped, and he looked with astonishment on the speaker,
+without power to utter one word.  After a moment's silence Peter asked
+again,--"Crispus, dost thou think that Christ, who permitted Mary of
+Magdala to lie at his feet, and who forgave the public sinner, would
+turn from this maiden, who is as pure as a lily of the field?"
+
+Lygia nestled up more urgently to the feet of Peter, with sobbing,
+understanding that she had not sought refuge in vain.  The Apostle
+raised her face, which was covered with tears, and said to her,--"While
+the eyes of him whom thou lovest are not open to the light of truth,
+avoid him, lest he bring thee to sin, but pray for him, and know that
+there is no sin in thy love.  And since it is thy wish to avoid
+temptation, this will be accounted to thee as a merit.  Do not suffer,
+and do not weep; for I tell thee that the grace of the Redeemer has not
+deserted thee, and that thy prayers will be heard; after sorrow will
+come days of gladness."
+
+When he had said this, he placed both hands on her head, and, raising
+his eyes, blessed her.  From his face there shone a goodness beyond that
+of earth.
+
+The penitent Crispus began humbly to explain himself; "I have sinned
+against mercy," said he; "but I thought that by admitting to her heart
+an earthly love she had denied Christ."
+
+"I denied Him thrice," answered Peter, "and still He forgave me, and
+commanded me to feed His sheep."
+
+"And because," concluded Crispus, "Vinicius is an Augustian."
+
+"Christ softened harder hearts than his," replied Peter.
+
+Then Paul of Tarsus, who had been silent so far, placed his finger on
+his breast, pointing to himself, and said,--"I am he who persecuted and
+hurried servants of Christ to their death; I am he who during the
+stoning of Stephen kept the garments of those who stoned him; I am he
+who wished to root out the truth in every part of the inhabited earth,
+and yet the Lord predestined me to declare it in every land.  I have
+declared it in Judea, in Greece, on the Islands, and in this godless
+city, where first I resided as a prisoner. And now when Peter, my
+superior, has summoned me, I enter this house to bend that proud head to
+the feet of Christ, and cast a grain of seed in that stony field, which
+the Lord will fertilize, so that it may bring forth a bountiful
+harvest."
+
+And he rose.  To Crispus that diminutive hunchback seemed then that
+which he was in reality,--a giant, who was to stir the world to its
+foundations and gather in lands and nations.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XXVIII
+
+
+PETRONIUS to VINICIUS:--"Have pity, carissime; imitate not in thy
+letters the Lacedemonians or Julius Cćsar!  Couldst thou, like Julius,
+write Veni, vidi, vici (I came, I saw, I conquered), I might understand
+thy brevity.  But thy letter means absolutely Veni, vidi, fugi (I came,
+I saw, I fled). Since such a conclusion of the affair is directly
+opposed to thy nature, since thou art wounded, and since, finally,
+uncommon things are happening to thee, thy letter needs explanation.  I
+could not believe my eyes when I read that the Lygian giant killed
+Croton as easily as a Caledonian dog would kill a wolf in the defiles of
+Hibernia.  That man is worth as much gold as he himself weighs, and it
+depends on him alone to become a favorite of Cćsar.  When I return to
+the city, I must gain a nearer acquaintance with that Lygian, and have a
+bronze statue of him made for myself.  Ahenobarbus will burst from
+curiosity, when I tell him that it is from nature.  Bodies really
+athletic are becoming rarer in Italy and in Greece; of the Orient no
+mention need be made; the Germans, though large, have muscles covered
+with fat, and are greater in bulk than in strength.  Learn from the
+Lygian if he is an exception, or if in his country there are more men
+like him.  Should it happen sometime to thee or me to organize games
+officially, it would be well to know where to seek for the best bodies.
+
+"But praise to the gods of the Orient and the Occident that thou hast
+come out of such hands alive.  Thou hast escaped, of course, because
+thou art a patrician, and the son of a consul; but everything which has
+happened astonishes me in the highest degree,--that cemetery where thou
+wert among the Christians, they, their treatment of thee, the subsequent
+flight of Lygia; finally, that peculiar sadness and disquiet which
+breathes from thy short letter.  Explain, for there are many points
+which I cannot understand; and if thou wish the truth, I will tell thee
+plainly, that I understand neither the Christians nor thee nor Lygia.
+Wonder not that I, who care for few things on earth except my own
+person, inquire of thee so eagerly.  I have contributed to all this
+affair of thine; hence it is my affair so far.  Write soon, for I cannot
+foresee surely when we may meet.  In Bronzebeard's head plans change, as
+winds do in autumn.  At present, while tarrying in Beneventum, he has
+the wish to go straightway to Greece, without returning to Rome.
+Tigellinus, however, advises him to visit the city even for a time,
+since the people, yearning overmuch for his person (read 'for games and
+bread') may revolt.  So I cannot tell how it will be. Should Achća
+overbalance, we may want to see Egypt.  I should insist with all my
+might on thy coming, for I think that in thy state of mind travelling
+and our amusements would be a medicine, but thou mightst not find us.
+Consider, then, whether in that case repose in thy Sicilian estates
+would not be preferable to remaining in Rome.  Write me minutely of
+thyself, and farewell.  I add no wish this time, except health; for, by
+Pollux! I know not what to wish thee."
+
+Vinicius, on receiving this letter, felt at first no desire to reply.
+He had a kind of feeling that it was not worth while to reply, that an
+answer would benefit no one in any way, that it would explain nothing.
+Discontent, and a feeling of the vanity of life, possessed him.  He
+thought, moreover, that Petronius would not comprehend him in any case,
+and that something had happened which would remove them from each other.
+He could not come to an agreement with himself, even.  When he returned
+from the Trans-Tiber to his splendid "insula," he was exhausted, and
+found for the first days a certain satisfaction in rest and in the
+comfort and abundance about him.  That satisfaction lasted but a short
+time, however.  He felt soon that he was living in vanity; that all
+which so far had formed the interest of his life either had ceased to
+exist for him or had shrunk to proportions barely perceptible.  He had a
+feeling as if those ties which hitherto had connected him with life had
+been cut in his soul, and that no new ones had been formed.  At the
+thought that he might go to Beneventum and thence to Achća, to swim in a
+life of luxury and wild excess, he had a feeling of emptiness.  "To what
+end?  What shall I gain from it?"  These were the first questions which
+passed through his head.  And for the first time in life, also, he
+thought that if he went, the conversation of Petronius, his wit, his
+quickness, his exquisite outlining of thought, and his choice of apt
+phrases for every idea might annoy him.
+
+But solitude, too, had begun to annoy him.  All his acquaintances were
+with Cćsar in Beneventum; so he had to stay at home alone, with a head
+full of thoughts, and a heart full of feelings which he could not
+analyze.  He had moments, however, in which he judged that if he could
+converse with some one about everything that took place in him, perhaps
+he might be able to grasp it all somehow, bring it to order, and
+estimate it better.  Under the influence of this hope, and after some
+days of hesitation, he decided to answer Petronius; and, though not
+certain that he would send the answer, he wrote it in the following
+words:--
+
+"It is thy wish that I write more minutely, agreed then; whether I shall
+be able to do it more clearly, I cannot tell, for there are many knots
+which I know not myself how to loosen.  I described to thee my stay
+among the Christians, and their treatment of enemies, among whom they
+had a right to count both me and Chilo; finally, of the kindness with
+which they nursed me, and of the disappearance of Lygia.  No, my dear
+friend, I was not spared because of being the son of a consul.  Such
+considerations do not exist for them, since they forgave even Chilo,
+though I urged them to bury him in the garden.  Those are people such as
+the world has not seen hitherto, and their teaching is of a kind that
+the world has not heard up to this time.  I can say nothing else, and he
+errs who measures them with our measure.  I tell thee that, if I had
+been lying with a broken arm in my own house, and if my own peoples,
+even my own family, had nursed me, I should have had more comforts, of
+course, but I should not have received half the care which I found among
+them.
+
+"Know this, too, that Lygia is like the others.  Had she been my sister
+or my wife, she could not have nursed me more tenderly. Delight filled
+my heart more than once, for I judged that love alone could inspire the
+like tenderness.  More than once I saw love in her look, in her face;
+and, wilt thou believe me? among those simple people then in that poor
+chamber, which was at once a culina and a triclinium, I felt happier
+than ever before.  No; she was not indifferent to me--and to-day even I
+cannot think that she was. Still that same Lygia left Miriam's dwelling
+in secret because of me.  I sit now whole days with my head on my hands,
+and think, Why did she do so?  Have I written thee that I volunteered to
+restore her to Aulus?  True, she declared that to be impossible at
+present, because Aulus and Pomponia had gone to Sicily, and because news
+of her return going from house to house, through slaves, would reach the
+Palatine, and Cćsar might take her from Aulus again.  But she knew that
+I would not pursue her longer; that I had left the way of violence;
+that, unable to cease loving her or to live without her, I would bring
+her into my house through a wreathed door, and seat her on a sacred skin
+at my hearth.  Still she fled!  Why?  Nothing was threatening her.  Did
+she not love me, she might have rejected me.  The day before her flight,
+I made the acquaintance of a wonderful man, a certain Paul of Tarsus,
+who spoke to me of Christ and His teachings, and spoke with such power
+that every word of his, without his willing it, turns all the
+foundations of our society into ashes.  That same man visited me after
+her flight, and said: 'If God open thy eyes to the light, and take the
+beam from them as He took it from mine, thou wilt feel that she acted
+properly; and then, perhaps, thou wilt find her.' And now I am breaking
+my head over these words, as if I had heard them from the mouth of the
+Pythoness at Delphi.  I seem to understand something.  Though they love
+people, the Christians are enemies of our life, our gods, and our
+crimes; hence she fled from me, as from a man who belongs to our
+society, and with whom she would have to share a life counted criminal
+by Christians.  Thou wilt say that since she might reject me, she had no
+need to withdraw.  But if she loved me?  In that case she desired to
+flee from love.  At the very thought of this I wish to send slaves into
+every alley in Rome, and command them to cry throughout the houses,
+'Return, Lygia!' But I cease to understand why she fled.  I should not
+have stopped her from believing in her Christ, and would myself have
+reared an altar to Him in the atrium.  What harm could one more god do
+me?  Why might I not believe in him,--I who do not believe overmuch in
+the old gods?  I know with full certainty that the Christlans do not
+lie; and they say that he rose from the dead.  A man cannot rise from
+the dead.  That Paul of Tarsus, who is a Roman citizen, but who, as a
+Jew, knows the old Hebrew writings, told me that the coming of Christ
+was promised by prophets for whole thousands of years.  All these are
+uncommon things, but does not the uncommon surround us on every side?
+People have not ceased talking yet of Apollonius of Tyana.  Paul's
+statement that there is one God, not a whole assembly of them, seems
+sound to me.  Perhaps Seneca is of this opinion, and before him many
+others.  Christ lived, gave Himself to be crucified for the salvation of
+the world, and rose from the dead.  All this is perfectly certain.  I do
+not see, therefore, a reason why I should insist on an opposite opinion,
+or why I should not rear to Him an altar, if I am ready to rear one to
+Serapis, for instance.  It would not be difficult for me even to
+renounce other gods, for no reasoning mind believes in them at present.
+But it seems that all this is not enough yet for the Christians.  It is
+not enough to honor Christ, one must also live according to His
+teachings; and here thou art on the shore of a sea which they command
+thee to wade through.
+
+"If I promised to do so, they themselves would feel that the promise was
+an empty sound of words.  Paul told me so openly. Thou knowest how I
+love Lygia, and knowest that there is nothing that I would not do for
+her.  Still, even at her wish, I cannot raise Soracte or Vesuvius on my
+shoulders, or place Thrasymene Lake on the palm of my hand, or from
+black make my eyes blue, like those of the Lygians.  If she so desired,
+I could have the wish, but the change does not lie in my power.  I am
+not a philosopher, but also I am not so dull as I have seemed, perhaps,
+more than once to thee.  I will state now the following: I know not how
+the Christians order their own lives, but I know that where their
+religion begins, Roman rule ends, Rome itself ends, our mode of life
+ends, the distinction between conquered and conqueror, between rich and
+poor, lord and slave, ends, government ends, Cćsar ends, law and all the
+order of the world ends; and in place of those appear Christ, with a
+certain mercy not existent hitherto, and kindness, opposed to human and
+our Roman instincts.  It is true that Lygia is more to me than all Rome
+and its lordship; and I would let society vanish could I have her in my
+house.  But that is another thing.  Agreement in words does not satisfy
+the Christians; a man must feel that their teaching is truth, and not
+have aught else in his soul.  But that, the gods are my witnesses, is
+beyond me.  Dost understand what that means?  There is something in my
+nature which shudders at this religion; and were my lips to glorify it,
+were I to conform to its precepts, my soul and my reason would say that
+I do so through love for Lygia, and that apart from her there is to me
+nothing on earth more repulsive.  And, a strange thing, Paul of Tarsus
+understands this, and so does that old theurgus Peter, who in spite of
+all his simplicity and low origin is the highest among them, and was the
+disciple of Christ.  And dost thou know what they are doing?  They are
+praying for me, and calling down something which they call grace; but
+nothing descends on me, save disquiet, and a greater yearning for Lygia.
+
+"I have written thee that she went away secretly; but when going she
+left me a cross which she put together from twigs of boxwood. When I
+woke up, I found it near my bed.  I have it now in the lararium, and I
+approach it yet, I cannot tell why, as if there were something divine in
+it,--that is, with awe and reverence.  I love it because her hand bound
+it, and I hate it because it divides us.  At times it seems to me that
+there are enchantments of some kind in all this affair, and that the
+theurgus, Peter, though he declares himself to be a simple shepherd, is
+greater than Apollonius, and all who preceded him, and that he has
+involved us all--Lygia, Pomponia, and me--with them.
+
+"Thou hast written that in my previous letter disquiet and sadness are
+visible.  Sadness there must be, for I have lost her again, and there is
+disquiet because something has changed in me.  I tell thee sincerely,
+that nothing is more repugnant to my nature than that religion, and
+still I cannot recognize myself since I met Lygia.  Is it enchantment,
+or love?  Circe changed people's bodies by touching them, but my soul
+has been changed.  No one but Lygia could have done that, or rather
+Lygia through that wonderful religion which she professes.  When I
+returned to my house from the Christians, no one was waiting for me.
+The slaves thought that I was in Beneventum, and would not return soon;
+hence there was disorder in the house.  I found the slaves drunk, and a
+feast, which they were giving themselves, in my triclinium.  They had
+more thought of seeing death than me, and would have been less terrified
+by it. Thou knowest with what a firm hand I hold my house; all to the
+last one dropped on their knees, and some fainted from terror.  But dost
+thou know how I acted?  At the first moment I wished to call for rods
+and hot iron, but immediately a kind of shame seized me, and, wilt thou
+lend belief? a species of pity for those wretched people.  Among them
+are old slaves whom my grandfather, Marcus Vinicius, brought from the
+Rhine in the time of Augustus. I shut myself up alone in the library,
+and there came stranger thoughts still to my head; namely, that after
+what I had heard and seen among the Christians, it did not become me to
+act with slaves as I had acted hitherto--that they too were people.  For
+a number of days they moved about in mortal terror, in the belief that I
+was delaying so as to invent punishment the more cruel, but I did not
+punish, and did not punish because I was not able.  Summoning them on
+the third day, I said, 'I forgive you; strive then with earnest service
+to correct your fault!' They fell on their knees, covering their faces
+with tears, stretching forth their hands with groans, and called me lord
+and father; but I--with shame do I write this--was equally moved.  It
+seemed to me that at that moment I was looking at the sweet face of
+Lygia, and her eyes filled with tears, thanking me for that act.  And,
+proh pudor!  I felt that my lips too were moist. Dost know what I will
+confess to thee?  This--that I cannot do without her, that it is ill for
+me alone, that I am simply unhappy, and that my sadness is greater than
+thou wilt admit.  But, as to my slaves, one thing arrested my attention.
+The forgiveness which they received not only did not make them insolent,
+not only did not weaken discipline, but never had fear roused them to
+such ready service as has gratitude.  Not only do they serve, but they
+seem to vie with one another to divine my wishes.  I mention this to
+thee because, when, the day before I left the Christians, I told Paul
+that society would fall apart because of his religion, as a cask without
+hoops, he answered, 'Love is a stronger hoop than fear.' And now I see
+that in certain cases his opinion may be right.  I have verified it also
+with references to clients, who, learning of my return, hurried to
+salute me.  Thou knowest that I have never been penurious with them; but
+my father acted haughtily with clients on principle, and taught me to
+treat them in like manner.  But when I saw their worn mantles and hungry
+faces, I had a feeling something like compassion.  I gave command to
+bring them food, and conversed besides with them,--called some by name,
+some I asked about their wives and children,--and again in the eyes
+before me I saw tears; again it seemed to me that Lygia saw what I was
+doing, that she praised and was delighted.  Is my mind beginning to
+wander, or is love confusing my feelings?  I cannot tell.  But this I do
+know; I have a continual feeling that she is looking at me from a
+distance, and I am afraid to do aught that might trouble or offend her.
+
+"So it is, Caius! but they have changed my soul, and sometimes I feel
+well for that reason.  At times again I am tormented with the thought,
+for I fear that my manhood and energy are taken from me; that, perhaps,
+I am useless, not only for counsel, for judgment, for feasts, but for
+war even.  These are undoubted enchantments!  And to such a degree am I
+changed that I tell thee this, too, which came to my head when I lay
+wounded: that if Lygia were like Nigidia, Poppća, Crispinilla, and our
+divorced women, if she were as vile, as pitiless, and as cheap as they,
+I should not love her as I do at present.  But since I love her for that
+which divides us, thou wilt divine what a chaos is rising in my soul, in
+what darkness I live, how it is that I cannot see certain roads before
+me, and how far I am from knowing what to begin.  If life may be
+compared to a spring, in my spring disquiet flows instead of water.  I
+live through the hope that I shall see her, perhaps, and sometimes it
+seems to me that I shall see her surely.  But what will happen to me in
+a year or two years, I know not, and cannot divine.  I shall not leave
+Rome.  I could not endure the society of the Augustians; and besides,
+the one solace in my sadness and disquiet is the thought that I am near
+Lygia, that through Glaucus the physician, who promised to visit me, or
+through Paul of Tarsus, I can learn something of her at times.  No; I
+would not leave Rome, even were ye to offer me the government of Egypt.
+Know also, that I have ordered the sculptor to make a stone monument for
+Gulo, whom I slew in anger.  Too late did it come to my mind that he had
+carried me in his arms, and was the first to teach me how to put an
+arrow on a bow.  I know not why it was that a recollection of him rose
+in me which was sorrow and reproach.  If what I write astonish thee, I
+reply that it astonishes me no less, but I write pure truth.--Farewell."
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XXIX
+
+
+VINICUS received no answer to this letter.  Petronius did not write,
+thinking evidently that Cćsar might command a return to Rome any day.
+In fact, news of it was spread in the city, and roused great delight in
+the hearts of the rabble, eager for games with gifts of grain and
+olives, great supplies of which had been accumulated in Ostia.  Helius,
+Nero's freedman, announced at last the return in the Senate.  But Nero,
+having embarked with his court on ships at Misenum, returned slowly,
+disembarking at coast towns for rest, or exhibitions in theatres.  He
+remained between ten and twenty days in Minturna, and even thought to
+return to Naples and wait there for spring, which was earlier than
+usual, and warm.  During all this time Vinicius lived shut up in his
+house, thinking of Lygia, and all those new things which occupied his
+soul, and brought to it ideas and feelings foreign to it thus far.  He
+saw, from time to time, only Glaucus the physician, every one of whose
+visits delighted him, for he could converse with the man about Lygia.
+Glaucus knew not, it is true, where she had found refuge, but he gave
+assurance that the elders were protecting her with watchful care.  Once
+too, when moved by the sadness of Vinicius, he told him that Peter had
+blamed Crispus for reproaching Lygia with her love.  The young
+patrician, hearing this, grew pale from emotion.  He had thought more
+than once that Lygia was not indifferent to him, but he fell into
+frequent doubt and uncertainty.  Now for the first time he heard the
+confirmation of his desires and hopes from strange lips, and, besides,
+those of a Christian.  At the first moment of gratitude he wished to run
+to Peter.  When he learned, however, that he was not in the city, but
+teaching in the neighborhood, he implored Glaucus to accompany him
+thither, promising to make liberal gifts to the poor community.  It
+seemed to him, too, that if Lygia loved him, all obstacles were thereby
+set aside, as he was ready at any moment to honor Christ.  Glaucus,
+though he urged him persistently to receive baptism, would not venture
+to assure him that he would gain Lygia at once, and said that it was
+necessary to desire the religion for its own sake, through love of
+Christ, not for other objects.  "One must have a Christian soul, too,"
+said he.  And Vinicius, though every obstacle angered him, had begun to
+understand that Glaucus, as a Christian, said what he ought to say. He
+had not become clearly conscious that one of the deepest changes in his
+nature was this,--that formerly he had measured people and things only
+by his own selfishness, but now he was accustoming himself gradually to
+the thought that other eyes might see differently, other hearts feel
+differently, and that justice did not mean always the same as personal
+profit.
+
+He wished often to see Paul of Tarsus, whose discourse made him curious
+and disturbed him.  He arranged in his mind arguments to overthrow his
+teaching, he resisted him in thought; still he wished to see him and to
+hear him.  Paul, however, had gone to Aricium, and, since the visits of
+Glaucus had become rarer, Vinicius was in perfect solitude.  He began
+again to run through back streets adjoining the Subura, and narrow lanes
+of the Trans-Tiber, in the hope that even from a distance he might see
+Lygia.  When even that hope failed him, weariness and impatience began
+to rise in his heart.  At last the time came when his former nature was
+felt again mightily, like that onrush of a wave to the shore from which
+it had receded.  It seemed to him that he had been a fool to no purpose,
+that he had stuffed his head with things which brought sadness, that he
+ought to accept from life what it gives.  He resolved to forget Lygia,
+or at least to seek pleasure and the use of things aside from her.  He
+felt that this trial, however, was the last, and he threw himself into
+it with all the blind energy of impulse peculiar to him. Life itself
+seemed to urge him to this course.
+
+THE APPIAN WAY. From the painting by G. Boulanger.
+
+The city, torpid and depopulated by winter, began to revive with hope of
+the near coming of Cćsar.  A solemn reception was in waiting for him.
+Meanwhile spring was there; the snow on the Alban Hills had vanished
+under the breath of winds from Africa. Grass-plots in the gardens were
+covered with violets.  The Forums and the Campus Martius were filled
+with people warmed by a sun of growing heat.  Along the Appian Way, the
+usual place for drives outside the city, a movement of richly ornamented
+chariots had begun.  Excursions were made to the Alban Hills.  Youthful
+women, under pretext of worshipping Juno in Lanuvium, or Diana in
+Aricia, left home to seek adventures, society, meetings, and pleasure
+beyond the city.  Here Vinicius saw one day among lordly chariots the
+splendid car of Chrysothemis, preceded by two Molossian dogs; it was
+surrounded by a crowd of young men and by old senators, whose position
+detained them in the city. Chrysothemis, driving four Corsican ponies
+herself, scattered smiles round about, and light strokes of a golden
+whip; but when she saw Vinicius she reined in her horses, took him into
+her car, and then to a feast at her house, which lasted all night.  At
+that feast Vinicius drank so much that he did not remember when they
+took him home; he recollected, however, that when Chrysothemis mentioned
+Lygia he was offended, and, being drunk, emptied a goblet of Falernian
+on her head.  When he thought of this in soberness, he was angrier
+still.  But a day later Chrysothemis, forgetting evidently the injury,
+visited him at his house, and took him to the Appian Way a second time.
+Then she supped at his house, and confessed that not only Petronius, but
+his lute-player, had grown tedious to her long since, and that her heart
+was free now.  They appeared together for a week, but the relation did
+not promise permanence.  After the Falernian incident, however, Lygia's
+name was never mentioned, but Vinicius could not free himself from
+thoughts of her.  He had the feeling always that her eyes were looking
+at his face, and that feeling filled him, as it were, with fear.  He
+suffered, and could not escape the thought that he was saddening Lygia,
+or the regret which that thought roused in him.  After the first scene
+of jealousy which Chrysothemis made because of two Syrian damsels whom
+he purchased, he let her go in rude fashion.  He did not cease at once
+from pleasure and license, it is true, but he followed them out of
+spite, as it were, toward Lygia.  At last he saw that the thought of her
+did not leave him for an instant; that she was the one cause of his evil
+activity as well as his good; and that really nothing in the world
+occupied him except her.  Disgust, and then weariness, mastered him.
+Pleasure had grown loathsome, and left mere reproaches.  It seemed to
+him that he was wretched, and this last feeling filled him with
+measureless astonishment, for formerly he recognized as good everything
+which pleased him.  Finally, he lost freedom, self-confidence, and fell
+into perfect torpidity, from which even the news of Cćsar's coming could
+not rouse him.  Nothing touched him, and he did not visit Petronius till
+the latter sent an invitation and his litter.
+
+On seeing his uncle, though greeted with gladness, he replied to his
+questions unwillingly; but his feelings and thoughts, repressed for a
+long time, burst forth at last, and flowed from his mouth in a torrent
+of words.  Once more he told in detail the history of his search for
+Lygia, his life among the Christians, everything which he had heard and
+seen there, everything which had passed through his head and heart; and
+finally he complained that he had fallen into a chaos, in which were
+lost composure and the gift of distinguishing and judging.  Nothing, he
+said, attracted him, nothing was pleasing; he did not know what to hold
+to, nor how to act.  He was ready both to honor and persecute Christ; he
+understood the loftiness of His teaching, but he felt also an
+irresistible repugnance to it.  He understood that, even should he
+possess Lygia, he would not possess her completely, for he would have to
+share her with Christ.  Finally, he was living as if not living,--
+without hope, without a morrow, without belief in happiness; around him
+was darkness in which he was groping for an exit, and could not find it.
+
+Petronius, during this narrative, looked at his changed face, at his
+hands, which while speaking he stretched forth in a strange manner, as
+if actually seeking a road in the darkness, and he fell to thinking.
+All at once he rose, and, approaching Vinicius, caught with his fingers
+the hair above his ear.
+
+"Dost know," asked he, "that thou hast gray hairs on thy temple?"
+
+"Perhaps I have," answered Vinicius; "I should not be astonished were
+all my hair to grow white soon."
+
+Silence followed.  Petronius was a man of sense, and more than once he
+meditated on the soul of man and on life.  In general, life, in the
+society in which they both lived, might be happy or unhappy externally,
+but internally it was at rest.  Just as a thunderbolt or an earthquake
+might overturn a temple, so might misfortune crush a life.  In itself,
+however, it was composed of simple and harmonious lines, free of
+complication.  But there was something else in the words of Vinicius,
+and Petronius stood for the first time before a series of spiritual
+snarls which no one had straightened out hitherto.  He was sufficiently
+a man of reason to feel their importance, but with all his quickness he
+could not answer the questions put to him.  After a long silence, he
+said at last,--
+
+"These must be enchantments."
+
+"I too have thought so," answered Vinicius; "more than once it seemed to
+me that we were enchanted, both of us."
+
+"And if thou," said Petronius, "were to go, for example, to the priests
+of Serapis?  Among them, as among priests in general, there are many
+deceivers, no doubt; but there are others who have reached wonderful
+secrets."
+
+He said this, however, without conviction and with an uncertain voice,
+for he himself felt how empty and even ridiculous that counsel must seem
+on his lips.
+
+Vinicius rubbed his forehead, and said: "Enchantments!  I have seen
+sorcerers who employed unknown and subterranean powers to their personal
+profit; I have seen those who used them to the harm of their enemies.
+But these Christians live in poverty, forgive their enemies, preach
+submission, virtue, and mercy; what profit could they get from
+enchantments, and why should they use them?"
+
+Petronius was angry that his acuteness could find no reply; not wishing,
+however, to acknowledge this, he said, so as to offer an answer of some
+kind,--"That is a new sect."  After a while he added: "By the divine
+dweller in Paphian groves, how all that injures life!  Thou wilt admire
+the goodness and virtue of those people; but I tell thee that they are
+bad, for they are enemies of life, as are diseases, and death itself.
+As things are, we have enough of these enemies; we do not need the
+Christians in addition.  Just count them: diseases, Cćsar, Tigellinus,
+Cćsar's poetry, cobblers who govern the descendants of ancient Quirites,
+freedmen who sit in the Senate.  By Castor! there is enough of this.
+That is a destructive and disgusting sect.  Hast thou tried to shake
+thyself out of this sadness, and make some little use of life?"
+
+"I have tried," answered Vinicius.
+
+"Ah, traitor!" said Petronius, laughing; "news spreads quickly through
+slaves; thou hast seduced from me Chrysothemis!"
+
+Vinicius waved his hand in disgust.
+
+"In every case I thank thee," said Petronius.  "I will send her a pair
+of slippers embroidered with pearls.  In my language of a lover that
+means, 'Walk away.' I owe thee a double gratitude,--first, thou didst
+not accept Eunice; second, thou hast freed me from Chrysothemis.  Listen
+to me!  Thou seest before thee a man who has risen early, bathed,
+feasted, possessed Chrysothemis, written satires, and even at times
+interwoven prose with verses, but who has been as wearied as Cćsar, and
+often unable to unfetter himself from gloomy thoughts.  And dost thou
+know why that was so?  It was because I sought at a distance that which
+was near. A beautiful woman is worth her weight always in gold; but if
+she loves in addition, she has simply no price.  Such a one thou wilt
+not buy with the riches of Verres.  I say now to myself as follows: I
+will fill my life with happiness, as a goblet with the foremost wine
+which the earth has produced, and I will drink till my hand becomes
+powerless and my lips grow pale.  What will come, I care not; and this
+is my latest philosophy."
+
+"Thou hast proclaimed it always; there is nothing new in it."
+
+"There is substance, which was lacking."
+
+When he had said this, he called Eunice, who entered dressed in white
+drapery,--the former slave no longer, but as it were a goddess of love
+and happiness.
+
+Petronius opened his arms to her, and said,--"Come."
+
+At this she ran up to him, and, sitting on his knee, surrounded his neck
+with her arms, and placed her head on his breast.  Vinicius saw how a
+reflection of purple began to cover her cheeks, how her eyes melted
+gradually in mist.  They formed a wonderful group of love and happiness.
+Petronius stretched his hand to a flat vase standing at one side on a
+table, and, taking a whole handful of violets, covered with them the
+head, bosom, and robe of Eunice; then he pushed the tunic from her arms,
+and said,--
+
+"Happy he who, like me, has found love enclosed in such a form!  At
+times it seems to me that we are a pair of gods.  Look thyself!  Has
+Praxiteles, or Miron, or Skopas, or Lysias even, created more wonderful
+lines?  Or does there exist in Paros or in Pentelicus such marble as
+this,--warm, rosy, and full of love?  There are people who kiss off the
+edges of vases, but I prefer to look for pleasure where it may be found
+really."
+
+He began to pass his lips along her shoulders and neck.  She was
+penetrated with a quivering; her eyes now closed, now opened, with an
+expression of unspeakable delight.  Petronius after a while raised her
+exquisite head, and said, turning to Vinicius,--"But think now, what are
+thy gloomy Christians in comparison with this?  And if thou understand
+not the difference, go thy way to them.  But this sight will cure thee."
+
+Vinicius distended his nostrils, through which entered the odor of
+violets, which filled the whole chamber, and he grew pale; for he
+thought that if he could have passed his lips along Lygia's shoulders in
+that way, it would have been a kind of sacrilegious delight so great
+that let the world vanish afterward!  But accustomed now to a quick
+perception of that which took place in him, he noticed that at that
+moment he was thinking of Lygia, and of her only.
+
+"Eunice," said Petronius, "give command, thou divine one, to prepare
+garlands for our heads and a meal."
+
+When she had gone out he turned to Vinicius.
+
+"I offered to make her free, but knowest thou what she answered?--'I
+would rather be thy slave than Cćsar's wife!'  And she would not
+consent.  I freed her then without her knowledge.  The pretor favored me
+by not requiring her presence.  But she does not know that she is free,
+as also she does not know that this house and all my jewels, excepting
+the gems, will belong to her in case of my death."  He rose and walked
+through the room, and said: "Love changes some more, others less, but it
+has changed even me. Once I loved the odor of verbenas; but as Eunice
+prefers violets, I like them now beyond all other flowers, and since
+spring came we breathe only violets."
+
+Here he stopped before Vinicius and inquired,--"But as to thee, dost
+thou keep always to nard?"
+
+"Give me peace!" answered the young man.
+
+"I wished thee to see Eunice, and I mentioned her to thee, because thou,
+perhaps, art seeking also at a distance that which is near. Maybe for
+thee too is beating, somewhere in the chambers of thy slaves, a true and
+simple heart.  Apply such a balsam to thy wounds.  Thou sayest that
+Lygia loves thee?  Perhaps she does.  But what kind of love is that
+which abdicates?  Is not the meaning this,--that there is another force
+stronger than her love?  No, my dear, Lygia is not Eunice."
+
+"All is one torment merely," answered Vinicius.  "I saw thee kissing
+Eunice's shoulders, and I thought then that if Lygia would lay hers bare
+to me I should not care if the ground opened under us next moment.  But
+at the very thought of such an act a certain dread seized me, as if I
+had attacked some vestal or wished to defile a divinity.  Lygia is not
+Eunice, but I understand the difference not in thy way.  Love has
+changed thy nostrils, and thou preferrest violets to verbenas; but it
+has changed my soul: hence, in spite of my misery and desire, I prefer
+Lygia to be what she is rather than to be like others."
+
+"In that case no injustice is done thee.  But I do not understand the
+position."
+
+"True, true!" answered Vinicius, feverishly.  "We understand each other
+no longer."
+
+Another moment of silence followed.
+
+"May Hades swallow thy Christians!" exclaimed Petronius.  "They have
+filled thee with disquiet, and destroyed thy sense of life.  May Hades
+devour them!  Thou art mistaken in thinking that their religion is good,
+for good is what gives people happiness, namely, beauty, love, power;
+but these they call vanity.  Thou art mistaken in this, that they are
+just; for if we pay good for evil, what shall we pay for good?  And
+besides, if we pay the same for one and the other, why are people to be
+good?"
+
+"No, the pay is not the same; but according to their teaching it begins
+in a future life, which is without limit."
+
+"I do not enter into that question, for we shall see hereafter if it be
+possible to see anything without eyes.  Meanwhile they are simply
+incompetents.  Ursus strangled Croton because he has limbs of bronze;
+but these are mopes, and the future cannot belong to mopes."
+
+"For them life begins with death."
+
+"Which is as if one were to say, 'Day begins with night.' Hast thou the
+intent to carry off Lygia?"
+
+"No, I cannot pay her evil for good, and I swore that I would not."
+
+"Dost thou intend to accept the religion of Christ?"
+
+"I wish to do so, but my nature cannot endure it."
+
+"But wilt thou be able to forget Lygia?"
+
+"No."
+
+"Then travel."
+
+At that moment the slaves announced that the repast was ready; but
+Petronius, to whom it seemed that he had fallen on a good thought, said,
+on the way to the triclinium,--"Thou has ridden over a part of the
+world, but only as a soldier hastening to his place of destination, and
+without halting by the way.  Go with us to Achća.  Cćsar has not given
+up the journey.  He will stop everywhere on the way, sing, receive
+crowns, plunder temples, and return as a triumphator to Italy.  That
+will resemble somewhat a journey of Bacchus and Apollo in one person.
+Augustians, male and female, a thousand citharć.  By Castor! that will
+be worth witnessing, for hitherto the world has not seen anything like
+it!"
+
+Here he placed himself on the couch before the table, by the side of
+Eunice; and when the slaves put a wreath of anemones on his head, he
+continued,--"What hast thou seen in Corbulo's service? Nothing.  Hast
+thou seen the Grecian temples thoroughly, as I have,--I who was passing
+more than two years from the hands of one guide to those of another?
+Hast thou been in Rhodes to examine the site of the Colossus?  Hast thou
+seen in Panopeus, in Phocis, the clay from which Prometheus shaped man;
+or in Sparta the eggs laid by Leda; or in Athens the famous Sarmatian
+armor made of horse-hoofs; or in Eubśa the ship of Agamemnon; or the cup
+for whose pattern the left breast of Helen served?  Hast thou seen
+Alexandria, Memphis, the Pyramids, the hair which Isis tore from her
+head in grief for Osiris?  Hast thou heard the shout of Memnon?  The
+world is wide; everything does not end at the Trans-Tiber!  I will
+accompany Cćsar, and when he returns I will leave him and go to Cyprus;
+for it is the wish of this golden-haired goddess of mine that we offer
+doves together to the divinity in Paphos, and thou must know that
+whatever she wishes must happen."
+
+"I am thy slave," said Eunice.
+
+He rested his garlanded head on her bosom, and said with a smile,--
+"Then I am the slave of a slave.  I admire thee, divine one, from feet
+to head!"
+
+Then he said to Vinicius: "Come with us to Cyprus.  But first remember
+that thou must see Cćsar.  It is bad that thou hast not been with him
+yet; Tigellinus is ready to use this to thy disadvantage.  He has no
+personal hatred for thee, it is true; but he cannot love thee, even
+because thou art my sister's son.  We shall say that thou wert sick.  We
+must think over what thou art to answer should he ask thee about Lygia.
+It will be best to wave thy hand and say that she was with thee till she
+wearied thee.  He will understand that.  Tell him also that sickness
+kept thee at home; that thy fever was increased by disappointment at not
+being able to visit Naples and hear his song; that thou wert assisted to
+health only by the hope of hearing him.  Fear no exaggeration.
+Tigellinus promises to invent, not only something great for Cćsar, but
+something enormous.  I am afraid that he will undermine me; I am afraid
+too of thy disposition."
+
+"Dost thou know," said Vinicius, "that there are people who have no fear
+of Cćsar, and who live as calmly as if he were non-existent?"
+
+"I know whom thou hast in mind--the Christians."
+
+"Yes; they alone.  But our life,--what is it if not unbroken terror?"
+
+"Do not mention thy Christians.  They fear not Cćsar, because he has not
+even heard of them perhaps; and in every case he knows nothing of them,
+and they concern him as much as withered leaves. But I tell thee that
+they are incompetents.  Thou feelest this thyself; if thy nature is
+repugnant to their teaching, it is just because thou feelest their
+incompetence.  Thou art a man of other clay; so trouble not thyself or
+me with them.  We shall be able to live and die, and what more they will
+be able to do is unknown."
+
+These words struck Vinicius; and when he returned home, he began to
+think that in truth, perhaps, the goodness and charity of Christians was
+a proof of their incompetience of soul.  It seemed to him that people of
+strength and temper could not forgive thus.  It came to his head that
+this must be the real cause of the repulsion which his Roman soul felt
+toward their teaching.  "We shall be able to live and die!" said
+Petronius. As to them, they know only how to forgive, and understand
+neither true love nor true hatred.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XXX
+
+
+Cćsar, on returning to Rome, was angry because he had returned, and
+after some days was filled anew with a wish to visit Achća. He even
+issued an edict in which he declared that his absence would be short,
+and that public affairs would not be exposed to detriment because of it.
+In company with Augustians, among whom was Vinicius, he repaired to the
+Capitol to make offerings to the gods for an auspicious journey.  But on
+the second day, when he visited the temple of Vesta, an event took place
+which changed all his projects.  Nero feared the gods, though he did not
+believe in them; he feared especially the mysterious Vesta, who filled
+him with such awe that at sight of the divinity and the sacred fire his
+hair rose on a sudden from terror, his teeth chattered, a shiver ran
+through his limbs, and he dropped into the arms of Vinicius, who
+happened there behind him.  He was borne out of the temple at once, and
+conveyed to the Palatine, where he recovered soon, but did not leave the
+bed for that day.  He declared, moreover, to the great astonishment of
+those present, that he deferred his journey, since the divinity had
+warned him secretly against haste.  An hour later it was announced
+throughout Rome that Cćsar, seeing the gloomy faces of the citizens, and
+moved by love for them, as a father for his children, would remain to
+share their lot and their pleasures.  The people, rejoiced at this
+decision, and certain also that they would not miss games and a
+distribution of wheat, assembled in crowds before the gates of the
+Palatine, and raised shouts in honor of the divine Cćsar, who
+interrupted the play at dice with which he was amusing himself with
+Augustians, and said:
+
+"Yes, there was need to defer the journey.  Egypt, and predicted
+dominion over the Orient, cannot escape me; hence Achća, too, will not
+be lost.  I will give command to cut through the isthmus of Corinth; I
+will rear such monuments in Egypt that the pyramids will seem childish
+toys in comparison; I will have a sphinx built seven times greater than
+that which is gazing into the desert outside Memphis; but I will command
+that it have my face. Coming ages will speak only of that monument and
+of me."
+
+"With thy verses thou hast reared a monument to thyself already, not
+seven, but thrice seven, times greater than the pyramid of Cheops," said
+Petronius.
+
+"But with my song?" inquired Nero.
+
+"Ah! if men could only build for thee a statue, like that of Memnon, to
+call with thy voice at sunrise!  For all ages to come the seas adjoining
+Egypt would swarm with ships in which crowds from the three parts of the
+world would be lost in listenmg to thy song."
+
+"Alas! who can do that?" said Nero.
+
+"But thou canst give command to cut out of basalt thyself driving a
+quadriga."
+
+"True!  I will do that!"
+
+"Thou wilt bestow a gift on humanity."
+
+"In Egypt I will marry the Moon, who is now a widow, and I shall be a
+god really."
+
+"And thou wilt give us stars for wives; we will make a new
+constellation, which will be called the constellation of Nero.  But do
+thou marry Vitelius to the Nile, so that he may beget hippopotamuses.
+Give the desert to Tigellinus, he will be king of the jackals."
+
+"And what dost thou predestine to me?" inquired Vatinius.
+
+"Apis bless thee!  Thou didst arrange such splendid games in Beneventum
+that I cannot wish thee ill.  Make a pair of boots for the sphinx, whose
+paws must grow numb during night-dews; after that thou will make sandals
+for the Colossi which form the alleys before the temples.  Each one will
+find there a fitting occupation. Domitius Afer, for example, will be
+treasurer, since he is known for his honesty.  I am glad, Cćsar, when
+thou art dreaming of Egypt, and I am saddened because thou hast deferred
+thy plan of a journey."
+
+"Thy mortal eyes saw nothing, for the deity becomes invisible to
+whomever it wishes," said Nero.  "Know that when I was in the temple of
+Vesta she herself stood near me, and whispered in my ear, 'Defer the
+journey.' That happened so unexpectedly that I was terrified, though for
+such an evident care of the gods for me I should be thankful."
+
+"We were all terrified," said Tigellinus, "and the vestal Rubria
+fainted."
+
+"Rubria!" said Nero; "what a snowy neck she has!"
+
+"But she blushed at sight of the divine Cćsar--"
+
+"True!  I noticed that myself.  That is wonderful.  There is something
+divine in every vestal, and Rubria is very beautiful.
+
+"Tell me," said he, after a moment's meditation, "why people fear Vesta
+more than other gods.  What does this mean?  Though I am the chief
+priest, fear seized me to-day.  I remember only that I was falling back,
+and should have dropped to the ground had not some one supported me.
+Who was it?"
+
+"I," answered Vinicius.
+
+"Oh, thou 'stern Mars'! Why wert thou not in Beneventum?  They told me
+that thou wert ill, and indeed thy face is changed.  But I heard that
+Croton wished to kill thee?  Is that true?"
+
+"It is, and he broke my arm; but I defended myself."
+
+"With a broken arm?"
+
+"A certain barbarian helped me; he was stronger than Croton."
+
+Nero looked at him with astonishment.  "Stronger than Croton?  Art thou
+jesting?  Croton was the strongest of men, but now here is Syphax from
+Ethiopia."
+
+"I tell thee, Cćsar, what I saw with my own eyes."
+
+"Where is that pearl?  Has he not become king of Nemi?"
+
+"I cannot tell, Cćsar.  I lost sight of him."
+
+"Thou knowest not even of what people he is?"
+
+"I had a broken arm, and could not inquire for him."
+
+"Seek him, and find him for me."
+
+"I will occupy myself with that," said Tigellinus.
+
+But Nero spoke further to Vinicius: "I thank thee for having supported
+me; I might have broken my head by a fall.  On a time thou wert a good
+companion, but campaigning and service with Corbulo have made thee wild
+in some way; I see thee rarely.
+
+"How is that maiden too narrow in the hips, with whom thou wert in
+love," asked he after a while, "and whom I took from Aulus for thee?"
+
+Vinicius was confused, but Petronius came to his aid at that moment.  "I
+will lay a wager, lord," said he, "that he has forgotten. Dost thou see
+his confusion?  Ask him how many of them there were since that time, and
+I will not give assurance of his power to answer.  The Vinicius are good
+soldiers, but still better gamecocks. They need whole flocks.  Punish
+him for that, lord, by not inviting him to the feast which Tigellinus
+promises to arrange in thy honor on the pond of Agrippa."
+
+"I will not do that.  I trust, Tigellinus, that flocks of beauty will
+not be lacking there."
+
+"Could the Graces be absent where Amor will be present?" answered
+Tigellinus.
+
+"Weariness tortures me," said Nero.  "I have remained in Rome at the
+will of the goddess, but I cannot endure the city.  I will go to Antium.
+I am stifled in these narrow streets, amid these tumble-down houses,
+amid these alleys.  Foul air flies even here to my house and my gardens.
+Oh, if an earthquake would destroy Rome, if some angry god would level
+it to the earth!  I would show how a city should be built, which is the
+head of the world and my capital."
+
+"Cćsar," answered Tigellinus, "thou sayest, 'If some angry god would
+destroy the city,'--is it so?"
+
+"It is!  What then?"
+
+"But art thou not a god?"
+
+Nero waved his hand with an expression of weariness, and said,--"We
+shall see thy work on the pond of Agrippa.  Afterward I go to Antium.
+Ye are all little, hence do not understand that I need immense things."
+
+Then he closed his eyes, giving to understand in that way that he needed
+rest.  In fact, the Augustians were beginning to depart. Petronius went
+out with Vinicius, and said to him,--"Thou art invited, then, to share
+in the amusement.  Bronzebeard has renounced the journey, but he will be
+madder than ever; he has fixed himself in the city as in his own house.
+Try thou, too, to find in these madnesses amusement and forgetfulness.
+Well! we have conquered the world, and have a right to amuse ourselves.
+Thou, Marcus, art a very comely fellow, and to that I ascribe in part
+the weakness which I have for thee.  By the Ephesian Diana! if thou
+couldst see thy joined brows, and thy face in which the ancient blood of
+the Quirites is evident!  Others near thee looked like freedmen.  True!
+were it not for that mad religion, Lygia would be in thy house to-day.
+Attempt once more to prove to me that they are not enemies of life and
+mankind.  They have acted well toward thee, hence thou mayst be grateful
+to them; but in thy place I should detest that religion, and seek
+pleasure where I could find it. Thou art a comely fellow, I repeat, and
+Rome is swarming with divorced women."
+
+"I wonder only that all this does not torture thee yet?"
+
+"Who has told thee that it does not?  It tortures me this long time, but
+I am not of thy years.  Besides, I have other attachments which are
+lacking thee.  I love books, thou hast no love for them; I love poetry,
+which annoys thee; I love pottery, gems, a multitude of things, at which
+thou dost not look; I have a pain in my loins, which thou hast not; and,
+finally, I have found Eunice, but thou hast found nothing similar.  For
+me, it is pleasant in my house, among masterpieces; of thee I can never
+make a man of ćsthetic feeling.  I know that in life I shall never find
+anything beyond what I have found; thou thyself knowest not that thou
+art hoping yet continually, and seeking.  If death were to visit thee,
+with all thy courage and sadness, thou wouldst die with astonishment
+that it was necessary to leave the world; but I should accept death as a
+necessity, with the conviction that there is no fruit in the world which
+I have not tasted.  I do not hurry, neither shall I loiter; I shall try
+merely to be joyful to the end.  There are cheerful sceptics in the
+world.  For me, the Stoics are fools; but stoicism tempers men, at
+least, while thy Christians bring sadness into the world, which in life
+is the same as rain in nature.  Dost thou know what I have learned?
+That during the festivities which Tigellinus will arrange at the pond of
+Agrippa, there will be lupanaria, and in them women from the first
+houses of Rome.  Will there be not even one sufficiently beautiful to
+console thee?  There will be maidens, too, appearing in society for the
+first time--as nymphs.  Such is our Roman Cćsardom!  The air is mild
+already; the midday breeze will warm the water and not bring pimples on
+naked bodies.  And thou, Narcissus, know this, that there will not be
+one to refuse thee,--not one, even though she be a vestal virgin."
+
+Vinicius began to strike his head with his palm, like a man occupied
+eternally with one thought.
+
+"I should need luck to find such a one."
+
+"And who did this for thee, if not the Christians?  But people whose
+standard is a cross cannot be different.  Listen to me: Greece was
+beautiful, and created wisdom; we created power; and what, to thy
+thinking, can this teaching create?  If thou know, explain; for, by
+Pollux!  I cannot divine it."
+
+"Thou art afraid, it seems, lest I become a Christian," said Vinicius,
+shrugging his shoulders.
+
+"I am afraid that thou hast spoiled life for thyself.  If thou canst not
+be a Grecian, be a Roman; possess and enjoy.  Our madnesses have a
+certain sense, for there is in them a kind of thought of our own.  I
+despise Bronzebeard, because he is a Greek buffoon.  If he held himself
+a Roman, I should recognize that he was right in permitting himself
+madness.  Promise me that if thou find some Christian on returning home,
+thou wilt show thy tongue to him.  If he be Glaucus the physician, he
+will not wonder.--Till we meet on the pond of Agrippa."
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XXXI
+
+
+PRETORIANS surrounded the groves on the banks of the pond of Agrippa,
+lest over-numerous throngs of spectators might annoy Cćsar and his
+guests; though it was said that everything in Rome distinguished for
+wealth, beauty, or intellect was present at that feast, which had no
+equal in the history of the city.  Tigellinus wished to recompense Cćsar
+for the deferred journey to Achća, to surpass all who had ever feasted
+Nero, and prove that no man could entertain as he could.  With this
+object in view, while with Cćsar in Naples, and later in Beneventum, he
+had made preparations and sent orders to bring from the remotest regions
+of the earth beasts, birds, rare fish, and plants, not omitting vessels
+and cloths, which were to enhance the splendor of the feast.  The
+revenues of whole provinces went to satisfy mad projects; but the
+powerful favorite had no need to hesitate.  His influence grew daily.
+Tigellinus was not dearer than others to Nero yet, perhaps, but he was
+becoming more and more indispensable.  Petronius surpassed him
+infinitely in polish, intellect, wit; in conversation he knew better how
+to amuse Cćsar: but to his misfortune he surpassed in conversation Cćsar
+himself, hence he roused his jealousy; moreover he could not be an
+obedient instrument in everything, and Cćsar feared his opinion when
+there were questions in matters of taste.  But before Tigellinus, Nero
+never felt any restraint.  The very title, Arbiter Elegantiarum, which
+had been given to Petronius, annoyed Nero's vanity, for who had the
+right to bear that title but himself?  Tigellinus had sense enough to
+know his own deficiencies; and seeing that he could not compete with
+Petronius, Lucan, or others distinguished by birth, talents, or
+learning, he resolved to extinguish them by the suppleness of his
+services, and above all by such a magnificence that the imagination of
+Nero himself would be struck by it.  He had arranged to give the feast
+on a gigantic raft, framed of gilded timbers.  The borders of this raft
+were decked with splendid shells found in the Red Sea and the Indian
+Ocean, shells brilliant with the colors of pearls and the rainbow.  The
+banks of the pond were covered with groups of palm, with groves of
+lotus, and blooming roses.  In the midst of these were hidden fountains
+of perfumed water, statues of gods and goddesses, and gold or silver
+cages filled with birds of various colors.  In the centre of the raft
+rose an immense tent, or rather, not to hide the feasters, only the roof
+of a tent, made of Syrian purple, resting on silver columns; under it
+were gleaming, like suns, tables prepared for the guests, loaded with
+Alexandrian glass, crystal, and vessels simply beyond price,--the
+plunder of Italy, Greece, and Asia Minor.  The raft, which because of
+plants accumulated on it had the appearance of an island and a garden,
+was joined by cords of gold and purple to boats shaped like fish, swans,
+mews, and flamingoes, in which sat at painted oars naked rowers of both
+sexes, with forms and features of marvellous beauty, their hair dressed
+in Oriental fashion, or gathered in golden nets.  When Nero arrived at
+the main raft with Poppća and the Augustians, and sat beneath the purple
+tent-roof, the oars struck the water, the boats moved, the golden cords
+stretched, and the raft with the feast and the guests began to move and
+describe circles on the pond.  Other boats surrounded it, and other
+smaller rafts, filled with women playing on citharć and harps, women
+whose rosy bodies on the blue background of the sky and the water and in
+the reflections from golden instruments seemed to absorb that blue and
+those reflections, and to change and bloom like flowers.
+
+From the groves at the banks, from fantastic buildings reared for that
+day and hidden among thickets, were heard music and song. The
+neighborhood resounded, the groves resounded; echoes bore around the
+voices of horns and trumpets.  Cćsar himself, with Poppća on one side of
+him, and Pythagoras on the other, was amazed; and more especially when
+among the boats young slave maidens appeared as sirens, and were covered
+with green network in imitation of scales, he did not spare praises on
+Tigellinus.  But he looked at Petronius from habit, wishing to learn the
+opinion of the "arbiter," who seemed indifferent for a long time, and
+only when questioned outright, answered,--"I judge, lord, that ten
+thousand naked maidens make less impression than one."
+
+But the "floating feast" pleased Cćsar, for it was something new.
+Besides, such exquisite dishes were served that the imagination of
+Apicius would have failed at sight of them, and wines of so many kinds
+that Otho, who used to serve eighty, would have hidden under water with
+shame, could he have witnessed the luxury of that feast.  Besides women,
+the Augustians sat down at the table, among whom Vinicius excelled all
+with his beauty.  Formerly his figure and face indicated too clearly the
+soldier by profession; now mental suffering and the physical pain
+through which he had passed had chiselled his features, as if the
+delicate hand of a master had passed over them.  His complexion had lost
+its former swarthiness, but the yellowish gleam of Numidian marble
+remained on it.  His eyes had grown larger and more pensive.  His body
+had retained its former powerful outlines, as if created for armor; but
+above the body of a legionary was seen the head of a Grecian god, or at
+least of a refined patrician, at once subtle and splendid.  Petronius,
+in saying that none of the ladies of Cćsar's court would be able or
+willing to resist Vinicius, spoke like a man of experience.  All gazed
+at him now, not excepting Poppća, or the vestal virgin Rubria, whom
+Cćsar wished to see at the feast.
+
+Wines, cooled in mountain snow, soon warmed the hearts and heads of the
+guests.  Boats shaped as grasshoppers or butterflies shot forth from the
+bushes at the shore every moment.  The blue surface of the pond seemed
+occupied by butterflies.  Above the boats here and there flew doves, and
+other birds from India and Africa, fastened with silver and blue threads
+or strings.  The sun had passed the greater part of the sky, but the day
+was warm and even hot, though in the beginning of May.  The pond heaved
+from the strokes of oars, which beat the water in time with music; but
+in the air there was not the least breath of wind; the groves were
+motionless, as if lost in listening and in gazing at that which was
+happening on the water.  The raft circled continually on the pond,
+bearing guests who were increasingly drunk and boisterous.
+
+The feast had not run half its course yet, when the order in which all
+sat at the table was observed no longer.  Cćsar gave the example, for,
+rising himself, he commanded Vinicius, who sat next to Rubria the
+vestal, to move.  Nero occupied the place, and began to whisper
+something in Rubria's ear.  Vinicius found himself next to Poppća, who
+extended her arm and begged him to fasten her loosened bracelet.  When
+he did so, with hands trembling somewhat, she cast at him from beneath
+her long lashes a glance as it were of modesty, and shook her golden
+head as if in resistance.
+
+Meanwhile the sun, growing larger, ruddier, sank slowly behind the tops
+of the grove; the guests were for the greater part thoroughly
+intoxicated.  The raft circled now nearer the shore, on which, among
+bunches of trees and flowers, were seen groups of people, disguised as
+fauns or satyrs, playing on flutes, bagpipes, and drums, with groups of
+maidens representing nymphs, dryads, and hamadryads.  Darkness fell at
+last amid drunken shouts from the tent, shouts raised in honor of Luna.
+Meanwhile the groves were lighted with a thousand lamps.  From the
+lupanaria on the shores shone swarms of lights; on the terraces appeared
+new naked groups, formed of the wives and daughters of the first Roman
+houses.  These with voice and unrestrained manner began to lure
+partners.  The raft touched the shore at last.  Cćsar and the Augustians
+vanished in the groves, scattered in lupanaria, in tents hidden in
+thickets, in grottos artificially arranged among fountains and springs.
+Madness seized all; no one knew whither Cćsar had gone; no one knew who
+was a senator, who a knight, who a dancer, who a musician.  Satyrs and
+fauns fell to chasing nymphs with shouting.  They struck lamps with
+thyrses to quench them. Darkness covered certain parts of the grove.
+Everywhere, however, laughter and shouts were heard, and whispers, and
+panting breaths. In fact Rome had not seen anything like that before.
+
+Vinicius was not drunk, as he had been at the feast in Nero's palace,
+when Lygia was present; but he was roused and intoxicated by the sight
+of everything done round about, and at last the fever of pleasure seized
+him.  Rushing into the forest, he ran, with others, examining who of the
+dryads seemed most beautiful.  New flocks of these raced around him
+every moment with shouts and with songs; these flocks were pursued by
+fauns, satyrs, senators, knights, and by sounds of music.  Seeing at
+last a band of maidens led by one arrayed as Diana, he sprang to it,
+intending to examine the goddess more closely.  All at once the heart
+sank in his bosom, for he thought that in that goddess, with the moon on
+her forehead, he recognized Lygia.
+
+They encircled him with a mad whirl, and, wishing evidently to incline
+him to follow, rushed away the next moment like a herd of deer.  But he
+stood on the spot with beating heart, breathless; for though he saw that
+the Diana was not Lygia, and that at close sight she was not even like
+her, the too powerful impression deprived him of strength.  Straightway
+he was seized by such yearning as he had never felt before, and love for
+Lygia rushed to his breast in a new, immense wave.  Never had she seemed
+so dear, pure, and beloved as in that forest of madness and frenzied
+excess.  A moment before, he himself wished to drink of that cup, and
+share in that shameless letting loose of the senses; now disgust and
+repugnance possessed him.  He felt that infamy was stifling him; that
+his breast needed air and the stars which were hidden by the thickets of
+that dreadful grove.  He determined to flee; but barely had he moved
+when before him stood some veiled figure, which placed its hands on his
+shoulders and whispered, flooding his face with burning breath,   "I
+love thee!  Come! no one will see us, hasten!"
+
+Vinicius was roused, as if from a dream.
+
+"Who art thou?"
+
+But she leaned her breast on him and insisted,--"Hurry!  See how lonely
+it is here, and I love thee!  Come!"
+
+"Who art thou?" repeated Vinicius.
+
+"Guess!"
+
+As she said this, she pressed her lips to his through the veil, drawing
+toward her his head at the same time, till at last breath failed the
+woman and she tore her face from him.
+
+"Night of love! night of madness!" said she, catching the air quickly.
+"Today is free!  Thou hast me!"
+
+But that kiss burned Vinicius; it filled him with disquiet.  His soul
+and heart were elsewhere; in the whole world nothing existed for him
+except Lygia.  So, pushing back the veiled figure, he said,--
+
+"Whoever thou be, I love another, I do not wish thee."
+
+"Remove the veil," said she, lowering her head toward him.
+
+At that moment the leaves of the nearest myrtle began to rustle; the
+veiled woman vanished like a dream vision, but from a distance her laugh
+was heard, strange in some way, and ominous.
+
+Petronius stood before Vinicius.
+
+"I have heard and seen," said he.
+
+"Let us go from this place," replied Vinicius.
+
+And they went.  They passed the lupanaria gleaming with light, the
+grove, the line of mounted pretorians, and found the litters.
+
+"I will go with thee," said Petronius.
+
+They sat down together.  On the road both were silent, and only in the
+atrium of Vinicius's house did Petronius ask,--"Dost thou know who that
+was?"
+
+"Was it Rubria?" asked Vinicius, repulsed at the very thought that
+Rubria was a vestal.
+
+"No."
+
+"Who then?"
+
+Petronius lowered his voice.  "The fire of Vesta was defiled, for Rubria
+was with Cćsar.  But with thee was speaking"--and he finished in a still
+lower voice, "the divine Augusta."
+
+A moment of silence followed.
+
+"Cćsar," said Petronius, "was unable to hide from Poppća his desire for
+Rubria; therefore she wished, perhaps, to avenge herself. But I hindered
+you both.  Hadst thou recognized the Augusta and refused her, thou
+wouldst have been ruined beyond rescue,--thou, Lygia, and I, perhaps."
+
+"I have enough of Rome, Cćsar, feasts, the Augusta, Tigellinus, and all
+of you!" burst out Vinicius.  "I am stifling.  I cannot live thus; I
+cannot.  Dost understand me?"
+
+"Vinicius, thou art losing sense, judgment, moderation."
+
+"I love only her in this world."
+
+"What of that?"
+
+"This, that I wish no other love.  I have no wish for your life, your
+feasts, your shamelessness, your crimes!"
+
+"What is taking place in thee?  Art thou a Christian?"
+
+The young man seized his head with both hands, and repeated, as if in
+despair,--"Not yet! not yet!"
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XXXII
+
+
+PETRONIUS went home shrugging his shoulders and greatly dissatisfied.
+It was evident to him that he and Vinicius had ceased to understand each
+other, that their souls had separated entirely. Once Petronius had
+immense influence over the young soldier.  He had been for him a model
+in everything, and frequently a few ironical words of his sufficed to
+restrain Vinicius or urge him to something.  At present there remained
+nothing of that; such was the change that Petronius did not try his
+former methods, feeling that his wit and irony would slip without effect
+along the new principles which love and contact with the uncomprehended
+society of Christians had put in the soul of Vinicius.  The veteran
+sceptic understood that he had lost the key to that soul.  This
+knowledge filled him with dissatisfaction and even with fear, which was
+heightened by the events of that night.  "If on the part of the Augusta
+it is not a passing whim but a more enduring desire," thought Petronius,
+"one of two things will happen,--either Vinicius will not resist her,
+and he may be ruined by any accident, or, what is like him to-day, he
+will resist, and in that event he will be ruined certainly, and perhaps
+I with him, even because I am his relative, and because the Augusta,
+having included a whole family in her hatred, will throw the weight of
+her influence on the side of Tigellinus.  In this way and that it is
+bad."  Petronius was a man of courage and felt no dread of death; but
+since he hoped nothing from it, he had no wish to invite it.  After long
+meditation, he decided at last that it would be better and safer to send
+Vinicius from Rome on a journey.  Ah! but if in addition he could give
+him Lygia for the road, he would do so with pleasure.  But he hoped that
+it would not be too difficult to persuade him to the journey without
+her.  He would spread a report on the Palatine then of Vinicius's
+illness, and remove danger as well from his nephew as himself.  The
+Augusta did not know whether she was recognized by Vinicius; she might
+suppose that she was not, hence her vanity had not suffered much so far.
+But it might be different in the future, and it was necessary to avoid
+peril.  Petronius wished to gain time, above all; for he understood that
+once Cćsar set out for Achća, Tigellinus, who comprehended nothing in
+the domain of art, would descend to the second place and lose his
+influence.  In Greece Petronius was sure of victory over every opponent.
+
+Meanwhile he determined to watch over Vinicius, and urge him to the
+journey.  For a number of days he was ever thinking over this, that if
+he obtained an edict from Cćsar expelling the Christians from Rome,
+Lygia would leave it with the other confessors of Christ, and after her
+Vinicius too.  Then there would be no need to persuade him.  The thing
+itself was possible.  In fact it was not so long since, when the Jews
+began disturbances out of hatred to the Christians, Claudius, unable to
+distinguish one from the other, expelled the Jews.  Why should not Nero
+expel the Christians? There would be more room in Rome without them.
+After that "floating feast" Petronius saw Nero daily, both on the
+Palatine and in other houses.  To suggest such an idea was easy, for
+Nero never opposed suggestions which brought harm or ruin to any one.
+After mature decision Petronius framed a whole plan for himself.  He
+would prepare a feast in his own house, and at this feast persuade Cćsar
+to issue an edict.  He had even a hope, which was not barren, that Cćsar
+would confide the execution of the edict to him.  He would send out
+Lygia with all the consideration proper to the mistress of Vinicius to
+Baić, for instance, and let them love and amuse themselves there with
+Christianity as much as they liked.
+
+Meanwhile he visited Vinicius frequently, first, because he could not,
+despite all his Roman selfishness, rid himself of attachment to the
+young tribune, and second, because he wished to persuade him to the
+journey.  Vinicius feigned sickness, and did not show himself on the
+Palatine, where new plans appeared every day.  At last Petronius heard
+from Cćsar's own lips that three days from then he would go to Antium
+without fail.  Next morning he went straightway to inform Vinicius, who
+showed him a list of persons invited to Antium, which list one of
+Cćsar's freedmen had brought him that morning.
+
+"My name is on it; so is thine," said he.  "Thou wilt find the same at
+thy house on returning."
+
+"Were I not among the invited," replied Petronius, "it would mean that I
+must die; I do not expect that to happen before the journey to Achća.  I
+shall be too useful to Nero.  Barely have we come to Rome," said he, on
+looking at the list, "when we must leave again, and drag over the road
+to Antium.  But we must go, for this is not merely an invitation, it is
+a command as well."
+
+"And if some one would not obey?"
+
+"He would be invited in another style to go on a journey notably
+longer,--one from which people do not return.  What a pity that thou
+hast not obeyed my counsel and left Rome in season!  Now thou must go to
+Antium."
+
+"I must go to Antium.  See in what times we live and what vile slaves we
+are!"
+
+"Hast thou noticed that only to-day?"
+
+"No.  But thou hast explained to me that Christian teaching is an enemy
+of life, since it shackles it.  But can their shackles be stronger than
+those which we carry?  Thou hast said, 'Greece created wisdom and
+beauty, and Rome power.'  Where is our power?"
+
+"Call Chilo and talk with him.  I have no desire to-day to philosophize.
+By Hercules!  I did not create these times, and I do not answer for
+them.  Let us speak of Antium.  Know that great danger is awaiting thee,
+and it would be better, perhaps, to measure strength with that Ursus who
+choked Croton than to go there, but still thou canst not refuse."
+
+Vinicius waved his hand carelessly, and said,--"Danger!  We are all
+wandering in the shadow of death, and every moment some head sinks in
+its darkness."
+
+"Am I to enumerate all who had a little sense, and therefore, in spite
+of the times of Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, and Nero, lived eighty and
+ninety years?  Let even such a man as Domitius Afer serve thee as an
+example.  He has grown old quietly, though all his life he has been a
+criminal and a villain."
+
+"Perhaps for that very reason!" answered Vinicius.
+
+Then he began to glance over the list and read: "Tigellinus, Vatinius,
+Sextus Africanus, Aquilinus Regulus, Suilius Nerulinus, Eprius
+Marcellus, and so on!  What an assembly of ruffians and scoundrels!  And
+to say that they govern the world!  Would it not become them better to
+exhibit an Egyptian or Syrian divinity through villages, jingle sistra,
+and earn their bread by telling fortunes or dancing?"
+
+"Or exhibiting learned monkeys, calculating dogs, or a flute-playing
+ass," added Petronius.  "That is true, but let us speak of something
+more important.  Summon thy attention and listen.  I have said on the
+Palatine that thou art ill, unable to leave the house; still thy name is
+on the list, which proves that some one does not credit my stories and
+has seen to this purposely.  Nero cares nothing for the matter, since
+for him thou art a soldier, who has no conception of poetry or music,
+and with whom at the very highest he can talk only about races in the
+circus.  So Poppća must have seen to putting down thy name, which means
+that her desire for thee was not a passing whim, and that she wants to
+win thee."
+
+"She is a daring Augusta."
+
+"Indeed she is daring, for she may ruin herself beyond redemption. May
+Venus inspire her, however, with another love as soon as possible; but
+since she desires thee thou must observe the very greatest caution.  She
+has begun to weary Bronzebeard already; he prefers Rubria now, or
+Pythagoras, but, through consideration of self, he would wreak the most
+horrible vengeance on us."
+
+"In the grove I knew not that she was speaking to me; but thou wert
+listening.  I said that I loved another, and did not wish her. Thou
+knowest that."
+
+"I implore thee, by all the infernal gods, lose not the remnant of
+reason which the Christians have left in thee.  How is it possible to
+hesitate, having a choice between probable and certain destruction?
+Have I not said already that if thou hadst wounded the Augusta's vanity,
+there would have been no rescue for thee?  By Hades! if life has grown
+hateful to thee, better open thy veins at once, or cast thyself on a
+sword, for shouldst thou offend Poppća, a less easy death may meet thee.
+It was easier once to converse with thee.  What concerns thee specially?
+Would this affair cause thee loss, or hinder thee from loving thy Lygia?
+Remember, besides, that Poppća saw her on the Palatine.  It will not be
+difficult for her to guess why thou art rejecting such lofty favor, and
+she will get Lygia even from under the earth.  Thou wilt ruin not only
+thyself, but Lygia too.  Dost understand?"
+
+Vinicius listened as if thinking of something else, and at last he
+said,--
+
+"I must see her."
+
+"Who?  Lygia?"
+
+"Lygia."
+
+"Dost thou know where she is?"
+
+"No."
+
+"Then thou wilt begin anew to search for her in old cemeteries and
+beyond the Tiber?"
+
+"I know not, but I must see her."
+
+"Well, though she is a Christian, it may turn out that she has more
+judgment than thou; and it will ccrtainly, unless she wishes thy ruin."
+
+Vinicius shrugged his shoulders.  "She saved me from the hands of
+Ursus."
+
+"Then hurry, for Bronzebeard will not postpone his departure. Sentences
+of death may be issued in Antium also."
+
+But Vinicius did not hear.  One thought alone occupied him, an interview
+with Lygia; hence he began to think over methods.
+
+Meanwhile something intervened which might set aside every difficulty.
+Chilo came to his house unexpectedly.
+
+He entered wretched and worn, with signs of hunger on his face and in
+rags; but the servants, who had the former command to admit him at all
+hours of the day or night, did not dare to detain him, so he went
+straight to the atrium, and standing before Vinicius said,--"May the
+gods give thee immortality, and share with thee dominion over the
+world."
+
+Vinicius at the first moment wished to give the order to throw him out
+of doors; but the thought came to him that the Greek perhaps knew
+something of Lygia, and curiosity overcame his disgust.
+
+"Is that thou?" asked he.  "What has happened to thee?"
+
+"Evil, O son of Jove," answered Chilo.  "Real virtue is a ware for which
+no one inquires now, and a genuine sage must be glad of this even, that
+once in five days he has something with which to buy from the butcher a
+sheep's head, to gnaw in a garret, washing it down with his tears.  Ah,
+lord!  What thou didst give me I paid Atractus for books, and afterward
+I was robbed and ruined.  The slave who was to write down my wisdom
+fled, taking the remnant of what thy generosity bestowed on me.  I am in
+misery, but I thought to myself: To whom can I go, if not to thee, O
+Serapis, whom I love and deify, for whom I have exposed my life?"
+
+"Why hast thou come, and what dost thou bring?"
+
+"I come for aid, O Baal, and I bring my misery, my tears, my love, and
+finally the information which through love for thee I have collected.
+Thou rememberest, lord, I told thee once how I had given a slave of the
+divine Petronius one thread from the girdle of the Paphian Venus?  I
+know now that it helped her, and thou, O descendant of the Sun, who
+knowest what is happening in that house, knowest also what Eunice is
+there.  I have another such thread.  I have preserved it for thee,
+lord."
+
+Here he stopped, on noticing the anger which was gathering on the brows
+of Vinicius, and said quickly, so as to anticipate the outburst,--
+
+"I know where the divine Lygia is living; I will show thee the street
+and the house."
+
+Vinicius repressed the emotion with which that news filled him, and
+said,--"Where is she?"
+
+"With Linus, the elder priest of the Christians.  She is there with
+Ursus, who goes as before to the miller, a namesake of thy dispensator
+Demas.  Yes, Demas!  Ursus works in the night; so if thou surround the
+house at night, thou wilt not find him.  Linus is old, and besides him
+there are only two aged women in the house."
+
+"Whence dost thou know all this?"
+
+"Thou rememberest, lord, that the Christians had me in their hands, and
+spared me.  True, Glaucus was mistaken in thinking that I was the cause
+of his misfortunes; but he believed that I was, poor man, and he
+believes so yet.  Still they spared me.  Then be not astonished, lord,
+that gratitude filled my heart.  I am a man of former, of better times.
+This was my thought:  Am I to desert friends and benefactors?  Would I
+not have been hard-hearted not to inquire about them, not to learn what
+was happening to them, how health was serving them, and where they were
+living?  By the Pessinian Cybele!  I am not capable of such conduct.  At
+first I was restrained by fear that they might interpret my wishes
+incorrectly.  But the love which I bore them proved greater than my
+fear, and the ease with which they forgive every injustice lent me
+special courage.  But above all I was thinking of thee, lord.  Our last
+attempt ended in defeat; but can such a son of Fortune be reconciled
+with defeat?  So I prepared victory for thee. The house stands apart.
+Thou mayst give command to thy slaves to surround it so that not a mouse
+could escape.  My lord, on thee alone it depends to have that
+magnanimous king's daughter in thy house this very night.  But should
+that happen, remember that the cause of it is the very poor and hungry
+son of my father."
+
+The blood rushed to Vinicius's head.  Temptation shook all his being
+again.  Yes; that was the method, and this time a certain one. Once he
+has Lygia in his house, who can take her?  Once he makes Lygia his
+mistress, what will be left to her, unless to remain so forever?  And
+let all religions perish!  What will the Christians mean to him then,
+with their mercy and forbidding faith?  Is it not time to shake himself
+free of all that?  Is it not time to live as all live?  What will Lygia
+do later, save to reconcile her fate with the religion which she
+professes?  That, too, is a question of inferior significance.  Those
+are matters devoid of importance.  First of all, she will be his,--and
+his this very day.  And it is a question, too, whether that religion
+will hold out in her soul against the world which is new to her, against
+luxury, and excitements to which she must yield.  All may happen to-day.
+He needs only to detain Chilo, and give an order at dark.  And then
+delight without end!  "What has my life been?" thought Vinicius;
+"suffering, unsatisfied desire, and an endless propounding of problems
+without answer."  In this way all will be cut short and ended.  He
+recollected, it is true, that he had promised not to raise a hand
+against her.  But by what had he sworn?  Not by the gods, for he did not
+believe in them; not by Christ, for he did not believe in him yet.
+Finally, if she feels injured, he will marry her, and thus repair the
+wrong.  Yes; to that he feels bound, for to her he is indebted for life.
+Here he recalled the day in which with Croton he had attacked her
+retreat; he remembered the Lygian's fist raised above him, and all that
+had happened later.  He saw her again bent over his couch, dressed in
+the garb of a slave, beautiful as a divinity, a benefactress kind and
+glorified.  His eyes passed to the lararium unconsciously, and to the
+little cross which she left him before going.  Will he pay for all that
+by a new attack?  Will he drag her by the hair as a slave to his
+cubiculum?  And how will he be able to do so, since he not only desires
+but loves her, and he loves her specially because she is as she is?  All
+at once he felt that it was not enough for him to have her in the house,
+it was not enough to seize her in his arms by superior force; he felt
+that his love needed something more,--her consent, her loves and her
+soul.  Blessed that roof, if she come under it willingly; blessed the
+moment, blessed the day, blessed his life.  Then the happiness of both
+will be as inexhaustible as the ocean, as the sun.  But to seize her by
+violence would be to destroy that happiness forever, and at the same
+time to destroy, and defile that which is most precious and alone
+beloved in life.  Terror seized him now at the very thought of this.  He
+glanced at Chilo, who, while  watching him, pushed his hands under his
+rags and scratched himself  uneasily.  That instant, disgust unspeakable
+took possession of  Vinicius, and a wish to trample that former
+assistant of his, as he  would a foul worm or venomous serpent.  In an
+instant he knew what to do.  But knowing no measure in anything, and
+following the impulse of  his stern Roman nature, he turned toward Chilo
+and said,--
+
+"I will not do what thou advisest, but, lest thou go without just
+reward, I will command to give thee three hundred stripes in the
+domestic prison."
+
+Chilo grew pale.  There was so much cold resolution in the beautiful
+face of Vinicius that he could not deceive himself for a moment with the
+hope that the promised reward was no more than a cruel jest.
+
+Hence he threw himself on his knees in one instant, and bending double
+began to groan in a broken voice,--"How, O king of Persia?  Why?--O
+pyramid of kindness!  Colossus of mercy!  For what?--I am old, hungry,
+unfortunate--I have served thee--dost thou repay in this manner?"
+
+"As thou didst the Christians," said Vinicius.  And he called the
+dispensator.
+
+But Chilo sprang toward his feet, and, embracing them convulsively,
+talked, while his face was covered with deathly pallor,--"O lord, O
+lord!  I am old!  Fifty, not three hundred stripes.  Fifty are enough!
+A hundred, not three hundred!  Oh, mercy, mercy!"
+
+Vinicius thrust him away with his foot, and gave the order.  In the
+twinkle of an eye two powerful Quadi followed the dispensator, and,
+seizing Chilo by the remnant of his hair, tied his own rags around his
+neck and dragged him to the prison.
+
+"In the name of Christ!" called the Greek, at the exit of the corridor.
+
+Vinicius was left alone.  The order just issued roused and enlivened
+him.  He endeavored to collect his scattered thoughts, and bring them to
+order.  He felt great relief, and the victory which he had gained over
+himself filled him with comfort.  He thought that he had made some great
+approach toward Lygia, and that some high reward should be given him.
+At the first moment it did not even occur to him that he had done a
+grievous wrong to Chilo, and had him flogged for the very acts for which
+he had rewarded him previously.  He was too much of a Roman yet to be
+pained by another man's suffering, and to occupy his attention with one
+wretched Greek.  Had he even thought of Chilo's suffering he would have
+considered that he had acted properly in giving command to punish such a
+villain.  But he was thinking of Lygia, and said to her: I will not pay
+thee with evil for good; and when thou shalt learn how I acted with him
+who strove to persuade me to raise hands against thee, thou wilt be
+grateful.  But here he stopped at this thought:  Would Lygia praise his
+treatment of Chilo? The religion which she professes commands
+forgiveness; nay, the Christians forgave the villain, though they had
+greater reasons for revenge.  Then for the first time was heard in his
+soul the cry: "In the name of Christ!"  He remembered then that Chilo
+had ransomed himself from the hands of Ursus with such a cry, and he
+determined to remit the remainder of the punishment.
+
+With that object he was going to summon the dispensator, when that
+person stood before him, and said,--"Lord, the old man has fainted, and
+perhaps he is dead.  Am I to command further flogging?"
+
+"Revive him and bring him before me."
+
+The chief of the atrium vanished behind the curtain, but the revival
+could not have been easy, for Vinicius waited a long time and was
+growing impatient, when the slaves brought in Chilo, and disappeared at
+a signal.
+
+Chilo was as pale as linen, and down his legs threads of blood were
+flowing to the mosaic pavement of the atrium.  He was conscious,
+however, and, falling on his knees, began to speak, with extended
+hands,--"Thanks to thee, lord.  Thou art great and merciful."
+
+"Dog," said Vinicius, "know that I forgave thee because of that Christ
+to whom I owe my own life."
+
+"O lord, I will serve Him and thee."
+
+"Be silent and listen.  Rise!  Thou wilt go and show me the house in
+which Lygia dwells."
+
+Chilo sprang up; but he was barely on his feet when he grew more deathly
+pale yet, and said in a failing voice,--"Lord, I am really hungry--I
+will go, lord, I will go! but I have not the strength. Command to give
+me even remnants from the plate of thy dog, and I will go."
+
+Vinicius commanded to give him food, a piece of gold, and a mantle.  But
+Chilo, weakened by stripes and hunger, could not go to take food, though
+terror raised the hair on his head, lest Vinicius might mistake his
+weakness for stubbornness and command to flog him anew.
+
+"Only let wine warm me," repeated he, with chattering teeth, "I shall be
+able to go at once, even to Magna Grćcia."
+
+He regained some strength after a time, and they went out.
+
+The way was long, for, like the majority of Christians, Linus dwelt in
+the Trans-Tiber, and not far from Miriam.  At last Chilo showed Vinicius
+a small house, standing apart, surrounded by a wall covered entirely
+with ivy, and said,
+
+"Here it is, lord."
+
+"Well," said Vinicius, "go thy way now, but listen first to what I tell
+thee.  Forget that thou hast served me; forget where Miriam, Peter, and
+Glaucus dwell; forget also this house, and all Christians. Thou wilt
+come every month to my house, where Demas, my freedman, will pay thee
+two pieces of gold.  But shouldst thou spy further after Christians, I
+will have thee flogged, or delivered into the hands of the prefect of
+the city."
+
+Chilo bowed down, and said,--"I will forget."
+
+But when Vinicius vanished beyond the corner of the street, he stretched
+his hands after him, and, threatening with his fists, exclaimed,--"By
+Ate and the Furies!  I will not forget!"
+
+Then he grew faint again.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XXXIII
+
+
+VINICIUS went directly to the house in which Miriam lived. Before the
+gate he met Nazarius, who was confused at sight of him; but greeting the
+lad cordially, he asked to be conducted to his mother's lodgings.
+
+Besides Miriam, Vinicius found Peter, Glaucus, Crispus, and Paul of
+Tarsus, who had returned recently from Fregellć.  At sight of the young
+tribune, astonishment was reflected on all faces; but he said,--"I greet
+you in the name of Christ, whom ye honor."
+
+"May His name be glorified forever!" answered they.
+
+"I have seen your virtue and experienced your kindness, hence I come as
+a friend."
+
+"And we greet thee as a friend," answered Peter.  "Sit down, lord, and
+partake of our refreshment, as a guest."
+
+"I will sit down and share your repast; but first listen to me, thou
+Peter, and thou Paul of Tarsus, so that ye may know my sincerity.  I
+know where Lygia is.  I have returned from before the house of Linus,
+which is near this dwelling.  I have a right to her given me by Cćsar.
+I have at my houses in the city nearly five hundred slaves.  I might
+surround her hiding-place and seize her; still I have not done so, and
+will not."
+
+"For this reason the blessing of the Lord will be upon thee, and thy
+heart will be purified," said Peter.
+
+"I thank thee.  But listen to me further: I have not done so, though I
+am living in suffering and sadness.  Before I knew you, I should have
+taken her undoubtedly, and held her by force; but your virtue and your
+religion, though I do not profess it, have changed something in my soul,
+so that I do not venture on violence.  I know not myself why this is so,
+but it is so; hence I come to you, for ye take the place of Lygia's
+father and mother, and I say to you: Give her to me as wife, and I swear
+that not only will I not forbid her to confess Christ, but I will begin
+myself to learn His religion."
+
+He spoke with head erect and decisively; but still he was moved, and his
+legs trembled beneath his mantle.  When silence followed his words, he
+continued, as if wishing to anticipate an unfavorable answer,--
+
+"I know what obstacles exist, but I love her as my own eyes; and though
+I am not a Christian yet, I am neither your enemy nor Christ's. I wish
+to be sincere, so that you may trust me.  At this moment it is a
+question of life with me, still I tell you the truth. Another might say,
+Baptize me; I say, Enlighten me.  I believe that Christ rose from the
+dead, for people say so who love the truth, and who saw Him after death.
+I believe, for I have seen myself, that your religion produces virtue,
+justice, and mercy,--not crime, which is laid to your charge.  I have
+not known your religion much so far.  A little from you, a little from
+your works, a little from Lygia, a little from conversations with you.
+Still I repeat that it has made some change in me.  Formerly I held my
+servants with an iron hand; I cannot do so now.  I knew no pity; I know
+it now.  I was fond of pleasure; the other night I fled from the pond of
+Agrippa, for the breath was taken from me through disgust. Formerly I
+believed in superior force; now I have abandoned it. Know ye that I do
+not recognize myself.  I am disgusted by feasts, wine, singing, citharć,
+garlands, the court of Cćsar, naked bodies, and every crime.  When I
+think that Lygia is like snow in the mountains, I love her the more; and
+when I think that she is what she is through your religion, I love and
+desire that religion.  But since I understand it not, since I know not
+whether I shall be able to live according to it, nor whether my nature
+can endure it, I am in uncertainty and suffering, as if I were in
+prison."
+
+Here his brows met in wrinkle of pain, and a flush appeared on his
+cheeks; after that he spoke on with growing haste and greater emotion,--
+
+"As ye see, I am tortured from love and uncertainty. Men tell me that in
+your religion there is no place for life, or human joy, or happiness, or
+law, or order, or authority, or Roman dominion.  Is this true?  Men tell
+me that ye are madmen; but tell me yourselves what ye bring.  Is it a
+sin to love, a sin to feel joy, a sin to want happiness?  Are ye enemies
+of life?  Must a Christian be wretched?  Must I renounce Lygia?  What is
+truth in your view? Your deeds and words are like transparent water, but
+what is under that water?  Ye see that I am sincere.  Scatter the
+darkness.  Men say this to me also: Greece created beauty and wisdom,
+Rome created power; but they--what do they bring?  Tell, then, what ye
+bring.  If there is brightness beyond your doors, open them."
+
+"We bring love," said Peter.
+
+And Paul of Tarsus added,--"If I speak with the tongues of men and of
+angels, but have not love, I am become sounding brass."
+
+But the heart of the old Apostle was stirred by that soul in suffering,
+which, like a bird in a cage, was struggling toward air and the sun;
+hence, stretching his hand to Vinicius, he said,--"Whoso knocketh, to
+him will be opened.  The favor and grace of God is upon thee; for this
+reason I bless thee, thy soul and thy love, in the name of the Redeemer
+of mankind."
+
+Vinicius, who had spoken with enthusiasm already, sprang toward Peter on
+hearing this blessing, and an uncommon thing happened. That descendant
+of Quirites, who till recently had not recognized humanity in a
+foreigner, seized the hand of the old Galilean, and pressed it in
+gratitude to his lips.
+
+Peter was pleased; for he understood that his sowing had fallen on an
+additional field, that his fishing-net had gathered in a new soul.
+
+Those present, not less pleased by that evident expression of honor for
+the Apostle of God, exclaimed in one voice,--"Praise to the Lord in the
+highest!"
+
+Vinicius rose with a radiant face, and began,--"I see that happiness may
+dwell among you, for I feel happy, and I think that ye can convince me
+of other things in the same way.  But I will add that this cannot happen
+in Rome.  Cćsar is goin to Antium and I must go with him, for I have the
+order.  Ye know that not to obey is death.  But if I have found favor in
+your eyes, go with me to teach your truth.  It will be safer for you
+than for me.  Even in that great throng of people, ye can announce your
+truth in the very court of Cćsar.  They say that Acte is a Christian;
+and there are Christians among pretorians even, for I myself have seen
+soldiers kneeling before thee, Peter, at the Nomentan gate.  In Antium I
+have a villa where we shall assemble to hear your teaching, at the side
+of Nero. Glaucus told me that ye are ready to go to the end of the earth
+for one soul; so do for me what ye have done for those for whose sake ye
+have come from Judea,--do it, and desert not my soul."
+
+Hearing this, they began to take counsel, thinking with delight of the
+victory of their religion, and of the significance for the pagan world
+which the conversion of an Augustian, and a descendant of one of the
+oldest Roman families, would have.  They were ready, indeed, to wander
+to the end of the earth for one human soul, and since the death of the
+Master they had, in fact, done nothing else; hence a negative answer did
+not even come to their minds.  Peter was at that moment the pastor of a
+whole multitude, hence he could not go; but Paul of Tarsus, who had been
+in Aricium and Fregellć not long before, and who was preparing for a
+long journey to the East to visit churches there and freshen them with a
+new spirit of zeal, consented to accompany the young tribune to Antium.
+It was easy to find a ship there going to Grecian waters.
+
+Vinicius, though sad because Peter, to whom he owed so much, could not
+visit Antium, thanked him with gratitude, and then turned to the old
+Apostle with his last request,--"Knowing Lygia's dwelling," said he, "I
+might have gone to her and asked, as is proper, whether she would take
+me as husband should my soul become Christian, but I prefer to ask thee,
+O Apostle!  Permit me to see her, or take me thyself to her.  I know not
+how long I shall be in Antium; and remember that near Cćsar no one is
+sure of to-morrow.  Petronius himself told me that I should not be
+altogether safe there.  Let me see her before I go; let me delight my
+eyes with her; and let me ask her if she will forget my evil and return
+good."
+
+Peter smiled kindly and said,--"But who could refuse thee a proper joy,
+my son?"
+
+Vinicius stooped again to Peter's hands, for he could not in any way
+restrain his overflowing heart.  The Apostle took him by the temples and
+said,--"Have no fear of Cćsar, for I tell thee that a hair will not fall
+from thy head."
+
+He sent Miriam for Lygia, telling her not to say who was with them, so
+as to give the maiden more delight.
+
+It was not far; so after a short time those in the chamber saw among the
+myrtles of the garden Miriam leading Lygia by the hand.
+
+Vinicius wished to run forth to meet her; but at sight of that beloved
+form happiness took his strength, and he stood with beating heart,
+breathless, barely able to keep his feet, a hundred times more excited
+than when for the first time in life he heard the Parthian arrows
+whizzing round his head.
+
+She ran in, unsuspecting; but at sight of him she halted as if fixed to
+the earth.  Her face flushed, and then became very pale; she looked with
+astonished and frightened eyes on those present.
+
+But round about she saw clear glances, full of kindness.  The Apostle
+Peter approached her and asked,--"Lygia, dost thou love him as ever?"
+
+A moment of silence followed.  Her lips began to quiver like those of a
+child who is preparing to cry, who feels that it is guilty, but sees
+that it must confess the guilt.
+
+"Answer," said the Apostle.
+
+Then, with humility, obedience, and fear in her voice, she whispered,
+kneeling at the knees of Peter,--"I do."
+
+In one moment Vinicius knelt at her side.  Peter placed his hands on
+their heads, and said,--"Love each other in the Lord and to His glory,
+for there is no sin in your love."
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XXXIV
+
+
+WHILE walking with Lygia through the garden, Vinicius described briefly,
+in words from the depth of his heart, that which a short time before he
+had confessed to the Apostles,--that is, the alarm of his soul, the
+changes which had taken place in him, and, finally, that immense
+yearning which had veiled life from him, beginning with the hour when he
+left Miriam's dwelling.  He confessed to Lygia that he had tried to
+forget her, but was not able.  He thought whole days and nights of her.
+That little cross of boxwood twigs which she had left reminded him of
+her,--that cross, which he had placed in the lararium and revered
+involuntarily as something divine.  And he yearned more and more every
+moment, for love was stronger than he, and had seized his soul
+altogether, even when he was at the house of Aulus.  The Parcć weave the
+thread of life for others; but love, yearning, and melancholy had woven
+it for him.  His acts had been evil, but they had their origin in love.
+He had loved her when she was in the house of Aulus, when she was on the
+Palatine, when he saw her in Ostrianum listening to Peter's words, when
+he went with Croton to carry her away, when she watched at his bedside,
+and when she deserted him.  Then came Chilo, who discovered her
+dwelling, and advised him to seize her a second time; but he chose to
+punish Chilo, and go to the Apostles to ask for truth and for her.  And
+blessed be that moment in which such a thought came to his head, for now
+he is at her side, and she will not flee from him, as the last time she
+fled from the house of Miriam.
+
+"I did not flee from thee," said Lygia.
+
+"Then why didst thou go?"
+
+She raised her iris-colored eyes to him, and, bending her blushing face,
+said,--"Thou knowest--"
+
+Vinicius was silent for a moment from excess of happiness, and began
+again to speak, as his eyes were opened gradually to this,--that she was
+different utterly from Roman women, and resembled Pomponia alone.
+Besides, he could not explain this to her clearly, for he could not
+define his feeling,--that beauty of a new kind altogether was coming to
+the world in her, such beauty as had not been in it thus far; beauty
+which is not merely a statue, but a spirit. He told her something,
+however, which filled her with delight,--that he loved her just because
+she had fled from him, and that she would be sacred to him at his
+hearth.  Then, seizing her hand, he could not continue; he merely gazed
+on her with rapture as on his life's happiness which he had won, and
+repeated her name, as if to assure himself that he had found her and was
+near her.
+
+"Oh, Lygia, Lygia!"
+
+At last he inquired what had taken place in her mind, and she confessed
+that she had loved him while in the house of Aulus, and that if he had
+taken her back to them from the Palatine she would have told them of her
+love and tried to soften their anger against him.
+
+"I swear to thee," said Vinicius, "that it had not even risen in my mind
+to take thee from Aulus.  Petronius will tell thee sometime that I told
+him then how I loved and wished to marry thee. 'Let her anoint my door
+with wolf fat, and let her sit at my hearth,' said I to him.  But he
+ridiculed me, and gave Cćsar the idea of demanding thee as a hostage and
+giving thee to me.  How often in my sorrow have I cursed him; but
+perhaps fate ordained thus, for otherwise I should not have known the
+Christians, and should not have understood thee."
+
+"Believe me, Marcus," replied Lygia, "it was Christ who led thee to
+Himself by design."
+
+Vinicius raised his head with a certain astonishment.
+
+"True," answered he, with animation.  "Everything fixed itself so
+marvellously that in seeking thee I met the Christians.  In Ostrianum I
+listened to the Apostle with wonder, for I had never heard such words.
+And there thou didst pray for me?"
+
+"I did," answered Lygia.
+
+They passed near the summer-house covered with thick ivy, and approached
+the place where Ursus, after stifling Croton, threw himself upon
+Vinicius.
+
+"Here," said the young man, "I should have perished but for thee."
+
+"Do not mention that," answered Lygia, "and do not speak of it to
+Ursus."
+
+"Could I be revenged on him for defending thee?  Had he been a slave, I
+should have given him freedom straightway."
+
+"Had he been a slave, Aulus would have freed him long ago."
+
+"Dost thou remember," asked Vinicius, "that I wished to take thee back
+to Aulus, but the answer was, that Cćsar might hear of it and take
+revenge on Aulus and Pomponia?  Think of this: thou mayst see them now
+as often as thou wishest."
+
+"How, Marcus?"
+
+"I say 'now,' and I think that thou wilt be able to see them without
+danger, when thou art mine.  For should Cćsar hear of this, and ask what
+I did with the hostage whom he gave me, I should say 'I married her, and
+she visits the house of Aulus with my consent.' He will not remain long
+in Antium, for he wishes to go to Achća; and even should he remain, I
+shall not need to see him daily.  When Paul of Tarsus teaches me your
+faith, I will receive baptism at once, I will come here, gain the
+friendship of Aulus and Pomponia, who will return to the city by that
+time, and there will be no further hindrance, I will seat thee at my
+hearth.  Oh, carissima! carissima!"
+
+And he stretched forth his hand, as if taking Heaven as witness of his
+love; and Lygia, raising her clear eyes to him, said,--
+
+"And then I shall say, 'Wherever thou art, Caius, there am I, Caia.'"
+
+"No, Lygia," cried Vinicius, "I swear to thee that never has woman been
+so honored in the house of her husband as thou shalt be in mine."
+
+For a time they walked on in silence, without being able to take in with
+their breasts their happiness, in love with each other, like two
+deities, and as beautiful as if spring had given them to the world with
+the flowers.
+
+They halted at last under the cypress growing near the entrance of the
+house.  Lygia leaned against his breast, and Vinicius began to entreat
+again with a trembling voice,--"Tell Ursus to go to the house of Aulus
+for thy furniture and playthings of childhood."
+
+But she, blushing like a rose or like the dawn, answered,--"Custom
+commands otherwise."
+
+"I know that.  The pronuba [The matron who accompanies the bride and
+explains to her the duties of a wife] usually brings them behind the
+bride, but do this for me.  I will take them to my villa in Antium, and
+they will remind me of thee."
+
+Here he placed his hands together and repeated, like a child who is
+begging for something,--"It will be some days before Pomponia returns;
+so do this, diva, do this, carissima."
+
+"But Pomponia will do as she likes," answered Lygia, blushing still more
+deeply at mention of the pronuba.
+
+And again they were silent, for love had begun to stop the breath in
+their breasts.  Lygia stood with shoulders leaning against the cypress,
+her face whitening in the shadow, like a flower, her eyes drooping, her
+bosom heaving with more and more life.  Vinicius changed in the face,
+and grew pale.  In the silence of the afternoon they only heard the
+beating of their hearts, and in their mutual ecstasy that cypress, the
+myrtle bushes, and the ivy of the summer-house became for them a
+paradise of love.  But Miriam appeared in the door, and invited them to
+the afternoon meal.  They sat down then with the Apostles, who gazed at
+them with pleasure, as on the young generation which after their death
+would preserve and sow still further the seed of the new faith.  Peter
+broke and blessed bread.  There was calm on all faces, and a certain
+immense happiness seemed to overflow the whole house.
+
+"See," said Paul at last, turning to Vinicius, "are we enemies of life
+and happiness?"
+
+"I know how that is," answered Vinicius, "for never have I been so happy
+as among you."
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XXXV
+
+
+ON the evening of that day Vinicius, while returning home through the
+Forum, saw at the entrance to the Vicus Tuscus the gilded litter of
+Petronius, carried by eight stalwart Bithynians, and, stopping it with a
+sign of his hand, he approached the curtains.
+
+"Thou hast had a pleasant dream, I trust, and a happy one!" cried he,
+laughing at sight of the slumbering Petronius.
+
+"Oh, is it thou?" said Petronius, waking up.  "Yes; I dropped asleep for
+a moment, as I passed the night at the Palatine.  I have come out to buy
+something to read on the road to Antium.  What is the news?"
+
+"Art thou visiting the book-shops?" inquired Vinicius.
+
+"Yes, I do not like to bring disorder into my library, so I am
+collecting a special supply for the journey.  It is likely that some new
+things of Musonius and Seneca have come out.  I am looking also for
+Persius, and a certain edition of the Eclogues of Vergilius, which I do
+not possess.  Oh, how tired I am; and how my hands ache from covers and
+rings!  For when a man is once in a book-shop curiosity seizes him to
+look here and there.  I was at the shop of Avirnus, and at that of
+Atractus on the Argiletum, and with the Sozii on Vicus Sandalarius.  By
+Castor! how I want to sleep!"
+
+"Thou wert on the Palatine?  Then I would ask thee what is it to be
+heard there?  Or, knowest what?--send home the litter and the tubes with
+books, and come to my house.  We will talk of Antium, and of something
+else."
+
+"That is well," answered Petronius, coming out of the litter.  "Thou
+must know, besides, that we start for Antium the day after to-morrow."
+
+"Whence should I know that?"
+
+"In what world art thou living?  Well, I shall be the first to announce
+the news to thee.  Yes; be ready for the day after to-morrow in the
+morning.  Peas in olive oil have not helped, a cloth around his thick
+neck has not helped, and Bronzebeard is hoarse.  In view of this, delay
+is not to be mentioned.  He curses Rome and its atmosphere, with what
+the world stands on; he would be glad to level it to the earth or to
+destroy it with fire, and he longs for the sea at the earliest.  He says
+that the smells which the wind brings from the narrow streets are
+driving him into the grave. To-day great sacrifices were offered in all
+the temples to restore his voice; and woe to Rome, but especially to the
+Senate, should it not return quickly!"
+
+"Then there would be no reason for his visit to Achća?"
+
+"But is that the only talent possessed by our divine Cćsar?" asked
+Petronius, smiling.  "He would appear in the Olympic games, as a poet,
+with his 'Burning of Troy'; as a charioteer, as a musician, as an
+athlete,--nay, even as a dancer, and would receive in every case all the
+crowns intended for victors.  Dost know why that monkey grew hoarse?
+Yesterday he wanted to equal our Paris in dancing, and danced for us the
+adventures of Leda, during which he sweated and caught cold.  He was as
+wet and slippery as an eel freshly taken from water.  He changed masks
+one after another, whirled like a spindle, waved his hands like a
+drunken sailor, till disgust seized me while looking at that great
+stomach and those slim legs.  Paris taught him during two weeks; but
+imagine to thyself Ahenobarbus as Leda or as the divine swan. That was a
+swan!--there is no use in denying it.  But he wants to appear before the
+public in that pantomime,--first in Antium, and then in Rome."
+
+"People are offended already because he sang in public; but to think
+that a Roman Cćsar will appear as a mime!  No; even Rome will not endure
+that!"
+
+"My dear friend, Rome will endure anything; the Senate will pass a vote
+of thanks to the 'Father of his country.' And the rabble will be elated
+because Cćsar is its buffoon."
+
+"Say thyself, is it possible to be more debased?"
+
+Petronius shrugged his shoulders.  "Thou art living by thyself at home,
+and meditating, now about Lygia, now about Christians, so thou knowest
+not, perhaps, what happened two days since.  Nero married, in public,
+Pythagoras, who appeared as a bride.  That passed the measure of
+madness, it would seem, would it not?  And what wilt thou say? the
+flamens, who were summoned, came and performed the ceremony with
+solemnity.  I was present.  I can endure much; still I thought, I
+confess, that the gods, if there be any, should give a sign.  But Cćsar
+does not believe in the gods, and he is right."
+
+"So he is in one person chief priest, a god, and an atheist," said
+Vinicius.
+
+"True," said Petronius, beginning to laugh.  "That had not entered my
+head; but the combination is such as the world has not seen."  Then,
+stopping a moment, he said: "One should add that this chief priest who
+does not believe in the gods, and this god who reviles the gods, fears
+them in his character of atheist."
+
+"The proof of this is what happened in the temple of Vesta."  "What a
+society!"
+
+"As the society is, so is Cćsar.  But this will not last long."
+
+Thus conversing, they entered the house of Vinicius, who called for
+supper joyously; then, turning to Petronius he said,--"No, my dear,
+society must be renewed."
+
+"We shall not renew it," answered Petronius, "even for the reason that
+in Nero's time man is like a butterfly,--he lives in the sunshine of
+favor, and at the first cold wind he perishes, even against his will.
+By the son of Maia! more than once have I given myself this question: By
+what miracle has such a man as Lucius Saturninus been able to reach the
+age of ninety-three, to survive Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius?  But never
+mind.  Wilt thou permit me to send thy litter for Eunice?  My wish to
+sleep has gone, somehow, and I should like to be joyous.  Give command
+to cithara players to come to the supper, and afterward we will talk of
+Antium.  It is needful to think of it, especially for thee."
+
+Vinicius gave the order to send for Eunice, but declared that he had no
+thought of breaking his head over the stay in Antium.
+
+"Let those break their heads who cannot live otherwise than in the rays
+of Cćsar's favor.  The world does not end on the Palatine, especially
+for those who have something else in their hearts and souls."
+
+He said this so carelessly and with such animation and gladness that his
+whole manner struck Petronius; hence, looking for a time at him, he
+asked,--"What is taking place in thee?  Thou art to-day as thou wert
+when wearing the golden bulla on thy neck."
+
+"I am happy," answered Vinicius.  "I have invited thee purposely to tell
+thee so."
+
+"What has happened?"
+
+"Something which I would not give for the Roman Empire."
+
+Then he sat down, and, leaning on the arm of the chair, rested his head
+on his hand, and asked,--"Dost remember how we were at the house of
+Aulus Plautius, and there thou didst see for the first time the godlike
+maiden called by thee 'the dawn and the spring'? Dost remember that
+Psyche, that incomparable, that one more beautiful than our maidens and
+our goddesses?"
+
+Petronius looked at him with astonishment, as if he wished to make sure
+that his head was right.
+
+"Of whom art thou speaking?" asked he at last.  "Evidently I remember
+Lygia."
+
+"I am her betrothed."
+
+"What!"
+
+But Vinicius sprang up and called his dispensator.
+
+"Let the slaves stand before me to the last soul, quickly!"
+
+"Art thou her betrothed?" repeated Petronius.
+
+But before he recovered from his astonishment the immense atrium was
+swarming with people.  Panting old men ran in, men in the vigor of life,
+women, boys, and girls.  With each moment the atrium was filled more and
+more; in corridors, called "fauces," voices were heard calling in
+various languages.  Finally, all took their places in rows at the walls
+and among the columns.  Vinicius, standing near the impluvium, turned to
+Demas, the freedman, and said,--
+
+"Those who have served twenty years in my house are to appear tomorrow
+before the pretor, where they will receive freedom; those who have not
+served out the time will receive three pieces of gold and double rations
+for a week.  Send an order to the village prisons to remit punishment,
+strike the fetters from people's feet, and feed them sufficiently.  Know
+that a happy day has come to me, and I wish rejoicing in the house."
+
+For a moment they stood in silence, as if not believing their ears; then
+all hands were raised at once, and all mouths cried,--"A-a! lord! a-a-a!"
+
+Vinicius dismissed them with a wave of his hand.  Though they desired to
+thank him and to fall at his feet, they went away hurriedly, filling the
+house with happiness from cellar to roof.
+
+"To-morrow," said Vinicius, "I will command them to meet again in the
+garden, and to make such signs on the ground as they choose.  Lygia will
+free those who draw a fish."
+
+Petronius, who never wondered long at anything, had grown indifferent,
+and asked,--"A fish, is it?  Ah, ha!  According to Chilo, that is the
+sign of a Christian, I remember."  Then he extended his hand to
+Vinicius, and said: "Happiness is always where a man sees it.  May Flora
+strew flowers under thy feet for long years.  I wish thee everything
+which thou wishest thyself."
+
+"I thank thee, for I thought that thou wouldst dissuade me, and that, as
+thou seest, would be time lost."
+
+"I? Dissuade?  By no means.  On the contrary, I tell thee that thou art
+doing well."
+
+"Ha, traitor!" answered Vinicius, joyfully; "hast forgotten what thou
+didst tell me once when we were leaving the house of Pomponia Grćcina?"
+
+"No," answered Petronius, with cool blood; "but I have changed my
+opinion.  My dear," added he after a while, "in Rome everything changes.
+Husbands change wives, wives change husbands; why should not I change
+opinions?  It lacked little of Nero's marrying Acte, whom for his sake
+they represented as the descendant of a kingly line.  Well, he would
+have had an honest wife, and we an honest Augusta.  By Proteus and his
+barren spaces in the sea!  I shall change my opinion as often as I find
+it appropriate or profitable. As to Lygia, her royal descent is more
+certain than Acte's. But in Antium be on thy guard against Poppća, who
+is revengeful."
+
+"I do not think of doing so.  A hair will not fall from my head in
+Antium."
+
+"If thou think to astonish me a second time, thou art mistaken; but
+whence hast thou that certainty?"
+
+"The Apostle Peter told me so."
+
+"Ah, the Apostle Peter told thee!  Against that there is no argument;
+permit me, however, to take certain measures of precaution even to this
+end, that the Apostle Peter may not turn out a false phophet; for,
+should the Apostle be mistaken, perchance he might lose thy confidence,
+which certainly will be of use to him in the future."
+
+"Do what may please thee, but I believe him.  And if thou think to turn
+me against him by repeating his name with irony, thou art mistaken."
+
+"But one question more.  Hast thou become a Christian?"
+
+"Not yet; but Paul of Tarsus will travel with me to explain the
+teachings of Christ, and afterward I will receive baptism; for thy
+statement that they are enemies of life and pleasantness is not true."
+
+"All the better for thee and Lygia," answered Petronius; then, shrugging
+his shoulders, he said, as if to himself, "But it is astonishing how
+skilled those people are in gaining adherents, and how that sect is
+extending."
+
+"Yes," answered Vinicius, with as much warmth as if he had been baptized
+already; "there are thousands and tens of thousands of them in Rome, in
+the cities of Italy, in Grecce and Asia.  There are Christians among the
+legions and among the pretorians; they are in the palace of Cćsar
+itself.  Slaves and citizens, poor and rich, plebeian and patrician,
+confess that faith.  Dost thou know that the Cornelii are Christians,
+that Pomponia Grćcina is a Christian, that likely Octavia was, and Acte
+is?  Yes, that teaching will embrace the world, and it alone is able to
+renew it.  Do not shrug thy shoulders, for who knows whether in a month
+or a year thou wilt not receive it thyself?"
+
+"I?" said Petronius.  "No, by the son of Leto!  I will not receive it;
+even if the truth and wisdom of gods and men were contained in it. That
+would require labor, and I have no fondness for labor.  Labor demands
+self-denial, and I will not deny myself anything.  With thy nature,
+which is like fire and boiling water, something like this may happen any
+time.  But I?  I have my gems, my cameos, my vases, my Eunice.  I do not
+believe in Olympus, but I arrange it on earth for myself; and I shall
+flourish till the arrows of the divine archer pierce me, or till Cćsar
+commands me to open my veins.  I love the odor of violets too much, and
+a comfortable triclinium.  I love even our gods, as rhetorical figures,
+and Achća, to which I am preparing to go with our fat, thin-legged,
+incomparable, godlike Cćsar, the august period-compelling Hercules,
+Nero."
+
+Then he was joyous at the very supposition that he could accept the
+teaching of Galilean fishermen, and began to sing in an undertone,--
+
+"I will entwine my bright sword in myrtle, After the example of
+Harmodius and Aristogiton."
+
+But he stopped, for the arrival of Eunice was announced. Immediately
+after her coming supper was served, during which songs were sung by the
+cithara players; Vinicius told of Chilo's visit, and also how that visit
+had given the idea of going to the Apostles directly,--an idea which
+came to him while they were flogging Chilo.
+
+At mention of this, Petronius, who began to be drowsy, placed his hand
+on his forehead, and said,--"The thought was good, since the object was
+good.  But as to Chilo, I should have given him five pieces of gold; but
+as it was thy will to flog him, it was better to flog him, for who knows
+but in time senators will bow to him, as to-day they are bowing to our
+cobbler-knight, Vatinius. Good-night."
+
+And, removing his wreath, he, with Eunice, prepared for home. When they
+had gone, Vinicius went to his library and wrote to Lygia as follows:--
+
+"When thou openest thy beautiful eyes, I wish this letter to say
+Good-day! to thee.  Hence I write now, though I shall see thee tomorrow.
+Cćsar will go to Antium after to-morrow,--and I, eheu! must go with him.
+I have told thee already that not to obey would be to risk life--and at
+present I could not find courage to die.  But if thou wish me not to go,
+write one word, and I will stay.  Petronius will turn away danger from
+me with a speech.  To-day, in the hour of my delight, I gave rewards to
+all my slaves; those who have served in the house twenty years I shall
+take to the pretor to-morrow and free.  Thou, my dear, shouldst praise
+me, since this act as I think will be in accord with that mild religion
+of thine; secondly, I do this for thy sake.  They are to thank thee for
+their freedom.  I shall tell them so to-morrow, so that they may be
+grateful to thee and praise thy name.  I give myself in bondage to
+happiness and thee.  God grant that I never see liberation.  May Antium
+be cursed, and the journey of Ahenobarbus!  Thrice and four times happy
+am I in not being so wise as Petronius; if I were, I should be forced to
+go to Greece perhaps.  Meanwhile the moment of separation will sweeten
+my memory of thee.  Whenever I can tear myself away, I shall sit on a
+horse, and rush back to Rome, to gladden my eyes with sight of thee, and
+my ears with thy voice.  When I cannot come I shall send a slave with a
+letter, and an inquiry about thee.  I salute thee, divine one, and
+embrace thy feet.  Be not angry that I call thee divine.  If thou
+forbid, I shall obey, but to-day I cannot call thee otherwise.  I
+congratulate thee on thy future house with my whole soul."
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XXVI
+
+
+IT was known in Rome that Cćsar wished to see Ostia on the journey, or
+rather the largest ship in the world, which had brought wheat recently
+from Alexandria, and from Ostia to go by the Via Littoralis to Antium.
+Orders had been given a number of days earlier; hence at the Porta
+Ostiensis, from early morning, crowds made up of the local rabble and of
+all nations of the earth had collected to feast their eyes with the
+sight of Cćsar's retinue, on which the Roman population could never gaze
+sufficiently.  The road to Antium was neither difficult nor long.  In
+the place itself, which was composed of palaces and villas built and
+furnished in a lordly manner, it was possible to find everything
+demanded by comfort, and even the most exquisite luxury of the period.
+Cćsar had the habit, however, of taking with him on a journey every
+object in which he found delight, beginning with musical instruments and
+domestic furniture, and ending with statues and mosaics, which were
+taken even when he wished to remain on the road merely a short time for
+rest or recreation.  He was accompanied, therefore, on every expedition
+by whole legions of servants, without reckoning divisions of pretorian
+guards, and Augustians; of the latter each had a personal retinue of
+slaves.
+
+Early on the morning of that day herdsmen from the Campania, with
+sunburnt faces, wearing goat-skins on their legs, drove forth five
+hundred she-asses through the gates, so that Poppća on the morrow of her
+arrival at Antium might have her bath in their milk. The rabble gazed
+with delight and ridicule at the long ears swaying amid clouds of dust,
+and listened with pleasure to the whistling of whips and the wild shouts
+of the herdsmen.  After the asses had gone by, crowds of youth rushed
+forth, swept the road carefully, and covered it with flowers and needles
+from pine-trees.  In the crowds people whispered to each other, with a
+certain feeling of pride, that the whole road to Antium would be strewn
+in that way with flowers taken from private gardens round about, or
+bought at high prices from dealers at the Porta Mugionis.  As the
+morning hours passed, the throng increased every moment.  Some had
+brought their whole families, and, lest the time might seem tedious,
+they spread provisions on stones intended for the new temple of Ceres,
+and ate their prandium beneath the open sky. Here and there were groups,
+in which the lead was taken by persons who had travelled; they talked of
+Cćsar's present trip, of his future journeys, and journeys in general.
+Sailors and old soldiers narrated wonders which during distant campaigns
+they had heard about countries which a Roman foot had never touched.
+Home-stayers, who had never gone beyond the Appian Way, listened with
+amazement to marvellous tales of India, of Arabia, of archipelagos
+surrounding Britain in which, on a small island inhabited by spirits,
+Briareus had imprisoned the sleeping Saturn. They heard of hyperborean
+regions of stiffened seas, of the hisses and roars which the ocean gives
+forth when the sun plunges into his bath.  Stories of this kind found
+ready credence among the rabble, stories believed by such men even as
+Tacitus and Pliny. They spoke also of that ship which Cćsar was to look
+at,--a ship which had brought wheat to last for two years, without
+reckoning four hundred passengers, an equal number of soldiers, and a
+multitude of wild beasts to be used during the summer games.  This
+produced general good feeling toward Cćsar, who not only nourished the
+populace, but amused it.  Hence a greeting full of enthusiasm was
+waiting for him.
+
+Meanwhile came a detachment of Numidian horse, who belonged to the
+pretorian guard.  They wore yellow uniforms, red girdles, and great
+earrings, which cast a golden gleam on their black faces.  The points of
+their bamboo spears glittered like flames, in the sun. After they had
+passed, a procession-like movement began.  The throng crowded forward to
+look at it more nearly; but divisions of pretorian foot were there, and,
+forming in line on both sides of the gate, prevented approach to the
+road.  In advance moved wagons carrying tents, purple, red, and violet,
+and tents of byssus woven from threads as white as snow; and oriental
+carpets, and tables of citrus, and pieces of mosaic, and kitchen
+utensils, and cages with birds from the East, North, and West, birds
+whose tongues or brains were to go to Cćsar's table, and vessels with
+wine and baskets with fruit.  But objects not to be exposed to bruising
+or breaking in vehicles were borne by slaves.  Hence hundreds of people
+were seen on foot, carrying vessels, and statues of Corinthian bronze.
+There were companies appointed specially to Etruscan vases; others to
+Grecian; others to golden or silver vessels, or vessels of Alexandrian
+glass.  These were guarded by small detachments of pretorian infantry
+and cavalry; over each division of slaves were taskmasters, holding
+whips armed at the end with lumps of lead or iron, instead of snappers.
+The procession, formed of men bearing with importance and attention
+various objects, seemed like some solemn religious procession; and the
+resemblance grew still more striking when the musical instruments of
+Cćsar and the court were borne past.  There were seen harps, Grecian
+lutes, lutes of the Hebrews and Egyptians, lyres, formingas, citharas,
+flutes, long, winding buffalo horns and cymbals.  While looking at that
+sea of instruments, gleaming beneath the sun in gold, bronze, precious
+stones, and pearls, it might be imagined that Apollo and Bacchus had set
+out on a journey through the world.  After the instruments came rich
+chariots filled with acrobats, dancers male and female, grouped
+artistically, with wands in their hands.  After them followed slaves
+intended, not for service, but excess; so there were boys and little
+girls, selected from all Greece and Asia Minor, with long hair, or with
+winding curls arranged in golden nets, children resembling Cupids, with
+wonderful faces, but faces covered completely with a thick coating of
+cosmetics, lest the wind of the Campania might tan their delicate
+complexions.
+
+And again appeared a pretorian cohort of gigantic Sicambrians, blue-
+eyed, bearded, blond and red haired.  In front of them Roman eagles were
+carried by banner-bearers called "imaginarii," tablets with
+inscriptions, statues of German and Roman gods, and finally statues and
+busts of Cćsar.  From under the skins and armor of the soldier appeared
+limbs sunburnt and mighty, looking like military engines capable of
+wielding the heavy weapons with which guards of that kind were
+furnished.  The earth seemed to bend beneath their measured and weighty
+tread.  As if conscious of strength which they could use against Cćsar
+himself, they looked with contempt on the rabble of the street,
+forgetting, it was evident, that many of themselves had come to that
+city in manacles.  But they were insignificant in numbers, for the
+pretorian force had remained in camp specially to guard the city and
+hold it within bounds.  When they had marched past, Nero's chained lions
+and tigers were led by, so that, should the wish come to him of
+imitating Dionysus, he would have them to attach to his chariots. They
+were led in chains of steel by Arabs and Hindoos, but the chains were so
+entwined with garlands that the beasts seemed led with flowers.  The
+lions and tigers, tamed by skilled trainers, looked at the crowds with
+green and seemingly sleepy eyes; but at moments they raised their giant
+heads, and breathed through wheezing nostrils the exhalations of the
+multitude, licking their jaws the while with spiny tongues.
+
+Now came Cćsar's vehicles and litters, great and small, gold or purple,
+inlaid with ivory or pearls, or glittering with diamonds; after them
+came another small cohort of pretorians in Roman armor, pretorians
+composed of Italian volunteers only;*  then crowds of select slave
+servants, and boys; and at last came Cćsar himself, whose approach was
+heralded from afar by the shouts of thousands.
+
+[* The inhabitants of Italy were freed from military service by
+Augustus, in consequence of which the so-called cohors Italica,
+stationed generally in Asia, was composed of volunteers.  The pretorian
+guards, in so far as they were not composed of foreigners, were made up
+of volunteers.]
+
+In the crowd was the Apostle Peter, who wished to see Cćsar once in
+life.  He was accompanied by Lygia, whose face was hidden by a thick
+veil, and Ursus, whose strength formed the surest defence of the young
+girl in the wild and boisterous crowd.  The Lygian seized a stone to be
+used in building the temple, and brought it to the Apostle, so that by
+standing on it he might see better than others.
+
+The crowd muttered when Ursus pushed it apart, as a ship pushes waves;
+but when he carried the stone, which four of the strongest men could not
+raise, the muttering was turned into wonderment, and cries of "Macte!"
+were heard round about.
+
+Meanwhile Cćsar appeared.  He was sitting in a chariot drawn by six
+white Idumean stallions shod with gold.  The chariot had the form of a
+tent with sides open, purposely, so that the crowds could see Cćsar.  A
+number of persons might have found place in the chariot; but Nero,
+desiring that attention should be fixed on him exclusively, passed
+through the city alone, having at his feet merely two deformed dwarfs.
+He wore a white tunic, and a toga of amethyst color, which cast a bluish
+tinge on his face.  On his head was a laurel wreath.  Since his
+departure from Naples he had increased notably in body.  His face had
+grown wide; under his lower jaw hung a double chin, by which his mouth,
+always too near his nose, seemed to touch his nostrils.  His bulky neck
+was protected, as usual, by a silk kerchief, which he arranged from
+moment to moment with a white and fat hand grown over with red hair,
+forming as it were bloody stains; he would not permit epilatores to
+pluck out this hair, since he had been told that to do so would bring
+trembling of the fingers and injure his lute-playing. Measureless vanity
+was depicted then, as at all times, on his face, together with tedium
+and suffering.  On the whole, it was a face both terrible and trivial.
+While advancing he turned his head from side to side, blinking at times,
+and listening carefully to the manner in which the multitude greeted
+him.  He was met by a storm of shouts and applause: "Hail, divine Cćsar!
+lmperator, hail, conqueror! hail, incomparable!--Son of Apollo, Apollo
+himself!"
+
+When he heard these words, he smiled; but at moments a cloud, as it
+were, passed over his face, for the Roman rabble was satirical and keen
+in reckoning, and let itself criticise even great triumphators, even men
+whom it loved and respected.  It was known that on a time they shouted
+during the entrance to Rome of Julius Cćsar: "Citizens, hide your wives;
+the old libertine is coming!"  But Nero's monstrous vanity could not
+endure the least blame or criticism; meanwhile in the throng, amid
+shouts of applause were heard cries of "Ahenobarbus, Ahenobarbus!  Where
+hast thou put thy flaming beard?  Dost thou fear that Rome might catch
+fire from it?"  And those who cried out in that fashion knew not that
+their jest concealed a dreadful prophecy.
+
+These voices did not anger Cćsar overmuch, since he did not wear a
+beard, for long before he had devoted it in a golden cylinder to Jupiter
+Capitolinus.  But other persons, hidden behind piles of stones and the
+corners of temples, shouted: "Matricide! Nero!  Orestes!  Alcmćon!" and
+still others: "Where is Octavia?" "Surrender the purple!"  At Poppća,
+who came directly after him, they shouted, "Flava coma (yellow hair)!!"
+with which name they indicated a street-walker.  Cćsar's musical ear
+caught these exclamations also, and he raised the polished emerald to
+his eyes as if to see and remember those who uttered them.  While
+looking thus, his glance rested on the Apostle standing on the stone.
+
+For a while those two men looked at each other.  It occurred to no one
+in that brilliant retinue, and to no one in that immense throng, that at
+that moment two powers of the earth were looking at each other, one of
+which would vanish quickly as a bloody dream, and the other, dressed in
+simple garments, would seize in eternal possession the world and the
+city.
+
+Meanwhile Cćsar had passed; and immediately after him eight Africans
+bore a magnificent litter, in which sat Poppća, who was detested by the
+people.  Arrayed, as was Nero, in amethyst color, with a thick
+application of cosmetics on her face, immovable, thoughtful,
+indifferent, she looked like some beautiful and wicked divinity carried
+in procession.  In her wake followed a whole court of servants, male and
+female, next a line of wagons bearing materials of dress and use.  The
+sun had sunk sensibly from midday when the passage of Augustians began,
+--a brilliant glittering line gleaming like an endless serpent.  The
+indolent Petronius, greeted kindly by the multitude, had given command
+to bear him and his godlike slave in a litter.  Tigellinus went in a
+chariot drawn by ponies ornamented with white and purple feathers, They
+saw him as he rose in the chariot repeatedly, and stretched his neck to
+see if Cćsar was preparing to give him the sign to go his chariot. Among
+others the crowd greeted Licinianus with applause, Vitelius with
+laughter, Vatinius with hissing.  Towards Licinus and Lecanius the
+consuls they were indifferent, but Tullius Senecio they loved, it was
+unknown why, and Vestinius received applause.
+
+The court was innumerable.  It seemed that all that was richest, most
+brilliant and noted in Rome, was migrating to Antium.  Nero never
+travelled otherwise than with thousands of vehicles; the society which
+acompanied him almost always exceeded the number of soldiers in a
+legion. [In the time of the Cćsars a legion was always 12,000 men.]
+Hence Domitius Afer appeared, and the decrepit Lucius Saturninus; and
+Vespasian, who had not gone yet on his expedition to Judea, from which
+he returned for the crown of Cćsar, and his sons, and young Nerva, and
+Lucan, and Annius Gallo, and Quintianus, and a multitude of women
+renowned for wealth, beauty, luxury, and vice.
+
+The eyes of the multitude were turned to the harness, the chariots, the
+horses, the strange livery of the servants, made up of all peoples of
+the earth.  In that procession of pride and grandeur one hardly knew
+what to look at; and not only the eye, but the mind, was dazzled by such
+gleaming of gold, purple, and violet, by the flashing of precious
+stones, the glitter of brocade, pearls, and ivory.  It seemed that the
+very rays of the sun were dissolving in that abyss of brilliancy.  And
+though wretched people were not lacking in that throng, people with
+sunken stomachs, and with hunger in their eyes, that spectacle inflamed
+not only their desire of enjoyment and their envy, but filled them with
+delight and pride, because it gave a feeling of the might and
+invincibility of Rome, to which the world contributed, and before which
+the world knelt.  Indeed there was not on earth any one who ventured to
+think that that power would not endure through all ages, and outlive all
+nations, or that there was anything in existence that had strength to
+oppose it.
+
+Vinicius, riding at the end of the retinue, sprang out of his chariot at
+sight of the Apostle and Lygia, whom he had not expected to see, and,
+greeting them with a radiant face, spoke with hurried voice, like a man
+who has no time to spare,--"Hast thou come?  I know not how to thank
+thee, O Lygia!  God could not have sent me a better omen.  I greet thee
+even while taking farewell, but not farewell for a long time.  On the
+road I shall dispose relays of horses, and every free day I shall come
+to thee till I get leave to return.--Farewell!"
+
+"Farewell, Marcus!" answered Lygia; then she added in a lower voice:
+"May Christ go with thee, and open thy soul to Paul's word."
+
+He was glad at heart that she was concerned about his becoming a
+Christian soon; hence he answered,--
+
+"Ocelle mi! let it be as thou sayest.  Paul prefers to travel with my
+people, but he is with me, and will be to me a companion and master.
+Draw aside thy veil, my delight, let me see thee before my journey.  Why
+art thou thus hidden?"
+
+She raised the veil, and showed him her bright face and her wonderfully
+smiling eyes, inquiring,--
+
+"Is the veil bad?"
+
+And her smile had in it a little of maiden opposition; but Vinicius,
+while looking at her with delight, answered,--
+
+"Bad for my eyes, which till death would look on thee only."
+
+Then he turned to Ursus and said,--
+
+"Ursus, guard her as the sight in thy eye, for she is my domina as well
+as thine."
+
+Seizing her hand then, he pressed it with his lips, to the great
+astonishment of the crowd, who could not understand signs of such honor
+from a brilliant Augustian to a maiden arrayed in simple garments,
+almost those of a slave.
+
+"Farewell!"
+
+Then he departed quickly, for Cćsar's whole retinue had pushed forward
+considerably.  The Apostle Peter blessed him with a slight sign of the
+cross; but the kindly Ursus began at once to glorify him, glad that his
+young mistress listened eagerly and was grateful to him for those
+praises.
+
+The retinue moved on and hid itself in clouds of golden dust; they gazed
+long after it, however, till Demas the miller approached, he for whom
+Ursus worked in the night-time.  When he had kissed the Apostle's hand,
+he entreated them to enter his dwelling for refreshment, saying that it
+was near the Emporium, that they must be hungry and wearied since they
+had spent the greater part of the day at the gate.
+
+They went with him, and, after rest and refreshment in his house,
+returned to the Trans-Tiber only toward evening.  Intending to cross the
+river by the Ćmilian bridge, they passed through the Clivus Publicus,
+going over the Aventine, between the temples of Diana and Mercury.  From
+that height the Apostle looked on the edifices about him, and on those
+vanishing in the distance.  Sunk in silence he meditated on the
+immensity and dominion of that city, to which he had come to announce
+the word of God.  Hitherto he had seen the rule of Rome and its legions
+in various lands through which he had wandered, but they were single
+members as it were of the power, which that day for the first time he
+had seen impersonated in the form of Nero.  That city, immense,
+predatory, ravenous, unrestrained, rotten to the marrow of its bones,
+and unassailable in its preterhuman power; that Cćsar, a fratricide, a
+matricide, a wife-slayer, after him dragged a retinue of bloody spectres
+no less in number than his court.  That profligate, that buffoon, but
+also lord of thirty legions, and through them of the whole earth; those
+courtiers covered with gold and scarlet, uncertain of the morrow, but
+mightier meanwhile than kings,--all this together seemed a species of
+hellish kingdom of wrong and evil.  In his simple heart he marvelled
+that God could give such inconceivable almightiness to Satan, that He
+could yield the earth to him to knead, overturn, and trample it, to
+squeeze blood and tears from it, to twist it like a whirlwind, to storm
+it like a tempest, to consume it like a flame.  And his Apostle-heart
+was alarmed by those thoughts, and in spirit he spoke to the Master: "O
+Lord, how shall I begin in this city, to which Thou hast sent me?  To it
+belong seas and lands, the beasts of the field, and the creatures of the
+water; it owns other kingdoms and cities, and thirty legions which guard
+them; but I, O Lord, am a fisherman from a lake!  How shall I begin, and
+how shall I conquer its malice?"
+
+Thus speaking he raised his gray, trembling head toward heaven, praying
+and exclaiming from the depth of his heart to his Divine Master, himself
+full of sadness and fear.
+
+Meanwhile his prayer was interrupted by Lygia.
+
+"The whole city is as if on fire," said she.
+
+In fact the sun went down that day in a marvellous manner.  Its immense
+shield had sunk half-way behind the Janiculum, the whole expanse of
+heaven was filled with a red gleam.  From the place on which they were
+standing, Peter's glance embraced large expanses.  Somewhat to the right
+they saw the long extending walls of the Circus Maximus; above it the
+towering palaces of the Palatine; and directly in front of them, beyond
+the Forum Boarium and the Velabrum, the summit of the Capitol, with the
+temple of Jupiter.  But the walls and the columns and the summits of the
+temples were as if sunk in that golden and purple gleam.  The parts of
+the river visible from afar flowed as if in blood; and as the sun sank
+moment after moment behind the mountain, the gleam became redder and
+redder, more and more like a conflagration, and it increased and
+extended till finally it embraced the seven hills, from which it
+extended to the whole region about.
+
+"The whole city seems on fire!" repeated Lygia.
+
+Peter shaded his eyes with his hand, and said--
+
+"The wrath of God is upon it."
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XXXVII
+
+VINCIUS to LYGIA:
+
+
+"The slave Phlegon, by whom I send this letter, is a Christian; hence he
+will be one of those to receive freedom from thy hands, my dearest.  He
+is an old servant of our house; so I can write to thee with full
+confidence, and without fear that the letter will fall into other hands
+than thine. I write from Laurentum, where we have halted because of
+heat.  Otho owned here a lordly villa, which on a time he presented to
+Poppća; and she, though divorced from him, saw fit to retain the
+magnificent present.  When I think of the women who surround me now and
+of thee, it seems to me that from the stones hurled by Deucalion there
+must have risen people of various kinds, altogether unlike one another,
+and that thou art of those born of crystal.
+
+"I admire and love thee from my whole soul, and wish to speak only of
+thee; hence I am forced to constrain myself to write of our journey, of
+that which happens to me, and of news of the court. Well, Cćsar was the
+guest of Poppća, who prepared for him secretly a magnificent reception.
+She invited only a few of his favorites, but Petronius and I were among
+them.  After dinner we sailed in golden boats over the sea, which was as
+calm as if it had been sleeping, and as blue as thy eyes, O divine one.
+We ourselves rowed, for evidently it flattered the Augusta that men of
+consular dignity, or their sons, were rowing for her.  Cćsar, sitting at
+the rudder in a purple toga, sang a hymn in honor of the sea; this hymn
+he had composed the night before, and with Diodorus had arranged music
+to it.  In other boats he was accompanied by slaves from India who knew
+how to play on sea-shells while round about appeared numerous dolphins,
+as if really enticed from Amphitrite's depths by music.  Dost thou know
+what I was doing?  I was thinking of thee, and yearning.  I wanted to
+gather in that sea, that calm, and that music, and give the whole to
+thee.
+
+"Dost thou wish that we should live in some place at the seashore far
+from Rome, my Augusta?  I have land in Sicily, on which there is an
+almond forest which has rose-colored blossoms in spring, and this forest
+goes down so near the sea that the tips of the branches almost touch the
+water.  There I will love thee and magnify Paul's teaching, for I know
+now that it will not be opposed to love and happiness.  Dost thou wish?
+--But before I hear thy answer I will write further of what happened on
+the boat.
+
+"Soon the shore was far behind.  We saw a sail before us in the
+distance, and all at once a dispute rose as to whether it was a common
+fishing-boat or a great ship from Ostia.  I was the first to discover
+what it was, and then the Augusta said that for my eyes evidently
+nothing was hidden, and, dropping the veil over her face on a sudden,
+she inquired if I could recognize her thus. Petronius answered
+immediately that it was not possible to see even the sun behind a cloud;
+but she said, as if in jest, that love alone could blind such a piercing
+glance as mine, and, naming various women of the court, she fell to
+inquiring and guessing which one I loved.  I answered calmly, but at
+last she mentioned thy name.  Speaking of thee, she uncovered her face
+again, and looked at me with evil and inquiring eyes.
+
+"I feel real gratitude to Petronius, who turned the boat at that moment,
+through which general attention was taken from me; for had I heard
+hostile or sneering words touching thee, I should not have been able to
+hide my anger, and should have had to struggle with the wish to break
+the head of that wicked, malicious woman with my oar.  Thou rememberest
+the incident at the pond of Agrippa about which I told thee at the house
+of Linus on the eve of my departure.  Petronius is alarmed on my
+account, and to-day again he implored me not to offend the Augusta's
+vanity.  But Petronius does not understand me, and does not realize
+that, apart from thee, I know no pleasure or beauty or love, and that
+for Poppća I feel only disgust and contempt.  Thou hast changed my soul
+greatly,--so greatly that I should not wish now to return to my former
+life.  But have no fear that harm may reach me here. Poppća does not
+love me, for she cannot love any one, and her desires arise only from
+anger at Cćsar, who is under her influence yet, and who is even capable
+of loving her yet; still, he does not spare her, and does not hide from
+her his transgressions and shamelessness.
+
+"I will tell thee, besides, something which should pacify thee.  Peter
+told me in parting not to fear Cćsar, since a hair would not fall from
+my head; and I believe him.  Some voice in my soul says that every word
+of his must be accomplished; that since he blessed our love, neither
+Cćsar, nor all the powers of Hades, nor predestination itself, could
+take thee from me, O Lygia.  When I think of this I am as happy as if I
+were in heaven, which alone is calm and happy.  But what I say of heaven
+and predestination may offend thee, a Christian.  Christ has not washed
+me yet, but my heart is like an empty chalice, which Paul of Tarsus is
+to fill with the sweet doctrine professed by thee,--the sweeter for me
+that it is thine.  Thou, divine one, count even this as a merit to me
+that I have emptied it of the liquid with which I had filled it before,
+and that I do not withdraw it, but hold it forth as a thirsty man
+standing at a pure spring.  Let me find favor in thy eyes.
+
+"In Antium my days and nights will pass in listening to Paul, who
+acquired such influence among my people on the first day that they
+surround him continually, seeing in him not only a wonder-worker, but a
+being almost supernatural.  Yesterday I saw gladness on his face, and
+when I asked what he was doing, he answered, 'I am sowing!' Petronius
+knows that he is among my people, and wishes to see him, as does Seneca
+also, who heard of him from Gallo.
+
+"But the stars are growing pale, O Lygia, and 'Lucifer' of the morning
+is bright with growing force.  Soon the dawn will make the sea ruddy;
+all is sleeping round about, but I am thinking of thee and loving thee.
+Be greeted together with the morning dawn, sponsa mea!"
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XXXVIII
+
+VINICIUS to LYGIA:
+
+
+"Hast thou ever been in Antium, my dear one, with Aulus and Pomponia?
+If not, I shall be happy when I show this place to thee. All the way
+from Laurentum there is a line of villas along the seashore; and Antium
+itself is an endless succession of palaces and porticos, whose columns
+in fair weather see themselves in the water.  I, too, have a residence
+here right over the sea, with an olive garden and a forest of cypresses
+behind the villa, and when I think that the place will sometime be
+thine, its marble seems whiter to me, its groves more shady, and the sea
+bluer.  Oh, Lygia, how good it is to live and love!  Old Menikles, who
+manages the villa, planted irises on the ground under myrtles, and at
+sight of them the house of Aulus, the impluvium, and the garden in which
+I sat near thee, came to my mind.  The irises will remind thee, too, of
+thy childhood's home; therefore I am certain that thou wilt love Antium
+and this villa.
+
+"Immediately after our arrival I talked long with Paul at dinner. We
+spoke of thee, and afterward he taught.  I listened long, and I say only
+this, that even could I write like Petronius, I should not have power to
+explain everything which passed through my soul and my mind.  I had not
+supposed that there could be such happiness in this world, such beauty
+and peace of which hitherto people had no knowledge.  But I retain all
+this for conversation with thee, for at the first free moment I shall be
+in Rome.
+
+"How could the earth find place at once for the Apostle Peter, Paul of
+Tarsus, and Cćsar?  Tell me this.  I ask because I passed the evening
+after Paul's teaching with Nero, and dost thou know what I heard there?
+Well, to begin with, he read his poem on the destruction of Troy, and
+complained that never had he seen a burning city.  He envied Priam, and
+called him happy just for this, that he saw the conflagration and ruin
+of his birthplace. Whereupon Tigellinus said, 'Speak a word, O divinity,
+I will take a torch, and before the night passes thou shalt see blazing
+Antium.' But Cćsar called him a fool. 'Where,' asked he, 'should I go to
+breathe the sea air, and preserve the voice with which the gods have
+gifted me, and which men say I should preserve for the benefit of
+mankind?  Is it not Rome that injures me; is it not the exhalations of
+the Subura and the Esquiline which add to my hoarseness?  Would not the
+palaces of Rome present a spectacle a hundredfold more tragic and
+magnificent than Antium?' Here all began to talk, and to say what an
+unheard tragedy the picture of a city like that would be, a city which
+had conquered the world turned now into a heap of gray ashes.  Cćsar
+declared that then his poem would surpass the songs of Homer, and he
+began to describe how he would rebuild the city, and how coming ages
+would admire his achievensents, in presence of which all other human
+works would be petty. 'Do that! do that!' exclaimed the drunken company.
+'I must have more faithful and more devoted friends,' answered he.
+
+"I confess that I was alarmed at once when I heard this, for thou art in
+Rome, carissima.  I laugh now at that alarm, and I think that Cćsar and
+his friends, though mad, would not dare to permit such insanity.  Still,
+see how a man fears for his love; I should prefer that the house of
+Linus were not in that narrow Trans-Tiber alley, and in a part occupied
+by common people, who are less considered in such a case.  For me, the
+very palaces on the Palatine would not be a residence fit for thee;
+hence I should wish also that nothing were lacking thee of those
+ornaments and comforts to which thou art accustomed from childhood.
+
+"Go to the house of Aulus, my Lygia.  I have thought much here over this
+matter.  If Cćsar were in Rome, news of thy return might reach the
+Palatine through slaves, turn attention to thee, and bring persecution,
+because thou didst dare to act against the will of Cćsar.  But he will
+remain long in Antium, and before he returns slaves will have ceased to
+speak of thee.  Linus and Ursus can be with thee.  Besides, I live in
+hope that before Palatine sees Cćsar, thou, my goddess, shalt be
+dwelling in thy own house on the Carinć. Blessed be the day, hour, and
+moment in which thou shalt cross my threshold; and if Christ, whom I am
+learning to accept, effects this, may His name be blessed also.  I shall
+serve Him, and give life and blood for Him.  I speak incorrectly; we
+shall serve Him, both of us, as long as the threads of life hold.
+
+"I love thee and salute thee with my whole soul."
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XXXIX
+
+
+Unsus was taking water from a cistern, and while drawing up a double
+amphora, with a rope, was singing a strange Lygian song in an undertone,
+looking meanwhile with delighted eyes at Lygia and Vinicius, who, among
+the cypresses in Linus's garden, seemed as white as two statues.  Their
+clothing was not moved by the least breeze.  A golden and lily-colored
+twilight was sinking on the world while they were conversing in the calm
+of evening, each holding the other by the hand.
+
+"May not some evil meet thee, Marcus, because thou hast left Antium
+without Cćsar's knowledge?" asked Lygia.
+
+"No, my dear," answered Vinicius.  "Cćsar announced that he would shut
+himself in for two days with Terpnos, and compose new songs.  He acts
+thus frequently, and at such times neither knows nor remembers aught
+else.  Moreover, what is Cćsar to me since I am near thee and am looking
+at thee?  I have yearned too much already, and these last nights sleep
+has left me.  More than once, when I dozed from weariness, I woke on a
+sudden, with a feeling that danger was hanging over thee; at times I
+dreamed that the relays of horses which were to bear me from Antium to
+Rome were stolen,--horses with which I passed that road more swiftly
+than any of Cćsar's couriers.  Besides, I could not live longer without
+thee; I love thee too much for that, my dearest."
+
+"I knew that thou wert coming.  Twice Ursus ran out, at my request, to
+the Carinć, and inquired for thee at thy house.  Linus laughed at me,
+and Ursus also."
+
+It was, indeed, evident that she had expected him; for instead of her
+usual dark dress, she wore a soft white stola, out of whose beautiful
+folds her arms and head emerged like primroses out of snow.  A few ruddy
+anemones ornamented her hair.
+
+Vinicius pressed his lips to her hands; then they sat on the stone bench
+amidst wild grapevines, and inclining toward each other, were silent,
+looking at the twilight whose last gleams were reflected in their eyes.
+
+The charm of the quiet evening mastered them completely.
+
+"How calm it is here, and how beautiful the world is," said Vinicius, in
+a lowered voice.  "The night is wonderfully still.  I feel happier than
+ever in life before.  Tell me, Lygia, what is this?  Never have I
+thought that there could be such love.  I thought that love was merely
+fire in the blood and desire; but now for the first time I see that it
+is possible to love with every drop of one's blood and every breath, and
+feel therewith such sweet and immeasurable calm as if Sleep and Death
+had put the soul to rest.  For me this is something new.  I look on this
+calmness of the trees, and it seems to be within me.  Now I understand
+for the first time that there may be happiness of which people have not
+known thus far.  Now I begin to understand why thou and Pomponia Grćcina
+have such peace.  Yes!  Christ gives it."
+
+At that moment Lygia placed her beautiful face on his shoulder and
+said,--"My dear Marcus--" But she was unable to continue. Joy,
+gratitude, and the feeling that at last she was free to love deprived
+her of voice, and her eyes were filled with tears of emotion.
+
+Vinicius, embracing her slender form with his arm, drew her toward him
+and said,--"Lygia!  May the moment be blessed in which I heard His name
+for the first time."
+
+"I love thee, Marcus," said she then in a low voice.
+
+Both were silent again, unable to bring words from their overcharged
+breasts.  The last lily reflections had died on the cypresses, and the
+garden began to be silver-like from the crescent of the moon.  After a
+while Vinicius said,
+
+"I know.  Barely had I entered here, barely had I kissed thy dear hands,
+when I read in thy eyes the question whether I had received the divine
+doctrine to which thou art attached, and whether I was baptized.  No, I
+am not baptized yet; but knowest thou, my flower, why?  Paul said to me:
+'I have convinced thee that God came into the world and gave Himself to
+be crucified for its salvation; but let Peter wash thee in the fountain
+of grace, he who first stretched his hands over thee and blessed thee.'
+And I, my dearest, wish thee to witness my baptism, and I wish Pomponia
+to be my godmother.  This is why I am not baptized yet, though I believe
+in the Saviour and in his teaching.  Paul has convinced me, has
+converted me; and could it be otherwise?  How was I not to believe that
+Christ came into the world, since he, who was His disciple, says so, and
+Paul, to whom He appeared?  How was I not to believe that He was God,
+since He rose from the dead?  Others saw Him in the city and on the lake
+and on the mountain; people saw Him whose lips have not known a lie.  I
+began to believe this the first time I heard Peter in Ostrianum, for I
+said to myself even then:  In the whole world any other man might lie
+rather than this one who says, 'I saw.'  But I feared thy religion.  It
+seemed to me that thy religion would take thee from me.  I thought that
+there was neither wisdom nor beauty nor happiness in it.  But to-day,
+when I know it, what kind of man should I be were I not to wish truth to
+rule the world instead of fahehood, love instead of hatred, virtue
+instead of crime, faithfulness instead of unfaithfulness, mercy instead
+of vengeance? What sort of man would he be who would not choose and wish
+the same?  But your religion teaches this.  Others desire justice also;
+but thy religion is the only one which makes man's heart just, and
+besides makes it pure, like thine and Pomponia's, makes it faithful,
+like thine and Pomponia's.  I should be blind were I not to see this.
+But if in addition Christ God has promised eternal life, and has
+promised happiness as immeasurable as the all-might of God can give,
+what more can one wish?  Were I to ask Seneca why he enjoins virtue, if
+wickedness brings more happiness, he would not be able to say anything
+sensible.  But I know now that I ought to be virtuous, because virtue
+and love flow from Christ, and because, when death closes my eyes, I
+shall find life and happiness, I shall find myself and thee.  Why not
+love and accept a religion which both speaks the truth and destroys
+death?  Who would not prefer good to evil?  I thought thy religion
+opposed to happiness; meanwhile Paul has convinced me that not only does
+it not take away, but that it gives.  All this hardly finds a place in
+my head; but I feel that it is true, for I have never been so happy,
+neither could I be, had I taken thee by force and possessed thee in my
+house.  Just see, thou hast said a moment since, 'I love thee,' and I
+could not have won these words from thy lips with all the might of Rome.
+O Lygia!  Reason declares this religion divine, and the best; the heart
+feels it, and who can resist two such forces?"
+
+Lygia listened, fixing on him her blue eyes, which in the light of the
+moon were like mystic flowers, and bedewed like flowers.
+
+"Yes, Marcus, that is true!" said she, nestling her head more closely to
+his shoulder.
+
+And at that moment they felt immensely happy, for they understood that
+besides love they were united by another power, at once sweet and
+irresistible, by which love itself becomes endless, not subject to
+change, deceit, treason, or even death.  Their hearts were filled with
+perfect certainty that, no matter what might happen, they would not
+cease to love and belong to each other.  For that reason an unspeakable
+repose flowed in on their souls. Vinicius felt, besides, that that love
+was not merely profound and pure, but altogether new,--such as the world
+had not known and could not give.  In his head all was combined in this
+love,--Lygia, the teaching of Christ, the light of the moon resting
+calmly on the cypresses, and the still night,--so that to him the whole
+universe seemed filled with it.
+
+After a while he said with a lowered and quivering voice: "Thou wilt be
+the soul of my soul, and the dearest in the world to me.  Our hearts
+will beat together, we shall have one prayer and one gratitude to
+Christ.  O my dear!  To live together, to honor together the sweet God,
+and to know that when death comes our eyes will open again, as after a
+pleasant sleep, to a new light,--what better could be imagined?  I only
+marvel that I did not understand this at first.  And knowest thou what
+occurs to me now?  That no one can resist this religion.  In two hundred
+or three hundred years the whole world will accept it.  People will
+forget Jupiter, and there will be no God except Christ, and no other
+temples but Christian. Who would not wish his own happiness?  Ah! but I
+heard Paul's conversation with Petronius and dost thou know what
+Petronius said at the end? 'That is not for me'; but he could give no
+other answer."
+
+"Repeat Paul's words to me," said Lygia.
+
+"It was at my house one evening.  Petronius began to speak playfully and
+to banter, as he does usually, whereupon Paul said to him: 'How canst
+thou deny, O wise Petronius, that Christ existed and rose from the dead,
+since thou wert not in the world at that time, but Peter and John saw
+Him, and I saw Him on the road to Damascus?  Let thy wisdom show, first
+of all, then, that we are liars, and then only deny our testimony.'
+Petronius answered that he had no thought of denying, for he knew that
+many incomprehensible things were done, which trustworthy people
+affirmed. 'But the discovery of some new foreign god is one thing,' said
+he, 'and the reception of his teaching another.  I have no wish to know
+anything which may deform life and mar its beauty.  Never mind whether
+our gods are true or not; they are beautiful, their rule is pleasant for
+us, and we live without care.' 'Thou art willing to reject the religion
+of love, justice, and mercy through dread of the cares of life,' replied
+Paul; 'but think, Petronius, is thy life really free from anxieties?
+Behold, neither thou nor any man among the richest and most powerful
+knows when he falls asleep at night that he may not wake to a death
+sentence.  But tell me, if Cćsar professed this religion, which enjoins
+love and justice, would not thy happiness be more assured? Thou art
+alarmed about thy delight, but would not life be more joyous then?  As
+to life's beauty and ornaments, if ye have reared so many beautiful
+temples and statues to evil, revengeful, adulterous, and faithless
+divinities, what would ye not do in honor of one God of truth and mercy?
+Thou art ready to praise thy lot, because thou art wealthy and living in
+luxury; but it was possible even in thy case to be poor and deserted,
+though coming of a great house, and then in truth it would have been
+better for thee if people confessed Christ.  In Rome even wealthy
+parents, unwilling to toil at rearing children, cast them out of the
+house frequently; those children are called alumni.  And chance might
+have made thee an alumnus, like one of those.  But if parents live
+according to our religion, this cannot happen.  And hadst thou, at
+manhood's years, married a woman of thy love, thy wish would be to see
+her faithful till death. Meanwhile look around, what happens among you,
+what vileness, what shame, what bartering in the faith of wives!  Nay,
+ye yourselves are astonished when a woman appears whom ye call "univira"
+(of one husband). But I tell thee that those women who carry Christ in
+their hearts will not break faith with their husbands, just as Christian
+husbands will keep faith with their wives.  But ye are neither sure of
+rulers nor fathers nor wives nor children nor servants.  The whole world
+is trembling before you, and ye are trembling before your own slaves,
+for ye know that any hour may raise an awful war against your
+oppression, such a war as has been raised more than once.  Though rich,
+thou art not sure that the command may not come to thee to-morrow to
+leave thy wealth; thou art young, but to-morrow it may be necessary for
+thee to die. Thou lovest, but treason is in wait for thee; thou art
+enamoured of villas and statues, but to-morrow power may thrust thee
+forth into the empty places of the Pandataria; thou hast thousands of
+servants, but to-morrow these servants may let thy blood flow.  And if
+that be the case, how canst thou be calm and happy, how canst thou live
+in delight?  But I proclaim love, and I proclaim a religion which
+commands rulers to love their subjects, masters their slaves, slaves to
+serve with love, to do justice and be merciful; and at last it promises
+happiness boundless as a sea without end.  How, then, Petronius, canst
+thou say that that religion spoils life, since it corrects, and since
+thou thyself wouldst be a hundred times happier and more secure were it
+to embrace the world as Rome's dominion has embraced it?'
+
+"Thus discussed Paul, and then Petronius said, 'That is not for me.'
+Feigning drowsiness, he went out, and when going added: 'I prefer my
+Eunice, O little Jew, but I should not wish to struggle with thee on the
+platform.' I listened to Paul's words with my whole soul, and when he
+spoke of our women, I magnified with all my heart that religion from
+which thou hast sprung as a lily from a rich field in springtime.  And I
+thought then: There is Poppća, who cast aside two husbands for Nero,
+there is Calvia Crispinilla, there is Nigidia, there are almost all whom
+I know, save only Pomponia; they trafficked with faith and with oaths,
+but she and my own one will not desert, will not deceive, and will not
+quench the fire, even though all in whom I place trust should desert and
+deceive me. Hence I said to thee in my soul, How can I show gratitude to
+thee, if not with love and honor?  Didst thou feel that in Antium I
+spoke and conversed with thee all the time as if thou hadst been at my
+side?  I love thee a hundred times more for having escaped me from
+Cćsar's house.  Neither do I care for Cćsar's house any longer; I wish
+not its luxury and music, I wish only thee.  Say a word, we will leave
+Rome to settle somewhere at a distance."
+
+Without removing her head from his shouldcr, Lygia, as if meditating,
+raised her eyes to the silver tops of the cypresses, and answered,--
+"Very well, Marcus.  Thou hast written to me of Sicily, where Aulus
+wishes to settle in old age."  And Vinieius interrupted her with
+delight.
+
+"True, my dear!  Our lands are adjacent.  That is a wonderful coast,
+where the climate is sweeter and the nights still brighter than in Rome,
+odoriferous and transparent.  There life and happiness are almost one
+and the same."
+
+And he began then to dream of the future.
+
+"There we may forget anxieties.  In groves, among olive-trees, we shall
+walk and rest in the shade.  O Lygia! what a life to love and cherish
+each other, to look at the sea together, to look at the sky together, to
+honor together a kind God, to do in peace what is just and true."
+
+Both were silent, looking into the future; only he drew her more firmly
+toward him, and the knight's ring on his finger glittered meanwhile in
+the rays of the moon.  In the part occupied by the poor toiling people,
+all were sleeping; no murmur broke the silence.
+
+"Wilt thou permit me to see Pomponia?" asked Lygia.
+
+"Yes, dear one.  We will invite them to our house, or go to them
+ourselves.  If thou wish, we can take Peter the Apostle.  He is bowed
+down with age and work.  Paul will visit us also,--he will convert Aulus
+Plautius; and as soldiers found colonies in distant lands, so we will
+found a colony of Christians."
+
+Lygia raised her hand and, taking his palm, wished to press it to her
+lips; but he whispered, as if fearing to frighten happiness,--"No,
+Lygia, no!  It is I who honor thee and exalt thee; give me thy hands."
+
+"I love thee."
+
+He had pressed his lips to her hands, white as jessamine, and for a time
+they heard only the beating of their own hearts.  There was not the
+slightest movement in the air; the cypresses stood as motionless as if
+they too were holding breath in their breasts.
+
+All at once the silence was broken by an unexpected thunder, deep, and
+as if coming from under the earth.  A shiver ran through Lygia's body.
+Vinicius stood up, and said,--"Lions are roaring in the vivarium."
+
+Both began to listen.  Now the first thunder was answered by a second, a
+third, a tenth, from all sides and divisions of the city.  In Rome
+several thousand lions were quartered at times in various arenas, and
+frequently in the night-time they approached the grating, and, leaning
+their gigantic heads against it, gave utterance to their yearning for
+freedom and the desert.  Thus they began on this occasion, and,
+answering one another in the stillness of night, they filled the whole
+city with roaring.  There was something so indescribably gloomy and
+terrible in those roars that Lygia, whose bright and calm visions of the
+future were scattered, listened with a straitened heart and with
+wonderful fear and sadness.
+
+But Vinicius encircled her with his arm, and said,--"Fear not, dear one.
+The games are at hand, and all the vivaria are crowded."
+
+Then both entered the house of Linus, accompanied by the thunder of
+lions, growing louder and louder.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XL
+
+
+IN Antium, meanwhile, Petronius gained new victories almost daily over
+courtiers vying with him for the favor of Cćsar.  The influence of
+Tigellinus had fallen completely.  In Rome, when there was occasion to
+set aside men who seemed dangerous, to plunder their property or to
+settle political cases, to give spectacles astounding by their luxury
+and bad taste, or finally to satisty the monstrous whims of Cćsar,
+Tigellinus, as adroit, as he was ready for anything, became
+indispensable.  But in Antium, among palaces reflected in the azure of
+the sea, Cćsar led a Hellenic existence.  From morning till evening Nero
+and his attendants read verses, discoursed on their structure and
+finish, were delighted with happy turns of expression, were occupied
+with music, the theatre,--in a word, exclusively with that which Grecian
+genius had invented, and with which it had beautified life. Under these
+conditions Petronius, incomparably more refined than Tigellinus and the
+other courtiers,--witty, eloquent, full of subtile feelings and tastes,
+--obtained pre-eminence of necessity.  Cćsar sought his society, took his
+opinion, asked for advice when he composed, and showed a more lively
+friendship than at any other time whatever.  It seemed to courtiers that
+his influence had won a supreme triumph at last, that friendship between
+him and Cćsar had entered on a period of certainty which would last for
+years. Even those who had shown dislike previously to the exquisite
+Epicurean, began now to crowd around him and vie for his favor. More
+than one was even sincerely glad in his soul that preponderance had come
+to a man who knew really what to think of a given person, who received
+with a sceptical smile the flattery of his enemies of yesterday, but
+who, either through indolence or culture, was not vengeful, and did not
+use his power to the detriment or destruction of others.  There were
+moments when he might have destroyed even Tigellinus, but he preferred
+to ridicule him, and expose his vulgarity and want of refinement.  In
+Rome the Senate drew breath, for no death sentence had been issued for a
+month and a half.  It is true that in Antium and the city people told
+wonders of the refinement which the profligacy of Cćsar and his favorite
+had reached, but every one preferred a refined Cćsar to one brutalized
+in the hands of Tigellinus.  Tigellinus himself lost his head, and
+hesitated whether or not to yield as conquered, for Cćsar had said
+repeatedly that in all Rome and in his court there were only two spirits
+capable of understanding each other, two real Hellenes,--he and
+Petronius.
+
+The amazing dexterity of Petronius confirmed people in the conviction
+that his influence would outlive every other.  They did not see how
+Cćsar could dispense with him,--with whom could he converse touching
+poetry, music, and comparative excellence; in whose eyes could he look
+to learn whether his creation was indeed perfect?  Petronius, with his
+habitual indifference, seemed to attach no importance to his position.
+As usual, he was remiss, slothful, sceptical, and witty.  He produced on
+people frequently the impression of a man who made light of them, of
+himself, of Cćsar, of the whole world.  At moments he ventured to
+criticise Cćsar to his face, and when others judged that he was going
+too far, or simply preparing his own ruin, he was able to turn the
+criticism suddenly in such a way that it came out to his profit; he
+roused amazement in those present, and the conviction that there was no
+position from which he could not issue in triumph.
+
+About a week after the return of Vinicius from Rome, Cćsar read in a
+small circle an extract from his Troyad; when he had finished and the
+shouts of rapture had ended, Petronius, interrogated by a glance from
+Cćsar, replied,--
+
+"Common verses, fit for the fire."
+
+The hearts of those present stopped beating from terror.  Since the
+years of his childhood Nero had never heard such a sentence from any
+man.  The face of Tigellinus was radiant with delight.  But Vinicius
+grew pale, thinking that Petronius, who thus far had never been drunk,
+was drunk this time.
+
+Nero, however, inquired in a honeyed voice, in which more or less deeply
+wounded vanity was quivering,--
+
+"What defect dost thou find in them?"
+
+"Do not believe them," said Petronius, attacking him, and pointing to
+those present; "they understand nothing.  Thou hast asked what defect
+there is in thy verses.  If thou desire truth, I will tell thee. Thy
+verses would be worthy of Virgil, of Ovid, even of Homer, but they are
+not worthy of thee.  Thou art not free to write such.  The conflagration
+described by thee does not blaze enough; thy fire is not hot enough.
+Listen not to Lucan's flatteries.  Had he written those verses, I should
+acknowledge him a genius, but thy case is different.  And knowest thou
+why?  Thou art greater than they.  From him who is gifted of the gods as
+thou art, more is demanded.  But thou art slothful,--thou wouldst rather
+sleep after dinner than sit to wrinkles.  Thou canst create a work such
+as the world has not heard of to this day; hence I tell thee to thy
+eyes, write better!"
+
+And he said this carelessly, as if bantering and also chiding; but
+Cćsar's eyes were mist-covered from delight.
+
+"The gods have given me a little talent," said he, "but they have given
+me something greater, a true judge and friend, the only man able to
+speak the truth to my eyes."
+
+Then he stretched his fat hand, grown over with reddish hair, to a
+golden candelabrum plundered from Delphi, to burn the verses. But
+Petronius seized them before the flame touched the paper.
+
+"No, no!" said he; "even thus they belong to mankind.  Leave them to
+me."
+
+"In such case let me send them to thee in a cylinder of my own
+invention," answered Nero, embracing Petronius.
+
+"True; thou art right," said he, after a while.  "My conflagration of
+Troy does not blaze enough; my fire is not hot enough.  But I thought it
+sufficient to equal Homer.  A certain timidity and low estimate of my
+power have fettered me always.  Thou hast opened my eyes.  But knowest
+why it is, as thou sayest?  When a sculptor makes the statue of a god,
+he seeks a model; but never have I had a model.  I never have seen a
+burning city; hence there is a lack of truth in my description."
+
+"Then I will say that only a great artist understands this."
+
+Nero grew thoughtful, and after a while he said,--"Answer one question,
+Petronius.  Dost thou regret the burning of Troy?"
+
+"Do I regret?  By the lame consort of Venus, not in the least!  And I
+will tell thee the reason.  Troy would not have been consumed if
+Prometheus had not given fire to man, and the Greeks made war on Priam.
+Ćschylus would not have written his Prometheus had there been no fire,
+just as Homer would not have written the Iliad had there been no Trojan
+war.  I think it better to have Prometheus and the Iliad than a small
+and shabby city, which was unclean, I think, and wretched, and in which
+at best there would be now some procurator annoying thee through
+quarrels with the local areopagus."
+
+"That is what we call speaking with sound reason," said Nero.  "For art
+and poetry it is permitted, and it is right, to sacrifice everything.
+Happy were the Achćans who furnished Homer with the substance of the
+Iliad, and happy Priam who beheld the ruin of his birthplace. As to me,
+I have never seen a burning city."
+
+A time of silence followed, which was broken at last by Tigellinus.
+
+"But I have said to thee, Cćsar, already, command and I will burn
+Antium; or dost thou know what?  If thou art sorry for these villas and
+palaces, give command to burn the ships in Ostia; or I will build a
+wooden city on the Alban Hills, into which thou shalt hurl the fire
+thyself.  Dost thou wish?"
+
+"Am I to gaze on the burning of wooden sheds?" asked Nero, casting a
+look of contempt on him.  "Thy mind has grown utterly barren,
+Tigellinus.  And I see, besides, that thou dost set no great value on my
+talent or my Troyad, since thou judgest that any sacrifice would be too
+great for it."
+
+Tigellinus was confused; but Nero, as if wishing to change the
+conversation, added after a while,--
+
+"Summer is passing.  Oh, what a stench there must be in that Rome now!
+And still we must return for the summer games."
+
+"When thou dismissest the Augustians, O Cćsar, permit me to remain with
+thee a moment," said Tigellinus.
+
+An hour later Vinicius, returning with Petronius from Cćsar's villa,
+said,--"I was a trifle alarmed for thee.  I judged that while drunk thou
+hadst ruined thyself beyond redemption.  Remember that thou art playing
+with death."
+
+"That is my arena," answered Petronius, carelessly; "and the feeling
+that I am the best gladiator in it amuses me.  See how it ended.  My
+influence has increased this evening.  He will send me his verses in a
+cylinder which--dost wish to lay a wager?--will be immensely rich and in
+immensely bad taste.  I shall command my physician to keep physic in it.
+I did this for another reason,--because Tigellinus, seeing how such
+things succeed, will wish surely to imitate me, and I imagine what will
+happen.  The moment he starts a witticism, it will be as if a bear of
+the Pyrenees were rope-walking.  I shall laugh like Democritus.  If I
+wished I could destroy Tigellinus perhaps, and become pretorian prefect
+in his place, and have Ahenobarbus himself in my hands.  But I am
+indolent; I prefer my present life and even Cćsar's verses to trouble."
+
+"What dexterity to be able to turn even blame into flattery!  But are
+those verses really so bad?  I am no judge in those matters."
+
+"The verses are not worse than others.  Lucan has more talent in one
+finger, but in Bronzebeard too there is something.  He has, above all,
+an immense love for poetry and music.  In two days we are to be with him
+to hear the music of his hymn to Aphrodite, which he will finish to-day
+or to-morrow.  We shall be in a small circle,--only I, thou, Tullius
+Senecio, and young Nerva.  But as to what I said touching Nero's verses,
+that I use them after feasting as Vitelius does flamingo feathers, is
+not true.  At times they are eloquent. Hecuba's words are touching.  She
+complains of the pangs of birth, and Nero was able to find happy
+expressions,--for this reason, perhaps, that he gives birth to every
+verse in torment. At times I am sorry for him.  By Pollux, what a
+marvellous mixture!  The fifth stave was lacking in Caligula, but still
+he never did such strange things."
+
+"Who can foresee to what the madness of Ahenobarbus will go?" asked
+Vinicius.
+
+"No man whatever.  Such things may happen yet that the hair will stand
+on men's heads for whole centuries at thought of them.  But it is that
+precisely which interests me; and though I am bored more than once, like
+Jupiter Ammon in the desert, I believe that under another Cćsar I should
+be bored a hundred times more.  Paul, thy little Jew, is eloquent,--that
+I accord to him; and if people like him proclaim that religion, our gods
+must defend themselves seriously, lest in time they be led away captive.
+It is true that if Cćsar, for example, were a Christian, all would feel
+safer.  But thy prophet of Tarsus, in applying proofs to me, did not
+think, seest thou, that for me this uncertainty becomes the charm of
+life. Whoso does not play at dice will not lose property, but still
+people play at dice.  There is in that a certain delight and destruction
+of the present.  I have known sons of knights and senators to become
+gladiators of their own will.  I play with life, thou sayest, and that
+is true, but I play because it pleases me; while Christian virtues would
+bore me in a day, as do the discourses of Seneca.  Because of this,
+Paul's eloquence is exerted in vain.  He should understand that people
+like me will never accept his religion.  With thy disposition thou
+mightst either hate the name Christian, or become a Christian
+immediately.  I recognize, while yawning, the truth of what they say.
+We are mad.  We are hastening to the precipice, something unknown is
+coming toward us out of the future, something is breaking beneath us,
+something is dying around us,--agreed!  But we shall succeed in dying;
+meanwhile we have no wish to burden life, and serve death before it
+takes us.  Life exists for itself alone, not for death."
+
+"But I pity thee, Petronius."
+
+"Do not pity me more than I pity myself.  Formerly thou wert glad among
+us; while campaigning in Armenia, thou wert longing for Rome."
+
+"And now I am longing for Rome."
+
+"True; for thou art in love with a Christian vestal, who sits in the
+Trans-Tiber.  I neither wonder at this, nor do I blame thee.  I wonder
+more, that in spite of a religion described by thee as a sea of
+happiness, and in spite of a love which is soon to be crowned, sadness
+has not left thy face.  Pomponia Grćcina is eternally pensive; from the
+time of thy becoming a Christian thou hast ceased to laugh.  Do not try
+to persuade me that this religion is cheerful.  Thou hast returned from
+Rome sadder than ever.  If Christians love in this way, by the bright
+curls of Bacchus! I shall not imitate them!"
+
+"That is another thing," answered Vinicius.  "I swear to thee, not by
+the curls of Bacehus, but by the soul of my father, that never in times
+past have I experienced even a foretaste of such happiness as I breathe
+to-day.  But I yearn greatly; and what is stranger, when I am far from
+Lygia, I think that danger is threatening her.  I know not what danger,
+nor whence it may come; but I feel it, as one feels a coming tempest."
+
+"In two days I will try to obtain for thee permission to leave Antium,
+for as long a time as may please thee.  Poppća is somewhat more quiet;
+and, as far as I know, no danger from her threatens thee or Lygia."
+
+"This very day she asked me what I was doing in Rome, though my
+departure was secret."
+
+"Perhaps she gave command to set spies on thee.  Now, however, even she
+must count with me."
+
+"Paul told me," said Vinicius, "that God forewarns sometimes, but does
+not permit us to believe in omens; hence I guard myself against this
+belief, but I cannot ward it off.  I will tell thee what happened, so as
+to cast the weight from my heart.  Lygia and I were sitting side by side
+on a night as calm as this, and planning our future.  I cannot tell thee
+how happy and calm we were.  All at once lions began to roar.  That is
+common in Rome, but since then I have no rest.  It seems to me that in
+that roaring there was a threat, an announcement as it were of
+misfortune.  Thou knowest that I am not frightened easily; that night,
+however, something happened which filled all the darkness with terror.
+It came so strangely and unexpectedly that I have those sounds in my
+ears yet, and unbroken fear in my heart, as if Lygia were asking my
+protection from something dreadful,--even from those same lions.  I am
+in torture.  Obtain for me permission to leave Antium, or I shall go
+without it.  I cannot remain.  I repeat to thee, I cannot!"
+
+"Sons of consuls or their wives are not given to lions yet in the
+arenas," said Petronius, laughing.  "Any other death may meet thee but
+that.  Who knows, besides, that they were lions?  German bisons roar
+with no less gentleness than lions.  As to me, I ridicule omens and
+fates.  Last night was warm and I saw stars falling like rain. Many a
+man has an evil foreboding at such a sight; but I thought, 'If among
+these is my star too, I shall not lack society at least!'" Then he was
+silent, but added after a moment's thought,--"If your Christ has risen
+from the dead, He may perhaps protect you both from death."
+
+"He may," answered Vinicius, looking at the heavens filled with stars.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XLI
+
+
+NERO played and sang, in honor of the "Lady of Cyprus," a hymn the
+verses and music of which were composed by himself.  That day he was in
+voice, and felt that his music really captivated those present.  That
+feeling added such power to the sounds produced and roused his own soul
+so much that he seemed inspired.  At last he grew pale from genuine
+emotion.  This was surely the first time that he had no desire to hear
+praises from others.  He sat for a time with his hands on the cithara
+and with bowed head; then, rising suddenly, he said,--
+
+"I am tired and need air, Meanwhile ye will tune the citharć."
+
+He covered his throat then with a silk kerchief.
+
+"Ye will go with me," said he, turning to Petronius and Vinicius, who
+were sitting in a corner of the hall.  "Give me thy arm, Vinicius, for
+strength fails me; Petronius will talk to me of music."
+
+They went out on the terrace, which was paved with alabaster and
+sprinkled with saffron.
+
+"Here one can breathe more freely," said Nero.  "My soul is moved and
+sad, though I see that with what I have sung to thee on trial just now I
+may appear in public, and my triumph will be such as no Roman has ever
+achieved."
+
+"Thou mayst appear here, in Rome, in Achća.  I admire thee with my whole
+heart and mind, divinity," answered Petronius.
+
+"I know.  Thou art too slothful to force thyself to flattery, and thou
+art as sincere as Tullius Senecio, but thou hast more knowledge than he.
+Tell me, what is thy judgment on music?"
+
+"When I listen to poetry, when I look at a quadriga directed by thee in
+the Circus, when I look at a beautiful statue, temple, or picture, I
+feel that I comprehend perfectly what I see, that my enthusiasm takes in
+all that these can give.  But when I listen to music, especially thy
+music, new delights and beauties open before me every instant.  I pursue
+them, I try to seize them; but before I can take them to myself, new and
+newer ones flow in, just like waves of the sea, which roll on from
+infinity.  Hence I tell thee that music is like the sea.  We stand on
+one shore and gaze at remoteness, but we cannot see the other shore."
+
+"Ah, what deep knowledge thou hast!" said Nero; and they walked on for a
+moment, only the slight sound of the saffron leaves under their feet
+being heard.
+
+"Thou hast expressed my idea," said Nero at last; "hence I say now, as
+ever, in all Rome thou art the only man able to understand me.  Thus it
+is, my judgment of music is the same as thine.  When I play and sing, I
+see things which I did not know as existing in my dominions or in the
+world.  I am Cćsar, and the world is mine.  I can do everything.  But
+music opens new kingdoms to me, new mountains, new seas, new delights
+unknown before.  Most frequently I cannot name them or grasp them; I
+only feel them.  I feel the gods, I see Olympus.  Some kind of breeze
+from beyond the earth blows in on me; I behold, as in a mist, certain
+immeasurable greatnesses, but calm and bright as sunshine.  The whole
+Spheros plays around me; and I declare to thee" (here Nero's voice
+quivered with genuine wonder) "that I, Cćsar and god, feel at such times
+as diminutive as dust.  Wilt thou believe this?"
+
+"I will.  Only great artists have power to feel small in the presence of
+art."
+
+"This is a night of sincerity; hence I open my soul to thee as to a
+friend, and I will say more: dost thou consider that I am blind or
+deprived of reason?  Dost thou think that I am ignorant of this, that
+people in Rome write insults on the walls against me, call me a
+matricide, a wife-murderer, hold me a monster and a tyrant, because
+Tigellinus obtained a few sentences of death against my enemies?  Yes,
+my dear, they hold me a monster, and I know it. They have talked cruelty
+on me to that degree that at times I put the question to myself, 'Am I
+not cruel?' But they do not understand this, that a man's deeds may be
+cruel at times while he himself is not cruel.  Ah, no one will believe,
+and perhaps even thou, my dear, wilt not believe, that at moments when
+music caresses my soul I feel as kind as a child in the cradle.  I swear
+by those stars which shine above us, that I speak the pure truth to
+thee.  People do not know how much goodness lies in this heart, and what
+treasures I see in it when music opens the door to them."
+
+Petronius, who had not the least doubt that Nero was speaking sincerely
+at that moment, and that music might bring out various more noble
+inclinations of his soul, which were overwhelmed by mountains of
+egotism, profligacy, and crime, said,--"Men should know thee as nearly
+as I do; Rome has never been able to appreciate thee."
+
+Cćsar leaned more heavily on Vinicius's arm, as if he were bending under
+the weight of injustice, and answered,--
+
+"Tigellinus has told me that in the Senate they whisper into one
+another's ears that Diodorus and Terpnos play on the cithara better than
+I.  They refuse me even that!  But tell me, thou who art truthful
+always, do they play better, or as well?"
+
+"By no means.  Thy touch is finer, and has greater power.  In thee the
+artist is evident, in them the expert.  The man who hears their music
+first understands better what thou art."
+
+"If that be true, let them live.  They will never imagine what a service
+thou hast rendered them in this moment.  For that matter, if I had
+condemned those two, I should have had to take others in place of them."
+
+"And people would say, besides, that out of love for music thou
+destroyest music in thy dominions.  Never kill art for art's sake, O
+divinity."
+
+"How different thou art from Tigellinus!" answered Nero.  "But seest
+thou, I am an artist in everything; and since music opens for me spaces
+the existence of which I had not divined, regions which I do not
+possess, delight and happiness which I do not know, I cannot live a
+common life.  Music tells me that the uncommon exists, so I seek it with
+all the power of dominion which the gods have placed in my hands.  At
+times it seems to me that to reach those Olympian worlds I must do
+something which no man has done hitherto,--I must surpass the stature of
+man in good or evil.  I know that people declare me mad.  But I am not
+mad, I am only seeking.  And if I am going mad, it is out of disgust and
+impatience that I cannot find.  I am seeking! Dost understand me?  And
+therefore I wish to be greater than man, for only in that way can I be
+the greatest as an artist."
+
+Here he lowered his voice so that Vinicius could not hear him, and,
+putting his mouth to the ear of Petronius, he whispered,--"Dost know
+that I condemned my mother and wife to death mainly because I wished to
+lay at the gate of an unknown world the greatest sacrifice that man
+could put there?  I thought that afterward something would happen, that
+doors would be opened beyond which I should see something unknown.  Let
+it be wonderful or awful, surpassing human conception, if only great and
+uncommon.  But that sacrifice was not sufficient.  To open the empyrean
+doors it is evident that something greater is needed, and let it be
+given as the Fates desire."
+
+"What dost thou intend to do?"
+
+"Thou shalt see sooner than thou thinkest.  Meanwhile be assured that
+there are two Neros,--one such as people know, the other an artist, whom
+thou alone knowest, and if he slays as does death, or is in frenzy like
+Bacchus, it is only because the flatness and misery of common life
+stifle him; and I should like to destroy them, though I had to use fire
+or iron.  Oh, how flat this world will be when I am gone from it!  No
+man has suspected yet, not thou even, what an artist I am.  But
+precisely because of this I suffer, and sincerely do I tell thee that
+the soul in me is as gloomy as those cypresses which stand dark there in
+front of us.  It is grievous for a man to bear at once the weight of
+supreme power and the highest talents."
+
+"I sympathize with thee, O Cćsar; and with me earth and sea, not
+counting Vinicius, who deifies thee in his soul."
+
+"He, too, has always been dear to me," said Cćsar, "though he serves
+Mars, not the Muses."
+
+"He serves Aphrodite first of all," answered Petronius.  And suddenly he
+determined to settle the affair of his nephew at a blow, and at the same
+time to eliminate every danger which might threaten him.  "He is in
+love, as was Troilus with Cressida.  Permit him, lord, to visit Rome,
+for he is dying on my hands.  Dost thou know that that Lygian hostage
+whom thou gavest him has been found, and Vinicius, when leaving for
+Antium, left her in care of a certain Linus?  I did not mention this to
+thee, for thou wert composing thy hymn, and that was more important than
+all besides.  Vinicius wanted her as a mistress; but when she turned out
+to be as virtuous as Lucretia, he fell in love with her virtue, and now
+his desire is to marry her.  She is a king's daughter, hence she will
+cause him no detriment; but he is a real soldier: he sighs and withers
+and groans, but he is waiting for the permission of his Imperator."
+
+"The Imperator does not choose wives for his soldiers.  What good is my
+permission to Vinicius?"
+
+"I have told thee, O lord, that he deifies thee."
+
+"All the more may he be certain of permission.  That is a comely maiden,
+but too narrow in the hips.  The Augusta Poppća has complained to me
+that she enchanted our child in the gardens of the Palatine."
+
+"But I told Tigellinus that the gods are not subject to evil charms.
+Thou rememberest, divinity, his confusion and thy exclamation, 'Habet!'"
+
+"I remember."
+
+Here he turned to Vinicius,--"Dost thou love her, as Petronius says?"
+
+"I love her, lord," replied Vinicius.
+
+"Then I command thee to set out for Rome to-morrow, and marry her.
+Appear not again before my eyes without the marriage ring."
+
+"Thanks to thee, lord, from my heart and soul."
+
+"Oh, how pleasant it is to make people happy!" said Nero.  "Would that I
+might do nothing else all my life!"
+
+"Grant us one favor more, O divinity," said Petronius: "declare thy will
+in this matter before the Augusta.  Vinicius would never venture to wed
+a woman displeasing to the Augusta; thou wilt dissipate her prejudice, O
+lord, with a word, by declaring that thou hast commanded this marriage."
+
+"I am willing," said Cćsar.  "I could refuse nothing to thee or
+Vinicius."
+
+He turned toward the villa, and they followed.  Their hearts were filled
+with delight over the victory; and Vinicius had to use self-restraint to
+avoid throwing himself on the neck of Petronius, for it seemed now that
+all dangers and obstacles were removed.
+
+In the atrium of the villa young Nerva and Tullius Senecio were
+entertaining the Augusta with conversation.  Terpnos and Diodorus were
+tuning citharć.
+
+Nero entered, sat in an armchair inlaid with tortoise-shell, whispered
+something in the ear of a Greek slave near his side, and waited.
+
+The page returned soon with a golden casket.  Nero opened it and took
+out a necklace of great opals.
+
+"These are jewels worthy of this evening," said he.
+
+"The light of Aurora is playing in them," answered Poppća, convinced
+that the necklace was for her.
+
+Cćsar, now raising, now lowering the rosy stones, said at last,--
+"Vinicius, thou wilt give, from me, this necklace to her whom I command
+thee to marry, the youthful daughter of the Lygian king."
+
+Poppća's glance, filled with anger and sudden amazement, passed from
+Cćsar to Vinicius.  At last it rested on Petronius.  But he, leaning
+carelessly over the arm of the chair, passed his hand along the back of
+the harp as if to fix its form firmly in his mind.
+
+Vinicius gave thanks for the gift, approached Petronius, and asked,--
+"How shall I thank thee for what thou hast done this day for me?"
+
+"Sacrifice a pair of swans to Euterpe," replied Petronius, "praise
+Cćsar's songs, and laugh at omens.  Henceforth the roaring of lions will
+not disturb thy sleep, I trust, nor that of thy Lygian lily."
+
+"No," said Vinicius; "now I am perfectly at rest."
+
+"May Fortune favor thee!  But be careful, for Cćsar is taking his lute
+again.  Hold thy breath, listen, and shed tears."
+
+In fact Cćsar had taken the lute and raised his eyes.  In the hall
+conversation had stopped, and people were as still as if petrified.
+Terpnos and Diodorus, who had to accompany Cćsar, were on the alert,
+looking now at each other and now at his lips, waiting for the first
+tones of the song.
+
+Just then a movement and noise began in the entrance; and after a moment
+Cćsar's freedman, Phaon, appeared from beyond the curtain.  Close behind
+him was the consul Lecanius.
+
+Nero frowned.
+
+"Pardon, divine Imperator," said Phaon, with panting voice, "there is a
+conflagration in Rome!  The greater part of the city is in flames!"
+
+At this news all sprang from their seats.
+
+"O gods!  I shall see a burning city and finish the Troyad," said Nero,
+setting aside his lute.
+
+Then he turned to the consul,--"If I go at once, shall I see the fire?"
+
+"Lord," answered Lecanius, as pale as a wall, "the whole city is one sea
+of flame; smoke is suffocating the inhabitants, and people faint, or
+cast themselves into the fire from delirium.  Rome is perishing, lord."
+
+A moment of silence followed, which was broken by the cry of Vinicius,--
+
+"Vć misero mihi!"
+
+And the young man, casting his toga aside, rushed forth in his tunic.
+Nero raised his hands and exclaimed,--
+
+"Woe to thee, sacred city of Priam!"
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XLII
+
+
+VINICIUS had barely time to command a few slaves to follow him; then,
+springing on his horse, he rushed forth in the deep night along the
+empty streets toward Laurentum.  Through the influence of the dreadful
+news he had fallen as it were into frenzy and mental distraction.  At
+moments he did not know clearly what was happening in his mind; he had
+merely the feeling that misfortune was on the horse with him, sitting
+behind his shoulders, and shouting in his ears, "Rome is burning!" that
+it was lashing his horse and him, urging them toward the fire.  Laying
+his bare head on the beast's neck, he rushed on, in his single tunic,
+alone, at random, not looking ahead, and taking no note of obstacles
+against which he might perchance dash himself.
+
+In silence and in that calm night, the rider and the horse, covered with
+gleams of the moon, seemed like dream visions.  The Idumean stallion,
+dropping his ears and stretching his neck, shot on like an arrow past
+the motionless cypresses and the white villas hidden among them.  The
+sound of hoofs on the stone flags roused dogs here and there; these
+followed the strange vision with their barking; afterward, excited by
+its suddenness, they fell to howling, and raised their jaws toward the
+moon.  The slaves hastening after Vinicius soon dropped behind, as their
+horses were greatly inferior.  When he had rushed like a storm through
+sleeping Laurentum, he turned toward Ardea, in which, as in Aricia,
+Bovillć, and Ustrinum, he had kept relays of horses from the day of his
+coming to Antium, so as to pass in the shortest time possible the
+interval between Rome and him.  Remembering these relays, he forced all
+the strength from his horse.
+
+Beyond Ardea it seemed to him that the sky on the northeast was covered
+with a rosy reflection.  That might be the dawn, for the hour was late,
+and in July daybreak came early.  But Vinicius could not keep down a cry
+of rage and despair, for it seemed to him that that was the glare of the
+conflagration.  He remembered the consul's words, "The whole city is one
+sea of flame," and for a while he felt that madness was threatening him
+really, for he had lost utterly all hope that he could save Lygia, or
+even reach the city before it was turned into one heap of ashes.  His
+thoughts were quicker now than the rush of the stallion, they flew on
+ahead like a flock of birds, black, monstrous, and rousing despair.  He
+knew not, it is true, in what part of the city the fire had begun; but
+he supposed that the Trans-Tiber division, as it was packed with
+tenements, timber-yards, storehouses, and wooden sheds serving as slave
+marts, might have become the first food of the flames.
+
+In Rome fires happened frequently enough; during these fires, as
+frequently, deeds of violence and robbery were committed, especially in
+the parts occupied by a needy and half-barbarous population.  What might
+happen, therefore, in a place like the Trans-Tiber, which was the
+retreat of a rabble collected from all parts of the earth?  Here the
+thought of Ursus with his preterhuman power flashed into Vinicius's
+head; but what could be done by a man, even were he a Titan, against the
+destructive force of fire?
+
+The fear of servile rebellion was like a nightmare, which had stifled
+Rome for whole years.  It was said that hundreds of thousands of those
+people were thinking of the times of Spartacus, and merely waiting for a
+favorable moment to seize arms against their oppressors and Rome.  Now
+the moment had come!  Perhaps war and slaughter were raging in the city
+together with fire.  It was possible even that the pretorians had hurled
+themselves on the city, and were slaughtering at command of Cćsar.
+
+And that moment the hair rose from terror on his head.  He recalled all
+the conversations about burning cities, which for some time had been
+repeated at Cćsar's court with wonderful persistence; he recalled
+Cćsar's complaints that he was forced to describe a burning city without
+having seen a real fire; his contemptuous answer to Tigellinus, who
+offered to burn Antium or an artificial wooden city; finally, his
+complaints against Rome, and the pestilential alleys of the Subura.
+Yes; Cćsar has commanded the burning of the city!  He alone could give
+such a command, as Tigellinus alone could accomplish it.  But if Rome is
+burning at command of Cćsar, who can be sure that the population will
+not be slaughtered at his command also?  The monster is capable even of
+such a deed.  Conflagration, a servile revolt, and slaughter!  What a
+horrible chaos, what a letting loose of destructive elements and popular
+frenzy!  And in all this is Lygia.
+
+The groans of Vinicius were mingled with the snorting and groans of his
+horse; the beast, running on a road which rose continually toward
+Aricia, was using the last of its breath.  Who will snatch her from the
+burning city; who can save her?  Here Vinicius, stretching himself
+entirely on the horse, thrust his fingers into his own hair, ready to
+gnaw the beast's neck from pain.
+
+At that moment a horseman, rushing also like a whirlwind, but in the
+opposite direction, toward Antium, shouted as he raced past, "Rome is
+perishing!" and on he went.  To the ears of Vinicius came only one more
+expression: "Gods!" the rest was drowned by the thunder of hoofs.  But
+that expression sobered him,--"Gods!"
+
+Vinicius raised his head suddenly, and, stretching his arms toward the
+sky filled with stars, began to pray.
+
+"Not to you do I call whose temples are burning, but to Thee!  Thou
+Thyself hast suffered.  Thou alone art merciful!  Thou alone hast
+understood people's pain; Thou didst come to this world to teach pity to
+mankind; then show it now.  If Thou art what Peter and Paul declare,
+save for me Lygia, take her in Thy arms, bear her out of the flames.
+Thou hast the power to do that!  Give her to me, and I will give Thee my
+blood.  But if Thou art unwilling to do this for me, do it for her.  She
+loves Thee and trusts in Thee.  Thou dost promise life and happiness
+after death, but happiness after death will not pass away, and she does
+not wish to die yet.  Let her live. Take her in Thy arms, bear her out
+of Rome.  Thou canst do so, unless Thou art unwilling."
+
+And he stopped, for he felt that further prayer might turn to a threat;
+he feared to offend Divinity at the moment when he needed favor and
+mercy most.  He was terrified at the very thought of that, and, so as
+not to admit to his head a shade even of threat, he began to lash his
+horse again, especially since the white walls of Aricia, which lay
+midway to Rome, gleained up before him in the moonlight.
+
+After a time he rushed at full speed past the temple of Mercury, which
+stood in a grove before the city.  Evidently people knew of the
+catastrophe, for there was an uncommon movement in front of the temple.
+While passing, Vinicius saw crowds on the steps and between the columns.
+These people holding torches were hastening to put themselves under
+protection of the deity. Moreover the road was not so empty or free as
+beyond Ardea. Crowds were hurrying, it is true, to the grove by side-
+paths, but on the main road were groups which pushed aside hurriedly
+before the on-rushing horseman.  From the town came the sound of voices.
+Vinicius rode into Aricia like a whirlwind, overturning and trampling a
+number of persons on the way.  He was surrounded by shouts of "Rome is
+burning!"  "Rome is on fire!"  "May the gods rescue Rome!"
+
+The horse stumbled, but, reined in by a powerful hand, rose on his
+haunches before the inn, where Vinicius had another beast in relay.
+Slaves, as if waiting for the arrival of their master, stood before the
+inn, and at his command ran one before the other to lead out a fresh
+horse.  Vinicius, seeing a detachment of ten mounted pretorians, going
+evidently with news from the city to Antium, sprang toward them.
+
+"What part of the city is on fire?" inquired he.
+
+"Who art thou?" asked the decurion.
+
+"Vinicius, a tribune of the army, an Augustian.  Answer on thy head!"
+
+"The fire broke out in the shops near the Circus Maximus.  When we were
+despatched, the centre of the city was on fire."
+
+"And the Trans-Tiber?"
+
+"The fire has not reached the Trans-Tiber yet, but it is seizing new
+parts every moment with a force which nothing can stop.  People are
+perishing from heat and smoke; all rescue is impossible."
+
+At this moment they brought the fresh horse.  The young tribune sprang
+to his back and rushed on.  He was riding now toward Albanum, leaving
+Alba Longa and its splendid lake on the right. The road from Aricia lay
+at the foot of the mountain, which hid the horizon completely, and
+Albanum lying on the other side of it.  But Vinicius knew that on
+reaching the top he should see, not only Bovillć and Ustrinum, where
+fresh horses were ready for him, but Rome as well: for beyond Albanum
+the low level Campania stretched on both sides of the Appian Way, along
+which only the arches of the aqueducts ran toward the city, and nothing
+obstructed the view.
+
+"From the top I shall see the flames," said he; and he began to lash his
+horse anew.  But before he had reached the top of the mountain he felt
+the wind on his face, and with it came the odor of smoke to his
+nostrils.  At the same time the summit of the height was becoming
+gilded.
+
+"The fire!" thought Vinicius.
+
+The night had paled long since, the dawn had passed into light, and on
+all the nearer summits golden and rosy gleams were shining, which might
+come either from burning Rome or the rising daylight.  Vinicius touched
+the summit at last, and then a terrible sight struck his eyes.
+
+The whole lower region was covered with smoke, forming as it were one
+gigantic cloud lying close to the earth.  In this cloud towns,
+aqueducts, villas, trees, disappeared; but beyond this gray ghastly
+plain the city was burning on the hills.
+
+The conflagration had not the form of a pillar of fire, as happens when
+a single building is burning, even when of the greatest size. That was a
+long belt, rather, shaped like the belt of dawn.  Above this belt rose a
+wave of smoke, in places entirely black, in places looking rose-colored,
+in places like blood, in places turning in on itself, in some places
+inflated, in others squeezed and squirming, like a serpent which is
+unwinding and extending.  That monstrous wave seemed at times to cover
+even the belt of fire, which became then as narrow as a ribbon; but
+later this ribbon illuminated the smoke from beneath, changing its lower
+rolls into waves of flame. The two extended from one side of the sky to
+the other, hiding its lower part, as at times a stretch of forest hides
+the horizon.  The Sabine hills were not visible in the least.
+
+To Vinicius it seemed at the first glance of the eye that not only the
+city was burning, but the whole world, and that no living being could
+save itself from that ocean of flame and smoke.
+
+The wind blew with growing strength from the region of the fire,
+bringing the smell of burnt things and of smoke, which began to hide
+even nearer objects.  Clear daylight had come, and the sun lighted up
+the summits surrounding the Alban Lake.  But the bright golden rays of
+the morning appeared as it were reddish and sickly through the haze.
+Vinicius, while descending toward Albanum, entered smoke which was
+denser, less and less transparent.  The town itself was buried in it
+thoroughly.  The alarmed citizens had moved out to the street.  It was a
+terror to think of what might be in Rome, when it was difficult to
+breathe in Albanum.
+
+Despair seized Vinicius anew, and terror began to raise the hair on his
+head.  But he tried to fortify himself as best he might.  "It is
+impossible," thought he, "that a city should begin to burn in all places
+at once.  The wind is blowing from the north and bears smoke in this
+direction only.  On the other side there is none.  But in every case it
+will be enough for Ursus to go through the Janiculum gate with Lygia, to
+save himself and her.  It is equally impossible that a whole population
+should perish, and the world-ruling city be swept from the face of the
+earth with its inhabitants.  Even in captured places, where fire and
+slaughter rage together, some people survive in all cases; why, then,
+should Lygia perish of a certainty?  On the contrary, God watches over
+her, He who Himself, conquered death."  Thus reasoning, he began to pray
+again, and, yielding to fixed habit, he made great vows to Christ, with
+promises of gifts and sacrifices.  After he had hurried through Albanum,
+nearly all of whose inhabitants were on roofs and on trees to look at
+Rome, he grew somewhat calm, and regained his cool blood.  He
+remembered, too, that Lygia was protected not only by Ursus and Linus,
+but by the Apostle Peter.  At the mere remembrance of this, fresh solace
+entered his heart.  For him Peter was an incomprehensible, an almost
+superhuman being.  From the time when he heard him at Ostrianum, a
+wonderful impression clung to him, touching which he had written to
+Lygia at the beginning of his stay in Antium,--that every word of the
+old man was true, or would show its truth hereafter.  The nearer
+acquaintance which during his illness he had formed with the Apostle
+heightened the impression, which was turned afterward into fixed faith.
+Since Peter had blessed his love and promised him Lygia, Lygia could not
+perish in the flames.  The city might burn, but no spark from the fire
+would fall on her garments.  Under the influence of a sleepless night,
+mad riding, and impressions, a wonderful exaltation possessed the young
+tribune; in this exaltation all things seemed possible: Peter speaks to
+the flame, opens it with a word, and they pass uninjured through an
+alley of fire.  Moreover, Peter saw future events; hence, beyond doubt,
+he foresaw the fire, and in that ease how could he fail to warn and lead
+forth the Christians from the city, and among others Lygia, whom he
+loved, as he might his own child?  And a hope, which was strengthening
+every moment, entered the heart of Vinicius.  If they were fleeing from
+the city, he might find them in Bovillć, or meet them on the road.  The
+beloved face might appear any moment from out the smoke, which was
+stretching more widely over all the Campania.
+
+This seemed to him more likely, since he met increasing numbers of
+people, who had deserted the city and were going to the Alban Hills;
+they had escaped the fire, and wished to go beyond the line of smoke.
+Before he had reached Ustrinum he had to slacken his pace because of the
+throng.  Besides pedestrians with bundles on their backs, he met horses
+with packs, mules and vehicles laden with effects, and finally litters
+in which slaves were bearing the wealthier citizens.  Ustrinum was so
+thronged with fugitives from Rome that it was difficult to push through
+the crowd.  On the market square, under temple porticos, and on the
+streets were swarms of fugitives.  Here and there people were erecting
+tents under which whole families were to find shelter.  Others settled
+down under the naked sky, shouting, calling on the gods, or cursing the
+fates.  In the general terror it was difficult to inquire about
+anything.  People to whom Vinicius applied either did not answer, or
+with eyes half bewildered from terror answered that the city and the
+world were perishing.  New crowds of men, women, and children arrived
+from the direction of Rome every moment; these increased the disorder
+and outcry.  Some, gone astray in the throng, sought desperately those
+whom they had lost; others fought for a camping-place.  Half-wild
+shepherds from the Campania crowded to the town to hear news, or find
+profit in plunder made easy by the uproar.  Here and there crowds of
+slaves of every nationality and gladiators fell to robbing houses and
+villas in the town, and to fighting with the soldiers who appeared in
+defence of the citizens.
+
+Junius, a senator, whom Vinicius saw at the inn surrounded by a
+detachment of Batavian slaves, was the first to give more detailed news
+of the conflagration.  The fire had begun at the Circus Maximus, in the
+part which touches the Palatine and the Cćlian Hill, but extended with
+incomprehensible rapidity and seized the whole centre of the city.
+Never since the time of Brennus had such an awful catastrophe come upon
+Rome.  "The entire Circus has burnt, as well as the shops and houses
+surrounding it," said Junius; "the Aventine and Cćlian Hills are on
+fire.  The flames surrounding the Palatine have reached the Carinć."
+
+Here Junius, who possessed on the Carinć a magnificent "insula," filled
+with works of art which he loved, seized a handful of foul dust, and,
+scattering it on his head, began to groan despairingly.
+
+But Vinicius shook him by the shoulder: "My house too is on the Carinć,"
+said he; "but when everything is perishing, let it perish also."
+
+Then recollecting that at his advice Lygia might have gone to the house
+of Aulus, he inquired,--
+
+"But the Vicus Patricius?"
+
+"On fire!" replied Junius.
+
+"The Trans-Tiber?"
+
+Junius looked at him with amazement.
+
+"Never mind the Trans-Tiber," said he, pressing his aching temples with
+his palms.
+
+"The Trans-Tiber is more important to me than all other parts of Rome,"
+cried Vinicius, with vehemence.
+
+"The way is through the Via Portuensis, near the Aventine; but the heat
+will stifle thee.  The Trans-Tiber?  I know not.  The fire had not
+reached it; but whether it is not there at this moment the gods alone
+know."  Here Junius hesitated a moment, then said in a low voice: "I
+know that thou wilt not betray me, so I will tell thee that this is no
+common fire.  People were not permitted to save the Circus.  When houses
+began to burn in every direction, I myself heard thousands of voices
+exclaiming, 'Death to those who save!' Certain people ran through the
+city and hurled burning torches into buildings.  On the other hand
+people are revolting, and crying that the city is burning at command.  I
+can say nothing more.  Woe to the city, woe to us all, and to me!  The
+tongue of man cannot tell what is happening there.  People are perishing
+in flames or slaying one another in the throng.  This is the end of
+Rome!"
+
+And again he fell to repeating, "Woe!  Woe to the city and to us!"
+Vinicius sprang to his horse, and hurried forward along the Appian Way.
+But now it was rather a struggling through the midst of a river of
+people and vehicles, which was flowing from the city.  The city,
+embraced by a monstrous conflagration, lay before Vinicius as a thing on
+the palm of his hand.  From the sea of fire and smoke came a terrible
+heat, and the uproar of people could not drown the roar and the hissing
+of flames.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XLIII
+
+
+As Vinicius approached the walls, he found it easier to reach Rome than
+penetrate to the middle of the city.  It was difficult to push along the
+Appian Way, because of the throng of people. Houses, fields, cemeteries,
+gardens, and temples, lying on both sides of it, were turned into
+camping places.  In the temple of Mars, which stood near the Porta
+Appia, the crowd had thrown down the doors, so as to find a refuge
+within during night-hours. In the cemeteries the larger monuments were
+seized, and battles fought in defence of them, which were carried to
+bloodshed. Ustrinum with its disorder gave barely a slight foretaste of
+that which was happening beneath the walls of the capital.  All regard
+for the dignity of law, for family ties, for difference of position, had
+ceased.  Gladiators drunk with wine seized in the Emporium gathered in
+crowds, ran with wild shouts through the neighboring squares,
+scattering, trampling, and robbing the people.  A multitude of
+barbarians, exposed for sale in the city, escaped from the booths.  For
+them the burning and ruin of Rome was at once the end of slavery and the
+hour of revenge; so that when the permanent inhabitants, who had lost
+all they owned in the fire, stretched their hands to the gods in
+despair, calling for rescue, these slaves with howls of delight
+scattered the crowds, dragged clothing from people's backs, and bore
+away the younger women.  They were joined by slaves serving in the city
+from of old, wretches who had nothing on their bodies save woollen
+girdles around their hips, dreadful figures from the alleys, who were
+hardly ever seen on the streets in the daytime, and whose existence in
+Rome it was difficult to suspect.  Men of this wild and unrestrained
+crowd, Asiatics, Africans, Greeks, Thracians, Germans, Britons, howling
+in every language of the earth, raged, thinking that the hour had come
+in which they were free to reward themselves for years of misery and
+suffering.  In the midst of that surging throng of humanity, in the
+glitter of day and of fire, shone the helmets of pretorians, under whose
+protection the more peaceable population had taken refuge, and who in
+hand-to-hand battle had to meet the raging multitude in many places.
+Vinicius had seen captured cities, but never had his eyes beheld a
+spectacle in which despair, tears, pain, groans, wild delight, madness,
+rage, and license were mingled together in such immeasurable chaos.
+Above this heaving, mad human multitude roared the fire, surging up to
+the hill-tops of the greatest city on earth, sending into the whirling
+throng its fiery breath, and covering it with smoke, through which it
+was impossible to see the blue sky.  The young tribune with supreme
+effort, and exposing his life every moment, forced his way at last to
+the Appian Gate; but there he saw that he could not reach the city
+through the division of the Porta Capena, not merely because of the
+throng, but also because of the terrible heat from which the whole
+atmosphere was quivering inside the gate.  Besides, the bridge at the
+Porta Trigenia, opposite the temple of the Bona Dea, did not exist yet,
+hence whoso wished to go beyond the Tiber had to push through to the
+Pons Sublicius, that is, to pass around the Aventine through a part of
+the city covered now with one sea of flame.  That was an impossibility.
+Vinicius understood that he must return toward Ustrinum, turn from the
+Appian Way, cross the river below the city, and go to the Via
+Portuensis, which led straight to the Trans-Tiber.  That was not easy
+because of the increasing disorder on the Appian Way.  He must open a
+passage for himself there, even with the sword.  Vinicius had no
+weapons; he had left Antium just as the news of the fire had reached him
+in Cćsar's villa.  At the fountain of Mercury, however, he saw a
+centurion who was known to him.  This man, at the head of a few tens of
+soldiers, was defending the precinct of the temple; he commanded him to
+follow.  Recognizing a tribune and an Augustian, the centurion did not
+dare to disobey the order.
+
+Vinicius took command of the detachment himself, and, forgetting for
+that moment the teaching of Paul touching love for one's neighbor, he
+pressed and cut the throng in front with a haste that was fatal to many
+who could not push aside in season.  He and his men were followed by
+curses and a shower of stones; but to these he gave no heed, caring only
+to reach freer spaces at the earliest. Still he advanced with the
+greatest effort.  People who had encamped would not move, and heaped
+loud curses on Cćsar and the pretorians.  The throng assumed in places a
+threatening aspect. Vinicius heard voices accusing Nero of burning the
+city.  He and Poppća were threatened with death.  Shouts of "Sanio,"
+"Histrio" (buffoon, actor), "Matricide!" were heard round about.  Some
+shouted to drag him to the Tiber; others that Rome had shown patience
+enough.  It was clear that were a leader found, these threats could be
+changed into open rebellion which might break out any moment.  Meanwhile
+the rage and despair of the crowd turned against the pretorians, who for
+another reason could not make their way out of the crowd: the road was
+blocked by piles of goods, borne from the fire previously, boxes,
+barrels of provisions, furniture the most costly, vessels, infants'
+cradles, beds, carts, hand-packs.  Here and there they fought hand to
+hand; but the pretorians conquered the weaponless multitude easily.
+After they had ridden with difficulty across the Vić Latina, Numitia,
+Ardea, Lavinia, and Ostia, and passed around villas, gardens,
+cemeteries, and temples, Vinicius reached at last a village called Vicus
+Alexandri, beyond which he crossed the Tiber.  There was more open space
+at this spot, and less smoke.  From fugitives, of whom there was no lack
+even there, he learned that only certain alleys of the Trans-Tiber were
+burning, but that surely nothing could resist the fury of the
+conflagration, since people were spreading the fire purposely, and
+permitted no one to quench it, declaring that they acted at command.
+The young tribune had not the least doubt then that Cćsar had given
+command to burn Rome; and the vengeance which people demanded seemed to
+him just and proper.  What more could Mithridates or any of Rome's most
+inveterate enemies have done?  The measure had been exceeded; his
+madness had grown to be too enormous, and the existence of people too
+difficult because of him.  Vinicius believed that Nero's hour had
+struck, that those ruins into which the city was falling should and must
+overwhelm the monstrous buffoon together with all those crimes of his.
+Should a man be found of courage sufficient to stand at the head of the
+despairing people, that might happen in a few hours.  Here vengeful and
+daring thoughts began to fly through his head.  But if he should do
+that?  The house of Vinicius, which till recent times counted a whole
+series of consuls, was known throughout Rome.  The crowds needed only a
+name.  Once, when four hundred slaves of the prefect Pedanius Secundus
+were sentenced, Rome reached the verge of rebellion and civil war. What
+would happen to-day in view of a dreadful calamity surpassing almost
+everything which Rome had undergone in the course of eight centuries?
+Whoso calls the Quirites to arms, thought Vinicius, will overthrow Nero
+undoubtedly, and clothe himself in purple.  And why should he not do
+this?  He was firmer, more active, younger than other Augustians.  True,
+Nero commanded thirty legions stationed on the borders of the Empire;
+but would not those legions and their leaders rise up at news of the
+burning of Rome and its temples?  And in that case Vinicius might become
+Cćsar.  It was even whispered among the Augustians that a soothsayer had
+predicted the purple to Otho.  In what way was he inferior to Otho?
+Perhaps Christ Himself would assist him with His divine power; maybe
+that inspiration was His?  "Oh, would that it were!" exclaimed Vinicius,
+in spirit.  He would take vengeance on Nero for the danger of Lygia and
+his own fear; he would begin the reign of truth and justice, he would
+extend Christ's religion from the Euphrates to the misty shores of
+Britain; he would array Lygia in the purple, and make her mistress of
+the world.
+
+But these thoughts which had burst forth in his head like a bunch of
+sparks from a blazing house, died away like sparks.  First of all was
+the need to save Lygia.  He looked now on the catastrophe from near by;
+hence fear seized him again, and before that sea of flame and smoke,
+before the touch of dreadful reality, that confidence with which he
+believed that Peter would rescue Lygia died in his heart altogether.
+Despair seized him a second time when he had come out on the Via
+Portuensis, which led directly to the Trans-Tiber.  He did not recover
+till he came to the gate, where people repeated what fugitives had said
+before, that the greater part of that division of the city was not
+seized by the flames yet, but that fire had crossed the river in a
+number of places.
+
+Still the Trans-Tiber was full of smoke, and crowds of fugitives made it
+more difficult to reach the interior of the place, since people, having
+more time there, had saved greater quantities of goods.  The main street
+itself was in many parts filled completely, and around the Naumachia
+Augusta great heaps were piled up. Narrow alleys, in which smoke had
+collected more densely, were simply impassable.  The inhabitants were
+fleeing in thousands.  On the way Vinicius saw wonderful sights.  More
+than once two rivers of people, flowing in opposite directions, met in a
+narrow passage, stopped each other, men fought hand to hand, struck and
+trampled one another.  Families lost one another in the uproar; mothers
+called on their children despairingly.  The young tribune's hair stood
+on end at thought of what must happen nearer the fire.  Amid shouts and
+howls it was difficult to inquire about anything or understand what was
+said.  At times new columns of smoke from beyond the river rolled toward
+them, smoke black and so heavy that it moved near the ground, hiding
+houses, people, and every object, just as night does.  But the wind
+caused by the conflagration blew it away again, and then Vinicius pushed
+forward farther toward the alley in which stood the house of Linus.  The
+fervor of a July day, increased by the heat of the burning parts of the
+city, became unendurable.  Smoke pained the eyes; breath failed in men's
+breasts.  Even the inhabitants who, hoping that the fire would not cross
+the river, had remained in their houses so far, began to leave them; and
+the throng increased hourly.  The pretorians accompanying Vinicius
+remained in the rear.  In the crush some one wounded his horse with a
+hammer; the beast threw up its bloody head, reared, and refused
+obedience.  The crowd recognized in Vinicius an Augustian by his rich
+tunic, and at once cries were raised round about: "Death to Nero and his
+incendiaries!"  This was a moment of terrible danger; hundreds of hands
+were stretched toward Vinicius; but his frightened horse bore him away,
+trampling people as he went, and the next moment a new wave of black
+smoke rolled in and filled the street with darkness.  Vinicius, seeing
+that he could not ride past, sprang to the earth and rushed forward on
+foot, slipping along walls, and at times waiting till the fleeing
+multitude passed him.  He said to himself in spirit that these were vain
+efforts.  Lygia might not be in the city; she might have saved herself
+by flight.  It was easier to find a pin on the seashore than her in that
+crowd and chaos.  Still he wished to reach the house of Linus, even at
+the cost of his own life.  At times he stopped and rubbed his eyes.
+Tearing off the edge of his tunic, he covered his nose and mouth with it
+and ran on.  As he approached the river, the heat increased terribly.
+Vinicius, knowing that the fire had begun at the Circus Maximus, thought
+at first that that heat came from its cinders and from the Forum Boarium
+and the Velabrum, which, situated near by, must be also in flames.  But
+the heat was growing unendurable.  One old man on crutches and fleeing,
+the last whom Vinicius noticed, cried: "Go not near the bridge of
+Cestius!  The whole island is on fire!"  It was, indeed, impossible to
+be deceived any longer.  At the turn toward the Vicus Judćorum, on which
+stood the house of Linus, the young tribune saw flames amid clouds of
+smoke.  Not only the island was burning, but the Trans-Tiber, or at
+least the other end of the street on which Lygia dwelt.
+
+Vinicius remembered that the house of Linus was surrounded by a garden;
+between the garden and the Tiber was an unoccupied field of no great
+size.  This thought consoled him.  The fire might stop at the vacant
+place.  In that hope he ran forward, though every breeze brought not
+only smoke, but sparks in thousands, which might raise a fire at the
+other end of the alley and cut off his return.
+
+At last he saw through the smoky curtain the cypresses in Linus's
+garden.
+
+The houses beyond the unoccupied field were burning already like piles
+of fuel, but Linus's little "insula" stood untouched yet. Vinicius
+glanced heavenward with thankfulness, and sprang toward the house though
+the very air began to burn him.  The door was closed, but he pushed it
+open and rushed in.
+
+There was not a living soul in the garden, and the house seemed quite
+empty.  "Perhaps they have fainted from smoke and heat," thought
+Vinicius.  He began to call,--
+
+"Lygia!  Lygia!"
+
+Silence answered him.  Nothing could be heard in the stillness there
+save the roar of the distant fire.
+
+"Lygia!"
+
+Suddenly his ear was struck by that gloomy sound which he had heard
+before in that garden.  Evidently the vivarium near the temple of
+Esculapius, on the neighboring island, had caught fire.  In this
+vivarium every kind of wild beast, and among others lions, began to roar
+from affright.  A shiver ran through Vinicius from foot to head.  Now, a
+second time, at a moment when his whole being was concentrated in Lygia,
+these terrible voices answered, as a herald of misfortune, as a
+marvellous prophecy of an ominous future.
+
+But this was a brief impression, for the thunder of the flames, more
+terrible yet than the roaring of wild beasts, commanded him to think of
+something else.  Lygia did not answer his calls; but she might be in a
+faint or stifled in that threatened building.  Vinicius sprang to the
+interior.  The little atrium was empty, and dark with smoke.  Feeling
+for the door which led to the sleeping-rooms, he saw the gleaming flame
+of a small lamp, and approaching it saw the lararium in which was a
+cross instead of lares.  Under the cross a taper was burning.  Through
+the head of the young catechumen, the thought passed with lightning
+speed that that cross sent him the taper with which he could find Lygia;
+hence he took the taper and searched for the sleeping-rooms.  He found
+one, pushed aside the curtains, and, holding the taper, looked around.
+
+There was no one there, either.  Vinicius was sure that he had found
+Lygia's sleeping-room, for her clothing was on nails in the wall, and on
+the bed lay a capitium, or close garment worn by women next the body.
+Vinicius seized that, pressed it to his lips, and taking it on his arm
+went farther.  The house was small, so that he examined every room, and
+even the cellar quickly.  Nowhere could he find a living soul.  It was
+evident that Lygia, Linus, and Ursus, with other inhabitants of that
+part, must have sought safety in flight.
+
+"I must seek them among the crowd beyond the gates of the city," thought
+Vinicius.
+
+He was not astonished greatly at not meeting them on the Via Portuensis,
+for they might have left the Trans-Tiber through the opposite side along
+the Vatican Hill.  In every case they were safe from fire at least.  A
+stone fell from his breast.  He saw, it is true, the terrible danger
+with which the flight was connected, but he was comforted at thought of
+the preterhuman strength of Ursus.  "I must flee now," said he, "and
+reach the gardens of Agrippina through the gardens of Domitius, where I
+shall find them.  The smoke is not so terrible there, since the wind
+blows from the Sabine Hill."
+
+The hour had come now in which he must think of his own safety, for the
+river of fire was flowing nearer and nearer from the direction of the
+island, and rolls of smoke covered the alley almost completely.  The
+taper, which had lighted him in the house, was quenched from the current
+of air.  Vinicius rushed to the street, and ran at full speed toward the
+Via Portuensis, whence he had come; the fire seemed to pursue him with
+burning breath, now surrounding him with fresh clouds of smoke, now
+covering him with sparks, which fell on his hair, neck, and clothing.
+The tunic began to smoulder on him in places; he cared not, but ran
+forward lest he might be stifled from smoke.  He had the taste of soot
+and burning in his mouth; his throat and lungs were as if on fire.  The
+blood rushed to his head, and at moments all things, even the smoke
+itself, seemed red to him.  Then he thought: "This is living fire!
+Better cast myself on the ground and perish."  The running tortured him
+more and more.  His head, neck, and shoulders were streaming with sweat,
+which scalded like boiling water.  Had it not been for Lygia's name,
+repeated by him in thought, had it not been for her capitium, which he
+wound across his mouth, he would have fallen.  Some moments later he
+failed to recognize the street along which he ran.  Consciousness was
+leaving him gradually; he remembered only that he must flee, for in the
+open field beyond waited Lygia, whom Peter had promised him.  And all at
+once he was seized by a certain wonderful conviction, half feverish,
+like a vision before death, that he must see her, marry her, and then
+die.
+
+But he ran on as if drunk, staggering from one side of the street to the
+other.  Meanwhile something changed in that monstrous conflagration
+which had embraced the giant city.  Everything which till then had only
+glimmered, burst forth visibly into one sea of flame; the wind had
+ceased to bring smoke.  That smoke which had collected in the streets
+was borne away by a mad whirl of heated air.  That whirl drove with it
+millions of sparks, so that Vinicius was running in a fiery cloud as it
+were.  But he was able to see before him all the better, and in a
+moment, almost when he was ready to fall, he saw the end of the street.
+That sight gave him fresh strength.  Passing the corner, he found
+himself in a street which led to the Via Portuensis and the Codetan
+Field.  The sparks ceased to drive him.  He understood that if he could
+run to the Via Portuensis he was safe, even were he to faint on it.
+
+At the end of the street he saw again a cloud, as it seemed, which
+stopped the exit.  "If that is smoke," thought he, "I cannot pass."  He
+ran with the remnant of his strength.  On the way he threw off his
+tunic, which, on fire from the sparks, was burning him like the shirt of
+Nessus, having only Lygia's capitium around his head and before his
+mouth.  When he had run farther, he saw that what he had taken for smoke
+was dust, from which rose a multitude of cries and voices.
+
+"The rabble are plundering houses," thought Vinicius.  But he ran toward
+the voices.  In every case people were there; they might assist him.  In
+this hope he shouted for aid with all his might before he reached them.
+But this was his last effort.  It grew redder still in his eyes, breath
+failed his lungs, strength failed his bones; he fell.
+
+They heard him, however, or rather saw him.  Two men ran with gourds
+full of water.  Vinicius, who had fallen from exhaustion but had not
+lost consciousness, seized a gourd with both hands, and emptied one-half
+of it.
+
+"Thanks," said he; "place me on my feet, I can walk on alone."
+
+The other laborer poured water on his head; the two not only placed him
+on his feet, but raised him from the ground, and carried him to the
+others, who surrounded him and asked if he had suffered seriously.  This
+tenderness astonished Vinicius.
+
+"People, who are ye?" asked he.
+
+"We are breaking down houses, so that the fire may not reach the Via
+Portuensis," answered one of the laborers.
+
+"Ye came to my aid when I had fallen.  Thanks to you."
+
+"We are not permitted to refuse aid," answered a number of voices.
+
+Vinicius, who from early morning had seen brutal crowds, slaying and
+robbing, looked with more attention on the faces around him, and said,--
+
+"May Christ reward you."
+
+"Praise to His name!" exclaimed a whole chorus of voices.
+
+"Linus?" inquired Vinicius.
+
+But he could not finish the question or hear the answer, for he fainted
+from emotion and over-exertion.  He recovered only in the Codetan Field
+in a garden, surrounded by a number of men and women.  The first words
+which he uttered were,--
+
+"Where is Linus?"
+
+For a while there was no answer; then some voice, known to Vinicius,
+said all at once,--
+
+"He went out by the Nomentan Gate to Ostrianum two days ago. Peace be
+with thee, O king of Persia!"
+
+Vinicius rose to a sitting posture, and saw Chilo before him.
+
+"Thy house is burned surely, O lord," said the Greek, "for the Carinć is
+in flames; but thou wilt be always as rich as Midas. Oh, what a
+misfortune!  The Christians, O son of Serapis, have predicted this long
+time that fire would destroy the city.  But Linus, with the daughter of
+Jove, is in Ostrianum.  Oh, what a misfortune for the city!"
+
+Vinicius became weak again.
+
+"Hast thou seen them?" he inquired.
+
+"I saw them, O lord.  May Christ and all the gods be thanked that I am
+able to pay for thy benefactions with good news.  But, O Cyrus, I shall
+pay thee still more, I swear by this burning Rome."
+
+It was evening, but in the garden one could see as in daylight, for the
+conflagration had increased.  It seemed that not single parts of the
+city were burning, but the whole city through the length and the breadth
+of it.  The sky was red as far as the eye could see it, and that night
+in the world was a red night.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XLIV
+
+
+Light from the burning city filled the sky as far as human eye could
+reach.  The moon rose large and full from behind the mountains, and
+inflamed at once by the glare took on the color of heated brass.  It
+seemed to look with amazement on the world-ruling city which was
+perishing.  In the rose-colored abysses of heaven rose-colored stars
+were glittering; but in distinction from usual nights the earth was
+brighter than the heavens.  Rome, like a giant pile, illuminated the
+whole Campania.  In the bloody light were seen distant mountains, towns,
+villas, temples, mountains, and the aqueducts stretching toward the city
+from all the adjacent hills; on the aqueducts were swarms of people, who
+had gathered there for safety or to gaze at the burning.
+
+Meanwhile the dreadful element was embracing new divisions of the city.
+It was impossible to doubt that criminal hands were spreading the fire,
+since new conflagrations were breaking out all the time in places remote
+from the principal fire.  From the heights on which Rome was founded the
+flames flowed like waves of the sea into the valleys densely occupied by
+houses,--houses of five and six stories, full of shops, booths, movable
+wooden amphitheatres, built to accommodate various spectacles; and
+finally storehouses of wood, olives, grain, nuts, pine cones, the
+kernels of which nourishcd the more needy population, and clothing,
+which through Cćsar's favor was distributed from time to time among the
+rabble huddled into narrow alleys.  In those places the fire, finding
+abundance of inflammable materials, became almost a series of
+explosions, and took possession of whole streets with unheard-of
+rapidity.  People encamping outside the city, or standing on the
+aqueducts knew from the color of the flame what was burning.  The
+furious power of the wind carried forth from the fiery gulf thousands
+and millions of burning shells of walnuts and almonds, which, shooting
+suddenly into the sky, like countless flocks of bright butterflies,
+burst with a crackling, or, driven by the wind, fell in other parts of
+the city, on aqueducts, and fields beyond Rome.  All thought of rescue
+seemed out of place; confusion increased every moment, for on one side
+the population of the city was fleeing through every gate to places
+outside; on the other the fire had lured in thousands of people from the
+neighborhood, such as dwellers in small towns, peasants, and half-wild
+shepherds of the Campania, brought in by hope of plunder.  The shout,
+"Rome is perishing!" did not leave the lips of the crowd; the ruin of
+the city seemed at that time to end every rule, and loosen all bonds
+which hitherto had joined people in a single integrity.  The mob, in
+which slaves were more numerous, cared nothing for the lordship of Rome.
+Destruction of the city could only free them; hence here and there they
+assumed a threatening attitude.  Violence and robbery were extending.
+It seemed that only the spectacle of the perishing city arrested
+attention, and restrained for the moment an outburst of slaughter, which
+would begin as soon as the city was turned into ruins. Hundreds of
+thousands of slaves, forgetting that Rome, besides temples and walls,
+possessed some tens of legions in all parts of the world, appeared
+merely waiting for a watchword and a leader. People began to mention the
+name of Spartacus, but Spartacus was not alive.  Meanwhile citizens
+assembled, and armed themselves each with what he could.  The most
+monstrous reports were current at all the gates.  Some declared that
+Vulcan, commanded by Jupiter, was destroying the city with fire from
+beneath the earth; others that Vesta was taking vengeance for Rubria.
+People with these convictions did not care to save anything, but,
+besieging the temples, implored mercy of the gods.  It was repeated most
+generally, however, that Cćsar had given command to burn Rome, so as to
+free himself from odors which rose from the Subura, and build a new city
+under the name of Neronia.  Rage seized the populace at thought of this;
+and if, as Vinicius believed, a leader had taken advantage of that
+outburst of hatred, Nero's hour would have struck whole years before it
+did.
+
+It was said also that Cćsar had gone mad, that he would command
+pretorians and gladiators to fall upon the people and make a general
+slaughter.  Others swore by the gods that wild beasts had been let out
+of all the vivaria at Bronzebeard's command.  Men had seen on the
+streets lions with burning manes, and mad elephants and bisons,
+trampling down people in crowds.  There was even some truth in this; for
+in certain places elephants, at sight of the approaching fire, had burst
+the vivaria, and, gaining their freedom, rushed away from the fire in
+wild fright, destroying everything before them like a tempest.  Public
+report estimated at tens of thousands the number of persons who had
+perished in the conflagration.  In truth a great number had perished.
+There were people who, losing all their property, or those dearest their
+hearts, threw themselves willingly into the flames, from despair.
+Others were suffocated by smoke.  In the middle of the city, between the
+Capitol, on one side, and the Quirinal, the Viminal, and the Esquiline
+on the other, as also between the Palatine and the Cćlian Hill, where
+the streets were most densely occupied, the fire began in so many places
+at once that whole crowds of people, while fleeing in one direction,
+struck unexpectedly on a new wall of fire in front of them, and died a
+dreadful death in a deluge of flame.
+
+In terror, in distraction, and bewilderment, people knew not where to
+flee.  The streets were obstructed with goods, and in many narrow places
+were simply closed.  Those who took refuge in those markets and squares
+of the city, where the Flavian Amphitheatre stood afterward, near the
+temple of the Earth, near the Portico of Silvia, and higher up, at the
+temples of Juno and Lucinia, between the Clivus Virbius and the old
+Esquiline Gate, perished from heat, surrounded by a sea of fire.  In
+places not reached by the flames were found afterward hundreds of bodies
+burned to a crisp, though here and there unfortunates tore up flat
+stones and half buried themselves in defence against the heat.  Hardly a
+family inhabiting the centre of the city survived in full; hence along
+the walls, at the gates, on all roads were heard howls of despairing
+women, calling on the dear names of those who had perished in the throng
+or the fire.
+
+And so, while some were imploring the gods, others blasphemed them
+because of this awful catastrophe.  Old men were seen coming from the
+temple of Jupiter Liberator, stretching forth their hands, and crying,
+"If thou be a liberator, save thy altars and the city!"  But despair
+turned mainly against the old Roman gods, who, in the minds of the
+populace, were bound to watch over the city more carefully than others.
+They had proved themselves powerless; hence were insulted.  On the other
+hand it happened on the Via Asinaria that when a company of Egyptian
+priests appeared conducting a statue of Isis, which they had saved from
+the temple near the Porta Cćlimontana, a crowd of people rushed among
+the priests, attached themselves to the chariot, which they drew to the
+Appian Gate, and seizing the statue placed it in the temple of Mars,
+overwhelming the priests of that deity who dared to resist them.  In
+other places people invoked Serapis, Baal, or Jehovah, whose adherents,
+swarming out of the alleys in the neighborhood of the Subura and the
+Trans-Tiber, filled with shouts and uproar the fields near the walls.
+In their cries were heard tones as if of triumph; when, therefore, some
+of the citizens joined the chorus and glorified "the Lord of the World,"
+others, indignant at this glad shouting, strove to repress it by
+violence.  Here and there hymns were heard, sung by men in the bloom of
+life, by old men, by women and children,--hymns wonderful and solemn,
+whose meaning they understood not, but in which were repeated from
+moment to moment the words, "Behold the Judge cometh in the day of wrath
+and disaster."  Thus this deluge of restless and sleepless people
+encircled the burning city, like a tempest-driven sea.
+
+But neither despair nor blasphemy nor hymn helped in any way. The
+destruction seemed as irresistible, perfect, and pitiless as
+Predestination itself.  Around Pompey's Amphitheatre stores of hemp
+caught fire, and ropes used in circuses, arenas, and every kind of
+machine at the games, and with them the adjoining buildings containing
+barrels of pitch with which ropes were smeared.  In a few hours all that
+part of the city, beyond which lay the Campus Martius, was so lighted by
+bright yellow flames that for a time it seemed to the spectators, only
+half conscious from terror, that in the general ruin the order of night
+and day had been lost, and that they were looking at sunshine.  But
+later a monstrous bloody gleam extinguished all other colors of flame.
+From the sea of fire shot up to the heated sky gigantic fountains, and
+pillars of flame spreading at their summits into fiery branches and
+feathers; then the wind bore them away, turned them into golden threads,
+into hair, into sparks, and swept them on over the Campania toward the
+Alban Hills.  The night became brighter; the air itself seemed
+penetrated, not only with light, but with flame.  The Tiber flowed on as
+living fire.  The hapless city was turned into one pandemonium.  The
+conflagration seized more and more space, took hills by storm, flooded
+level places, drowned valleys, raged, roared, and thundered.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XLV
+
+
+MACRINUS, a weaver, to whose house Vinicius was carried, washed him, and
+gave him clothing and food.  When the young tribune had recovered his
+strength altogether, he declared that he would search further for Linus
+that very night.  Macrinus, who was a Christian, confirmed Chilo's
+report, that Linus, with Clement the chief priest, had gone to
+Ostrianum, where Peter was to baptize a whole company of confessors of
+the new faith.  In that division of the city it was known to Christians
+that Linus had confided the care of his house two days before to a
+certain Gaius.  For Vinicius this was a proof that neither Lygia nor
+Ursus had remained in the house, and that they also must have gone to
+Ostrianum.
+
+This thought gave him great comfort.  Linus was an old man, for whom it
+would be difficult to walk daily to the distant Nomentan Gate, and back
+to the Trans-Tiber; hence it was likely that he lodged those few days
+with some co-religionist beyond the walls, and with him also Lygia and
+Ursus.  Thus they escaped the fire, which in general had not reached the
+other slope of the Esquiline. Vinicius saw in all this a dispensation of
+Christ, whose care he felt above him, and his heart was filled more than
+ever with love; he swore in his soul to pay with his whole life for
+those clear marks of favor.
+
+But all the more did he hurry to Ostrianum.  He would find Lygia, find
+Linus and Peter; he would take them to a distance, to some of his lands,
+even to Sicily.  Let Rome burn; in a few days it would be a mere heap of
+ashes.  Why remain in the face of disaster and a mad rabble?  In his
+lands troops of obedient slaves would protect them, they would be
+surrounded by the calm of the country, and live in peace under Christ's
+wings blessed by Peter.  Oh, if he could find them!
+
+That was no easy thing.  Vinicius remembered the difficulty with which
+he had passed from the Appian Way to the Trans-Tiber, and how he must
+circle around to reach the Via Portuensis.  He resolved, therefore, to
+go around the city this time in the opposite direction.  Going by the
+Via Triumphatoris, it was possible to reach the Ćmilian bridge by going
+along the river, thence passing the Pincian Hill, all the Campus
+Martius, outside the gardens of Pompey, Lucullus, and Sallust, to make a
+push forward to the Via Nomentana.  That was the shortest way; but
+Macrinus and Chilo advised him not to take it.  The fire had not touched
+that part of the city, it is true; but all the market squares and
+streets might be packed densely with people and their goods.  Chilo
+advised him to go through the Ager Vaticanus to the Porta Flaminia,
+cross the river at that point, and push on outside the walls beyond the
+gardens of Acilius to the Porta Salaria.  Vinicius, after a moment's
+hesitation, took this advice.
+
+Macrinus had to remain in care of his house; but he provided two mules,
+which would serve Lygia also in a further journey.  He wished to give a
+slave, too; but Vinicius refused, judging that the first detachment of
+pretorians he met on the road would pass under his orders.
+
+Soon he and Chilo moved on through the Pagus Janiculensis to the
+Triumphal Way.  There were vehicles there, too, in open places; but they
+pushed between them with less difficulty, as the inhabitants had fled
+for the greater part by the Via Portuensis toward the sea.  Beyond the
+Septimian Gate they rode between the river and the splendid gardens of
+Domitius; the mighty cypresses were red from the conflagration, as if
+from evening sunshine.  The road became freer; at times they had to
+struggle merely with the current of incoming rustics.  Vinicius urged
+his mule forward as much as possible; but Chilo, riding closely in the
+rear, talked to himself almost the whole way.
+
+"Well, we have left the fire behind, and now it is heating our
+shoulders.  Never yet has there been so much light on this road in the
+night-time.  O Zeus! if thou wilt not send torrents of rain on that
+fire, thou hast no love for Rome, surely.  The power of man will not
+quench those flames.  Such a city,--a city which Greece and the whole
+world was serving!  And now the first Greek who comes along may roast
+beans in its ashes.  Who could have looked for this?  And now there will
+be no longer a Rome, nor Roman rulers. Whoso wants to walk on the ashes,
+when they grow cold, and whistle over them, may whistle without danger.
+O gods! to whistle over such a world-ruling city!  What Greek, or even
+barbarian, could have hoped for this?  And still one may whistle; for a
+heap of ashes, whether left after a shepherd's fire or a burnt city, is
+mere ashes, which the wind will blow away sooner or later."
+
+Thus talking, he turned from moment to moment toward the conflagration,
+and looked at the waves of flame with a face filled at once with delight
+and malice.
+
+"It will perish!  It will perish!" continued he, "and will never be on
+earth again.  Whither will the world send its wheat now, its olives, and
+its money?  Who will squeeze gold and tears from it?  Marble does not
+burn, but it crumbles in fire.  The Capitol will turn into dust, and the
+Palatine into dust.  O Zeus!  Rome was like a shepherd, and other
+nations like sheep.  When the shepherd was hungry, he slaughtered a
+sheep, ate the flesh, and to thee, O father of the gods, he made an
+offering of the skin.  Who, O Cloud-compeller, will do the slaughtering
+now, and into whose hand wilt thou put the shepherd's whip?  For Rome is
+burning, O father, as truly as if thou hadst fired it with thy
+thunderbolt."
+
+"Hurry!" urged Vinicius; "what art thou doing there?"
+
+"I am weeping over Rome, lord,--Jove's city!"
+
+For a time they rode on in silence, listening to the roar of the
+burning, and the sound of birds' wings.  Doves, a multitude of which had
+their nests about villas and in small towns of the Campania, and also
+every kind of field-bird from near the sea and the surrounding
+mountains, mistaking evidently the gleam of the conflagration for
+sunlight, were flying, whole flocks of them, blindly into the fire.
+Vinicius broke the silence first,--
+
+"Where wert thou when the fire burst out?"
+
+"I was going to my friend Euricius, lord, who kept a shop near the
+Circus Maximus, and I was just meditating on the teaching of Christ,
+when men began to shout: 'Fire!' People gathered around the Circus for
+safety, and through curiosity; but when the flames seized the whole
+Circus, and began to appear in other places also, each had to think of
+his own safety."
+
+"Didst thou see people throwing torches into houses?"
+
+"What have I not seen, O grandson of Ćneas!  I saw people making a way
+for themselves through the crowd with swords; I have seen battles, the
+entrails of people trampled on the pavement. Ah, if thou hadst seen
+that, thou wouldst have thought that barbarians had captured the city,
+and were putting it to the sword. People round about cried that the end
+of the world had come. Some lost their heads altogether, and, forgetting
+to flee, waited stupidly till the flames seized them.  Some fell into
+bewilderment, others howled in despair; I saw some also who howled from
+delight.  O lord, there are many bad people in the world who know not
+how to value the benefactions of your mild rule, and those just laws in
+virtue of which ye take from all what they have and give it to
+yourselves.  People will not be reconciled to the will of God!"
+
+Vinicius was too much occupied with his own thoughts to note the irony
+quivering in Chilo's words.  A shudder of terror seized him at the
+simple thought that Lygia might be in the midst of that chaos on those
+terrible streets where people's entrails were trampled on. Hence, though
+he had asked at least ten times of Chilo touching all which the old man
+could know, he turned to him once again,--
+
+"But hast thou seen them in Ostrianum with thy own eyes?"
+
+"I saw them, O son of Venus; I saw the maiden, the good Lygian, holy
+Linus, and the Apostle Peter."
+
+"Before the fire?"
+
+"Before the fire, O Mithra!"
+
+But a doubt rose in the soul of Vinicius whether Chilo was not lying;
+hence, reining his mule in, he looked threateningly at the old Greek and
+inquired,--
+
+"What wert thou doing there?"
+
+Chilo was confused.  True, it seemed to him, as to many, that with the
+destruction of Rome would come the end also of Roman dominion.  But he
+was face to face with Vinicius; he remembered that the young soldier had
+prohibited him, under a terrible threat, from watching the Christians,
+and especially Linus and Lygia.
+
+"Lord," said he, "why dost thou not believe that I love them?  I do.  I
+was in Ostrianum, for I am half a Christian.  Pyrrho has taught me to
+esteem virtue more than philosophy; hence I cleave more and more to
+virtuous people.  And, besides, I am poor; and when thou, O Jove, wert
+at Antium, I suffered hunger frequently over my books; therefore I sat
+at the wall of Ostrianum, for the Christians, though poor, distribute
+more alms than all other inhabitants of Rome taken together."
+
+This reason seemed sufficient to Vinicius, and he inquired less
+severely,--
+
+"And dost thou not know where Linus is dwelling at this moment?"
+
+"Thou didst punish me sharply on a time for curiosity," replied the
+Greek.
+
+Vinicius ceased talking and rode on.
+
+"O lord," said Chilo, after a while, "thou wouldst not have found the
+maiden but for me, and if we find her now, thou wilt not forget the
+needy sage?"
+
+"Thou wilt receive a house with a vineyard at Ameriola."
+
+"Thanks to thee, O Hercules!  With a vineyard?  Thanks to thee!  Oh,
+yes, with a vineyard!"
+
+They were passing the Vatican Hill now, which was ruddy from the fire;
+but beyond the Naumachia they turned to the right, so that when they had
+passed the Vatican Field they would reach the river, and, crossing it,
+go to the Flaminian Gate.  Suddenly Chilo reined in his mule,
+and said,--
+
+"A good thought has come to my head, lord!"
+
+"Speak!" answered Vinicius.
+
+"Between the Janiculum and the Vatican Hill, beyond the gardens of
+Agrippina, are excavations from which stones and sand were taken to
+build the Circus of Nero.  Hear me, lord.  Recently the Jews, of whom,
+as thou knowest, there is a multitude in Trans-Tiber, have begun to
+persecute Christians cruelly.  Thou hast in mind that in the time of the
+divine Claudius there were such disturbances that Cćsar was forced to
+expel them from Rome.  Now, when they have returned, and when, thanks to
+the protection of the Augusta, they feel safe, they annoy Christians
+more insolently.  I know this; I have seen it.  No edict against
+Christians has been issued; but the Jews complain to the prefect of the
+city that Christians murder infants, worship an ass, and preach a
+religion not recognized by the Senate; they beat them, and attack their
+houses of prayer so fiercely that the Christians are forced to hide."
+
+"What dost thou wish to say?" inquired Vinicius.
+
+"This, lord, that synagogues exist openly in the Trans-Tiber; but that
+Christians, in their wish to avoid persecution, are forced to pray in
+secret and assemble in ruined sheds outside the city or in sand-pits.
+Those who dwell in the Trans-Tiber have chosen just that place which was
+excavated for the building of the Circus and various houses along the
+Tiber.  Now, when the city is perishing, the adherents of Christ are
+praying.  Beyond doubt we shall find a countless number of them in the
+excavation; so my advice is to go in there along the road."
+
+"But thou hast said that Linus has gone to Ostrianum," cried Vinicius
+impatiently.
+
+"But thou has promised me a house with a vineyard at Ameriola," answered
+Chilo; "for that reason I wish to seek the maiden wherever I hope to
+find her.  They might have returned to the Trans-Tiber after the
+outbreak of the fire.  They might have gone around outside the city, as
+we are doing at this momnent.  Linus has a house, perhaps he wished to
+be nearer his house to see if the fire had seized that part of the city
+also.  If they have returned, I swear to thee, by Persephone, that we
+shall find them at prayer in the excavation; in the worst event, we
+shall get tidings of them."
+
+"Thou art right; lead on!" said the tribune.
+
+Chilo, without hesitation, turned to the left toward the hill.
+
+For a while the slope of the hill concealed the conflagration, so that,
+though the neighboring heights were in the light, the two men were in
+the shade.  When they had passed the Circus, they turned still to the
+left, and entered a kind of passage completely dark.  But in that
+darkness Vinicius saw swarms of gleaming lanterns.
+
+"They are there," said Chilo.  "There will be more of them to-day than
+ever, for other houses of prayer are burnt or are filled with smoke, as
+is the whole Trans-Tiber."
+
+"True!" said Vinicius, "I hear singing."
+
+In fact, the voices of people singing reached the hill from the dark
+opening, and the lanterns vanished in it one after the other.  But from
+side passages new forms appeared continually, so that after some time
+Vinicius and Chilo found themselves amid a whole assemblage of people.
+
+Chilo slipped from his mule, and, beckoning to a youth who sat near,
+said to him,--"I am a priest of Christ and a bishop.  Hold the mules for
+us; thou wilt  receive my blessing and forgiveness of sins."
+
+Then, without waiting for an answer, he thrust the reins into his hands,
+and, in company with Vinicius, joined the advancing throng.
+
+They entered the excavation after a while, and pushed on through the
+dark passage by the dim light of lanterns till they reached a spacious
+cave, from which stone had been taken evidently, for the walls were
+formed of fresh fragments.
+
+It was brighter there than in the corridor, for, in addition to tapers
+and lanterns, torches were burning.  By the light of these Vinicius saw
+a whole throng of kneeling people with upraised hands.  He could not see
+Lygia, the Apostle Peter, or Linus, but he was surrounded by faces
+solenm and full of emotion.  On some of them expectation or alarm was
+evident; on some, hope.  Light was reflected in the whites of their
+upraised eyes; perspiration was flowing along their foreheads, pale as
+chalk; some were singing hymns, others were repeating feverishly the
+name of Jesus, some were beating their breasts.  It was apparent that
+they expected something uncommon at any moment.
+
+Meanwhile the hymn ceased, and above the assembly, in a niche formed by
+the removal of an immense stone, appeared Crispus, the acquaintance of
+Vinicius, with a face as it were half delirious, pale, stern, and
+fanatical.  All eyes were turned to him, as though waiting for words of
+consolation and hope.  After he had blessed the assembly, he began in
+hurried, almost shouting tones,--
+
+"Bewail your sins, for the hour has come!  Behold the Lord has sent down
+destroying flames on Babylon, on the city of profligacy and crime.  The
+hour of judgment has struck, the hour of wrath and dissolution.  The
+Lord has promised to come, and soon you will see Him.  He will not come
+as the Lamb, who offered His blood for your sins, but as an awful judge,
+who in His justice will hurl sinners and unbelievers into the pit.  Woe
+to the world, woe to sinners! there will be no mercy for them.  I see
+Thee, O Christ! Stars are falling to the earth in showers, the sun is
+darkened, the earth opens in yawning gulfs, the dead rise from their
+graves, but Thou art moving amid the sound of trumpets and legions of
+angels, amid thunders and lightnings.  I see Thee, I hear Thee, O
+Christ!"
+
+Then he was silent, and, raising his eyes, seemed to gaze into something
+distant and dreadful.  That moment a dull roar was heard in the cave,--
+once, twice, a tenth time, in the burning city whole streets of partly
+consumed houses began to fall with a crash.  But most Christians took
+those sounds as a visible sign that the dreadful hour was approaching;
+belief in the early second coming of Christ and in the end of the world
+was universal among them, now the destruction of the city had
+strengthened it.  Terror seized the assembly.  Many voices repeated,
+"The day of judgment! Behold, it is coming!"  Some covered their faces
+with their hands, believing that the earth would be shaken to its
+foundation, that beasts of hell would rush out through its openings and
+hurl themselves on sinners.  Others cried, "Christ have mercy on us!"
+"Redeemer, be pitiful!"  Some confessed their sins aloud; others cast
+themselves into the arms of friends, so as to have some near heart with
+them in the hour of dismay.
+
+But there were faces which seemed rapt into heaven, faces with smiles
+not of earth; these showed no fear.  In some places were heard voices;
+those were of people who in religious excitement had begun to cry out
+unknown words in strange languages.  Some person in a dark corner cried,
+"Wake thou that sleepest!"  Above all rose the shout of Crispus, "Watch
+ye! watch ye!"
+
+At moments, however, silence came, as if all were holding the breath in
+their breasts, and waiting for what would come.  And then was heard the
+distant thunder of parts of the city falling into ruins, after which
+were heard again groans and cries,--"Renounce earthly riches, for soon
+there will be no earth beneath your feet! Renounce earthly loves, for
+the Lord will condemn those who love wife or child more than Him.  Woe
+to the one who loves the creature more than the Creator!  Woe to the
+rich! woe to the luxurious! woe to the dissolute! woe to husband, wife,
+and child!"
+
+Suddenly a roar louder than any which had preceded shook the quarry.
+All fell to the earth, stretching their arms in cross form to ward away
+evil spirits by that figure.  Silence followed, in which was heard only
+panting breath, whispers full of terror, "Jesus, Jesus, Jesus!" and in
+places the weeping of children.  At that moment a certain calm voice
+spoke above that prostrate multitude,--
+
+"Peace be with you!"
+
+That was the voice of Peter the Apostle, who had entered the cave a
+moment earlier.  At the sound of his voice terror passed at once, as it
+passes from a flock in which the shepherd has appeared. People rose from
+the earth; those who were nearer gathered at his knees, as if seeking
+protection under his wings.  He stretched his hands over them and
+said,--
+
+"Why are ye troubled in heart?  Who of you can tell what will happen
+before the hour cometh?  The Lord has punished Babylon with fire; but
+His mercy will be on those whom baptism has purified, and ye whose sins
+are redeemed by the blood of the Lamb will die with His name on your
+lips.  Peace be with you!"
+
+After the terrible and merciless words of Crispus, those of Peter fell
+like a balm on all present.  Instead of fear of God, the love of God
+took possession of their spirits.  Those people found the Christ whom
+they had learned to love from the Apostle's narratives; hence not a
+merciless judge, but a mild and patient Lamb, whose mercy surpasses
+man's wickedness a hundredfold.  A feeling of solace possessed the whole
+assembly; and comfort, with thankfulness to the Apostle, filled their
+hearts, Voices from various sides began to cry, "We are thy sheep, feed
+us!"  Those nearer said, "Desert us not in the day of disaster!"  And
+they knelt at his knees; seeing which Vinicius approached, seized the
+edge of Peter's mantle, and, inclining, said,--
+
+"Save me, lord.  I have sought her in the smoke of the burning and in
+the throng of people; nowhere could I find her, but I believe that thou
+canst restore her."
+
+Peter placed his hand on the tribune's head.
+
+"Have trust," said he, "and come with me."
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XLVI
+
+
+The city burned on.  The Circus Maximus had fallen in ruins. Entire
+streets and alleys in parts which began to burn first were falling in
+turn.  After every fall pillars of flame rose for a time to the very
+sky.  The wind had changed, and blew now with mighty force from the sea,
+bearing toward the Cćlian, the Esquiline, and the Viminal rivers of
+flame, brands, and cinders.  Still the authorities provided for rescue.
+At command of Tigellinus, who had hastened from Antium the third day
+before, houses on the Esquiline were torn down so that the fire,
+reaching empty spaces, died of itself.  That was, however, undertaken
+solely to save a remnant of the city; to save that which was burning was
+not to be thought of.  There was need also to guard against further
+results of the ruin.  Incalculable wealth had perished in Rome; all the
+property of its citizens had vanished; hundreds of thousands of people
+were wandering in utter want outside the walls.  Hunger had begun to
+pinch this throng the second day, for the immense stores of provisions
+in the city had burned with it.  In the universal disorder and in the
+destruction of authority no one had thought of furnishing new supplies.
+Only after the arrival of Tigellinus were proper orders sent to Ostia;
+but meanwhile the people had grown more threatening.
+
+The house at Aqua Appia, in which Tigellinus lodged for the moment, was
+surrounded by crowds of women, who from morning till late at night
+cried, "Bread and a roof!"  Vainly did pretorians, brought from the
+great camp between the Via Salaria and the Nomentana, strive to maintain
+order of some kind.  Here and there they were met by open, armed
+resistance.  In places weaponless crowds pointed to the burning city,
+and shouted, "Kill us in view of that fire!"  They abused Cćsar, the
+Augustians, the pretorians; excitement rose every moment, so that
+Tigellinus, looking at night on the thousands of fires around the city,
+said to himself that those were fires in hostile camps.
+
+Besides flour, as much baked bread as possible was brought at his
+command, not only from Ostia, but from all towns and neighboring
+villages.  When the first instalment came at night to the Emporium, the
+people broke the chief gate toward the Aventine, seized all supplies in
+the twinkle of an eye, and caused terrible disturbance. In the light of
+the conflagration they fought for loaves, and trampled many of them into
+the earth.  Flour from torn bags whitened like snow the whole space from
+the granary to the arches of Drusus and Germanicus.  The uproar
+continued till soldiers seized the building and dispersed the crowd with
+arrows and missiles.
+
+Never since the invasion by the Gauls under Brennus had Rome beheld such
+disaster.  People in despair compared the two conflagrations.  But in
+the time of Brennus the Capitol remained. Now the Capitol was encircled
+by a dreadful wreath of flame.  The marbles, it is true, were not
+blazing; but at night, when the wind swept the flames aside for a
+moment, rows of columns in the lofty sanctuary of Jove were visible, red
+as glowing coals.  In the days of Brennus, moreover, Rome had a
+disciplined integral people, attached to the city and its altars; but
+now crowds of a many-tongued populace roamed nomad-like around the walls
+of burning Rome,--people composed for the greater part of slaves and
+freedmen, excited, disorderly, and ready, under the pressure of want, to
+turn against authority and the city.
+
+But the very immensity of the fire, which terrified every heart,
+disarmed the crowd in a certain measure.  After the fire might come
+famine and disease; and to complete the misfortune the terrible heat of
+July had appeared.  It was impossible to breathe air inflamed both by
+fire and the sun.  Night brought no relief, on the contrary it presented
+a hell.  During daylight an awful and ominous spectacle met the eye.  In
+the centre a giant city on heights was turned into a roaring volcano;
+round about as far as the Alban Hills was one boundless camp, formed of
+sheds, tents, huts, vehicles, bales, packs, stands, fires, all covered
+with smoke and dust, lighted by sun-rays reddened by passing through
+smoke,--everything filled with roars, shouts, threats, hatred and
+terror, a monstrous swarm of men, women, and children.  Mingled with
+Quirites were Greeks, shaggy men from the North with blue eyes,
+Africans, and Asiatics; among citizens were slaves, freedmen,
+gladiators, merchants, mechanics, servants, and soldiers,--a real sea of
+people, flowing around the island of fire.
+
+Various reports moved this sea as wind does a real one.  These reports
+were favorable and unfavorable.  People told of immense supplies of
+wheat and clothing to be brought to the Emporium and distributed gratis.
+It was said, too, that provinces in Asia and Africa would be stripped of
+their wealth at Cćsar's command, and the treasures thus gained be given
+to the inhabitants of Rome, so that each man might build his own
+dwelling.  But it was noised about also that water in the aqueducts had
+been poisoned; that Nero intended to annihilate the city, destroy the
+inhabitants to the last person, then move to Greece or to Egypt, and
+rule the world from a new place.  Each report ran with lightning speed,
+and each found belief among the rabble, causing outbursts of hope,
+anger, terror, or rage.  Finally a kind of fever mastered those nomadic
+thousands.  The belief of Christians that the end of the world by fire
+was at hand, spread even among adherents of the gods, and extended
+daily.  People fell into torpor or madness.  In clouds lighted by the
+burning, gods were seen gazing down on the ruin; hands were stretched
+toward those gods then to implore pity or send them curses.
+
+Meanwhile soldiers, aided by a certain number of inhabitants, continued
+to tear down houses on the Esquiline and the Cćlian, as also in the
+Trans-Tiber; these divisions were saved therefore in considerable part.
+But in the city itself were destroyed incalculable treasures accumulated
+through centuries of conquest; priceless works of art, splendid temples,
+the most precious monuments of Rome's past, and Rome's glory.  They
+foresaw that of all Rome there would remain barely a few parts on the
+edges, and that hundreds of thousands of people would be without a roof.
+Some spread reports that the soldiers were tearing down houses not to
+stop the fire, but to prevent any part of the city from being saved.
+Tigellinus sent courier after courier to Antium, imploring Cćsar in each
+letter to come and calm the despairing people with his presence.  But
+Nero moved only when fire had seized the "domus transitoria," and he
+hurried so as not to miss the moment in which the conflagration should
+be at its highest.
+
+Meanwhile fire had reached the Via Nomentana, but turned from it at once
+with a change of wind toward the Via Lata and the Tiber.  It surrounded
+the Capitol, spread along the Forum Boarium, destroyed everything which
+it had spared before, and approached the Palatine a second time.
+
+Tigellinus, assembling all the pretorian forces, despatched courier
+after courier to Cćsar with an announcement that he would lose nothing
+of the grandeur of the spectacle, for the fire had increased.
+
+But Nero, who was on the road, wished to come at night, so as to sate
+himself all the better with a view of the perishing capital. Therefore
+he halted, in the neighborhood of Aqua Albana, and, summoning to his
+tent the tragedian Aliturus, decided with his aid on posture, look, and
+expression; learned fitting gestures, disputing with the actor
+stubbornly whether at the words "O sacred city, which seemed more
+enduring than Ida," he was to raise both hands, or, holding in one the
+forminga, drop it by his side and raise only the other.  This question
+seemed to him then more important than all others.  Starting at last
+about nightfall, he took counsel of Petronius also whether to the lines
+describing the catastrophe he might add a few magnificent blasphemies
+against the gods, and whether, considered from the standpoint of art,
+they would not have rushed spontaneously from the mouth of a man in such
+a position, a man who was losing his birthplace.
+
+At length he approached the walls about midnight with his numerous
+court, composed of whole detachments of nobles, senators, knights,
+freedmen, slaves, women, and children.  Sixteen thousand pretorians,
+arranged in line of battle along the road, guarded the peace and safety
+of his entrance, and held the excited populace at a proper distance.
+The people cursed, shouted, and hissed on seeing the retinue, but dared
+not attack it.  In many places, however, applause was given by the
+rabble, which, owning nothing, had lost nothing in the fire, and which
+hoped for a more bountiful distribution than usual of wheat, olives,
+clothing, and money.  Finally, shouts, hissing, and applause were
+drowned in the blare of horns and trumpets, which Tigellinus had caused
+to be sounded.
+
+Nero, on arriving at the Ostian Gate, halted, and said, "Houseless ruler
+of a houseless people, where shall I lay my unfortunate head for the
+night?"
+
+After he had passed the Clivus Delphini, he ascended the Appian aqueduct
+on steps prepared purposely.  After him followed the Augustians and a
+choir of singers, bearing citharć, lutes, and other musical instruments.
+
+And all held the breath in their breasts, waiting to learn if he would
+say some great words, which for their own safety they ought to remember.
+But he stood solemn, silent, in a purple mantle, and a wreath of golden
+laurels, gazing at the raging might of the flames. When Terpnos gave him
+a golden lute, he raised his eyes to the sky, filled with the
+conflagration, as if he were waiting for inspiration.
+
+The people pointed at him from afar as he stood in the bloody gleam.  In
+the distance fiery serpents were hissing.  The ancient and most sacred
+edifices were in flames: the temple of Hercules, reared by Evander, was
+burning; the temple of Jupiter Stator was burning, the temple of Luna,
+built by Servius Tullius, the house of Numa Pompilius, the sanctuary of
+Vesta with the penates of the Roman people; through waving flames the
+Capitol appeared at intervals; the past and the spirit of Rome was
+burning.  But he, Cćsar, was there with a lute in his hand and a
+theatrical expression on his face, not thinking of his perishing
+country, but of his posture and the prophetic words with which he might
+describe best the greatness of the catastrophe, rouse most admiration,
+and receive the warmest plaudits.  He detested that city, he detested
+its inhabitants, beloved only his own songs and verses; hence he
+rejoiced in heart that at last he saw a tragedy like that which he was
+writing.  The verse-maker was happy, the declaimer felt inspired, the
+seeker for emotions was delighted at the awful sight, and thought with
+rapture that even the destruction of Troy was as nothing if compared
+with the destruction of that giant city.  What more could he desire?
+There was world-ruling Rome in flames, and he, standing on the arches of
+the aqueduct with a golden lute, conspicuous, purple, admired,
+magnificent, poetic.  Down below, somewhere in the darkness, the people
+are muttering and storming. But let them mutter!  Ages will pass,
+thousands of years will go by, but mankind will remember and glorify the
+poet, who in that night sang the fall and the burning of Troy.  What was
+Homer compared with him?  What Apollo himself with his hollowed-out
+lute?
+
+Here he raised his hands and, striking the strings, pronounced the words
+of Priam.
+
+"O nest of my fathers, O dear cradle!"  His voice in the open air, with
+the roar of the conflagration, and the distant murmur of crowding
+thousands, seemed marvellously weak, uncertain, and low, and the sound
+of the accompaniment like the buzzing of insects.  But senators,
+dignitaries, and Augustians, assembled on the aqueduct, bowed their
+heads and listened in silent rapture.  He sang long, and his motive was
+ever sadder.  At moments, when he stopped to catch breath, the chorus of
+singers repeated the last verse; then Nero cast the tragic "syrma" [A
+robe with train, worn especially by tragic actors] from his shoulder
+with a gesture learned from Aliturus, struck the lute, and sang on.
+When at last he had finished the lines composed, he improvised, seeking
+grandiose comparisons in the spectacle unfolded before him.  His face
+began to change.  He was not moved, it is true, by the destruction of
+his country's capital; but he was delighted and moved with the pathos of
+his own words to such a degree that his eyes filled with tears on a
+sudden.  At last he dropped the lute to his feet with a clatter, and,
+wrapping himself in the "syrma," stood as if petrified, like one of
+those statues of Niobe which ornamented the courtyard of the Palatine.
+
+Soon a storm of applause broke the silence.  But in the distance this
+was answered by the howling of multitudes.  No one doubted then that
+Cćsar had given command to burn the city, so as to afford himself a
+spectacle and sing a song at it.  Nero, when he heard that cry from
+hundreds of thousands, turned to the Augustians with the sad, resigned
+smile of a man who is suffering from injustice.
+
+"See," said he, "how the Quirites value poetry and me."
+
+"Scoundrels!" answered Vatinius.  "Command the pretorians, lord, to fall
+on them."
+
+Nero turned to Tigellinus,--
+
+"Can I count on the loyalty of the soldiers?"
+
+"Yes, divinity," answered the prefect.
+
+But Petronius shrugged his shoulders, and said,--
+
+"On their loyalty, yes, but not on their numbers.  Remain meanwhile
+where thou art, for here it is safest; but there is need to pacify the
+people."
+
+Seneca was of this opinion also, as was Licinus the consul. Meanwhile
+the excitement below was increasing.  The people were arming with
+stones, tent-poles, sticks from the wagons, planks, and various pieces
+of iron.  After a while some of the pretorian leaders came, declaring
+that the cohorts, pressed by the multitude, kept the line of battle with
+extreme difficulty, and, being without orders to attack, they knew not
+what to do.
+
+"O gods," said Nero, "what a night!"  On one side a fire, on the other a
+raging sea of people.  And he fell to seeking expressions the most
+splendid to describe the danger of the moment, but, seeing around him
+alarmed looks and pale faces, he was frightened, with the others.
+
+"Give me my dark mantle with a hood!" cried he; "must it come really to
+battle?"
+
+"Lord," said Tigellinus, in an uncertain voice, "I have done what I
+could, but danger is threatening.  Speak, O lord, to the people, and
+make them promises."
+
+"Shall Cćsar speak to the rabble?  Let another do that in my name. Who
+will undertake it?"
+
+"I!" answered Petronius, calmly.
+
+"Go, my friend; thou art most faithful to me in every necessity.  Go,
+and spare no promises."
+
+Petronius turned to the retinue with a careless, sarcastic expression,--
+
+"Senators here present, also Piso, Nerva, and Senecio, follow me."
+
+Then he descended the aqueduct slowly.  Those whom he had summoned
+followed, not without hesitation, but with a certain confidence which
+his calmness had given them.  Petronius, halting at the foot of the
+arches, gave command to bring him a white horse, and, mounting, rode on,
+at the head of the cavalcade, between the deep ranks of pretorians, to
+the black, howling multitude; he was unarmed, having only a slender
+ivory cane which he carried habitually.
+
+When he had ridden up, he pushed his horse into the throng.  All around,
+visible in the light of the burning, were upraised hands, armed with
+every manner of weapon, inflamed eyes, sweating faces, bellowing and
+foaming lips.  A mad sea of people surrounded him and his attendants;
+round about was a sea of heads, moving, roaring, dreadful.
+
+The outbursts increased and became an unearthly roar; poles, forks, and
+even swords were brandished above Petronius; grasping hands were
+stretched toward his horse's reins and toward him, but he rode farther;
+cool, indifferent, contemptuous.  At moments he struck the most insolent
+heads with his cane, as if clearing a road for himself in an ordinary
+crowd; and that confidence of his, that calmness, amazed the raging
+rabble.  They recognized him at length, and numerous voices began to
+shout,--
+
+"Petronius!  Arbiter Elegantiarum!  Petronius!  Petronius!" was heard on
+all sides.  And as that name was repeated, the faces about became less
+terrible, the uproar less savage: for that exquisite patrician, though
+he had never striven for the favor of the populace, was still their
+favorite.  He passed for a humane and magnanimous man; and his
+popularity had increased, especially since the affair of Pedanius
+Secundus, when he spoke in favor of mitigating the cruel sentence
+condemning all the slaves of that prefect to death.  The slaves more
+especially loved him thenceforward with that unbounded love which the
+oppressed or unfortunate are accustomed to give those who show them even
+small sympathy.  Besides, in that moment was added curiosity as to what
+Cćsar's envoy would say, for no one doubted that Cćsar had sent him.
+
+He removed his white toga, bordered with scarlet, raised it in the air,
+and waved it above his head, in sign that he wished to speak.
+
+"Silence!  Silence!" cried the people on all sides.
+
+After a while there was silence.  Then he straightened himself on the
+horse and said in a clear, firm voice,--
+
+"Citizens, let those who hear me repeat my words to those who are more
+distant, and bear yourselves, all of you, like men, not like beasts in
+the arena."
+
+"We will, we will!"
+
+"Then listen.  The city will be rebuilt.  The gardens of Lucullus,
+Mćcenas, Cćsar, and Agrippina will be opened to you. To-morrow will
+begin the distribution of wheat, wine, and olives, so that every man may
+be full to the throat.  Then Cćsar will have games for you, such as the
+world has not seen yet; during these games banquets and gifts will be
+given you.  Ye will be richer after the fire than before it."
+
+A murmur answered him which spread from the centre in every direction,
+as a wave rises on water in which a stone has been cast. Those nearer
+repeated his words to those more distant.  Afterward were heard here and
+there shouts of anger or applause, which turned at length into one
+universal call of "Panem et circenses!!!"
+
+Petronius wrapped himself in his toga and listened for a time without
+moving, resembling in his white garment a marble statue. The uproar
+increased, drowned the roar of the fire, was answered from every side and
+from ever-increasing distances.  But evidently the envoy had something
+to add, for he waited.  Finally, commanding silence anew, he cried,--"I
+promised you panem et circenses; and now give a shout in honor of Cćsar,
+who feeds and clothes you; then go to sleep, dear populace, for the dawn
+will begin before long."
+
+He turned his horse then, and, tapping lightly with his cane the heads
+and faces of those who stood in his way, he rode slowly to the pretorian
+ranks.  Soon he was under the aqueduct.  He found almost a panic above,
+where they had not understood the shout "Panem et circenses," and
+supposed it to be a new outburst of rage. They had not even expected
+that Petronius would save himself; so Nero, when he saw him, ran to the
+steps, and with face pale from emotion, inquired,--
+
+"Well, what are they doing?  Is there a battle?"
+
+Petronius drew air into his lungs, breathed deeply, and answered,--"By
+Pollux! they are sweating! and such a stench!  Will some one give me an
+epilimma?--for I am faint."  Then he turned to Cćsar.
+
+"I promised them," said he, "wheat, olives, the opening of the gardens,
+and games.  They worship thee anew, and are howling in thy honor.  Gods,
+what a foul odor those plebeians have!"
+
+"I had pretorians ready," cried Tigellinus; "and hadst thou not quieted
+them, the shouters would have been silenced forever.  It is a pity,
+Cćsar, that thou didst not let me use force."
+
+Petronius looked at him, shrugged his shoulders, and added,--
+
+"The chance is not lost.  Thou mayst have to use it to-morrow."
+
+"No, no!" cried Cćsar, "I will give command to open the gardens to them,
+and distribute wheat.  Thanks to thee, Petronius, I will have games; and
+that song, which I sang to-day, I will sing publicly."
+
+Then he placed his hands on the arbiter's shoulder, was silent a moment,
+and starting up at last inquired,--
+
+"Tell me sincerely, how did I seem to thee while I was singing?"
+
+"Thou wert worthy of the spectacle, and the spectacle was worthy of
+thee," said Petronius.
+
+"But let us look at it again," said he, turning to the fire, "and bid
+farewell to ancient Rome."
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XLVII
+
+
+THE Apostle's words put confidence in the souls of the Christians. The
+end of the world seemed ever near to them, but they began to think that
+the day of judgment would not come immediately, that first they would
+see the end of Nero's reign, which they looked on as the reign of Satan,
+and the punishment of God for Cćsar's crimes, which were crying for
+vengeance.  Strengthened in heart, they dispersed, after the prayer, to
+their temporary dwellings, and even to the Trans-Tiber; for news had
+come that the fire, set there in a number of places, had, with the
+change of wind, turned back toward the river, and, after devouring what
+it could here and there, had ceased to extend.
+
+The Apostle, with Vinicius and Chilo, who followed him, left the
+excavation also.  The young tribune did not venture to interrupt his
+prayers; hence he walked on in silence, merely imploring pity with his
+eyes, and trembling from alarm.  Many approached to kiss Peter's hands,
+and the hem of his mantle; mothers held out their children to him; some
+knelt in the dark, long passage, and, holding up tapers, begged a
+blessing; others, going alongside, sang: so there was no chance for
+question or answer.  Thus it was in the narrow passage.  Only when they
+came out to broader spaces, from which the burning city was in view, did
+the Apostle bless them three times, and say, turning to Vinicius,--
+
+"Fear not.  The hut of the quarryman is near; in it we shall find Linus,
+and Lygia, with her faithful servant.  Christ, who predestined her to
+thee, has preserved her."
+
+Vinicius tottered, and placed his hand against the cliff.  The road from
+Antium, the events at the wall, the search for Lygia amidst burning
+houses, sleeplessness, and his terrible alarm had exhausted him; and the
+news that the dearest person in the world was near by, and that soon he
+would see her, took the remnant of his strength from him.  So great a
+weakness possessed him on a sudden that he dropped to the Apostle's
+feet, and, embracing his knees, remained thus, without power to say a
+word.
+
+"Not to me, not to me, but to Christ," said the Apostle, who warded off
+thanks and honor.
+
+"What a good God!" said the voice of Chilo from behind, "but what shall
+I do with the mules that are waiting down here?"
+
+"Rise and come with me," said Peter to the young man.
+
+Vinicius rose.  By the light of the burning, tears were visible on his
+face, which was pale from emotion.  His lips moved, as if in prayer.
+
+"Let us go," said he.
+
+But Chilo repeated again: "Lord, what shall I do with the mules that are
+waiting?  Perhaps this worthy prophet prefers riding to walking."
+
+Vinicius did not know himself what to answer; but hearing from Peter
+that the quarryman's hut was near by, he said,--
+
+"Take the mules to Macrinus."
+
+"Pardon me, lord, if I mention the house in Ameriola.  In view of such
+an awful fire, it is easy to forget a thing so paltry."
+
+"Thou wilt get it."
+
+"O grandson of Numa Pompilius, I have always been sure, but now, when
+this magnanimous prophet also has heard the promise, I will not remind
+thee even of this, that thou hast promised me a vineyard.  Pax vobiscum.
+I shall find thee, lord.  Pax vobiscum."
+
+They answered, "And peace with thee."
+
+Then both turned to the right toward the hills.  Along the road Vinicius
+said,
+
+"Lord, wash me with the water of baptism, so that I may call myself a
+real confessor of Christ, for I love Him with all the power of my soul.
+Wash me quickly, for I am ready in heart.  And what thou commandest I
+will do, but tell me, so that I may do it in addition."
+
+"Love men as thy own brothers," answered the Apostle, "for only with
+love mayst thou serve Him."
+
+"Yes, I understand and feel that.  When a child I believed in the Roman
+gods, though I did not love them.  But I so love Him the One God that I
+would give my life for Him gladly."  And he looked toward the sky,
+repeating with exaltation: "For He is one, for He alone is kind and
+merciful; hence, let not only this city perish, but the whole world, Him
+alone will I confess and recognize."
+
+"And He will bless thee and thy house," concluded the Apostle.
+
+Meanwhile they turned into another ravine, at the end of which a faint
+light was visible.  Peter pointed to it and said,--
+
+"There is the hut of the quarryman who gave us a refuge when, on the way
+from Ostrianum with the sick Linus, we could not go to the Trans-Tiber."
+
+After a while they arrived.  The hut was rather a cave rounded Out in an
+indentation of the hill, and was faced outside with a wall made of
+reeds.  The door was closed, but through an opening, which served for a
+window, the interior was visible, lighted by a fire.  Some dark giant
+figure rose up to meet them, and inquired,--"Who are ye?"
+
+"Servants of Christ," answered Peter.  "Peace be with thee, Ursus."
+
+Ursus bent to the Apostle's feet; then, recognizing Vinicius, seized his
+hand by the wrist, and raised it to his lips.
+
+"And thou, lord," said he.  "Blessed be the name of the Lamb, for the
+joy which thou wilt bring to Callina."
+
+He opened the door then, and entered.  Linus was lying on a bundle of
+straw, with an emaciated face and a forehead as yellow as ivory.  Near
+the fire sat Lygia with a string of small fish, intended evidently for
+supper.  Occupied in removing the fish from the string, and thinking
+that it was Ursus who had entered, she did not raise her eyes.  But
+Vinicius approached, and, pronouncing her name, stretched his hand to
+her.  She sprang up quickly then; a flash of astonishment and delight
+shot across her face.  Without a word, like a child who after days of
+fear and sorrow had found father or mother, she threw herself into his
+open arms.
+
+He embraced her, pressed her to his bosom for some time with such
+ecstasy as if she had been saved by a miracle.  Then, withdrawing his
+arms, he took her temples between his hands, kissed her forehead and her
+eyes, embraced her again, repeated her name, bent to her knees, to her
+palms, greeted her, did her homage, honored her.  His delight had no
+bounds; neither had his love and happiness.
+
+At last he told her how he had rushed in from Antium; had searched for
+her at the walls, in the smoke at the house of Linus; how he had
+suffered and was terrified; how much he had endured before the Apostle
+had shown him her retreat.
+
+"But now," said he, "that I have found thee, I will not leave thee near
+fire and raging crowds.  People are slaying one another under the walls,
+slaves are revolting and plundering.  God alone knows what miseries may
+fall yet on Rome.  But I will save thee and all of you.  Oh, my dear,
+let us go to Antium; we will take a ship there and sail to Sicily.  My
+land is thy land, my houses are thy houses. Listen to me!  In Sicily we
+shall find Aulus.  I will give thee back to Pomponia, and take thee from
+her hands afterward.  But, O carissima, have no further fear of me.
+Christ has not washed me yet, but ask Peter if on the way hither I have
+not told him my wish to be a real confessor of Christ, and begged him to
+baptize me, even in this hut of a quarryman.  Believe, and let all
+believe me."
+
+Lygia heard these words with radiant face.  The Christians formerly,
+because of Jewish persecutions, and then because of the fire and
+disturbance caused by the disaster, lived in fear and uncertainty.  A
+journey to quiet Sicily would put an end to all danger, and open a new
+epoch of happiness in their lives.  If Vinicius had wished to take only
+Lygia, she would have resisted the temptation surely, as she did not
+wish to leave Peter and Linus; but Vinicius said to them, "Come with me;
+my lands are your lands, my houses your houses."  At this Lygia inclined
+to kiss his hand, in sign of obedience, and said,--
+
+"Where thou art, Caius, there am I, Caia."
+
+Then confused that she had spoken words which by Roman custom were
+repeated only at marriage, she blushed deeply, and stood in the light of
+the fire, with drooping head, in doubt lest he might take them ill of
+her.  But in his face boundless homage alone was depicted.  He turned
+then to Peter, and continued,--
+
+"Rome is burning at command of Cćsar.  In Antium he complained that he
+had never seen a great fire.  And if he has not hesitated at such a
+crime, think what may happen yet.  Who knows that he may not bring in
+troops, and command a slaughter?  Who knows what proscriptions may come;
+who knows whether after the fire, civil war, murder, and famine may not
+come?
+
+"Hide yourselves, therefore, and let us hide Lygia.  There ye can wait
+till the storm passes, and when it is over return to sow your grain
+anew."
+
+Outside, from the direction of the Vatican Field, as if to confirm his
+fears, distant cries were heard full of rage and terror.  At that moment
+the quarryman entered, the master of the hut, and, shutting the door
+hastily, he cried,--
+
+"People are killing one another near the Circus of Nero.  Slaves and
+gladiators have attacked the citizens."
+
+"Do ye hear?" said Vinicius.
+
+"The measure is full," said the Apostle; "and disasters will come, like
+a boundless sea."  Then he turned, and, pointing to Lygia, said, "Take
+the maiden, whom God has predestined to thee, and save her, and let
+Linus, who is sick, and Ursus go with you."
+
+But Vinicius, who had come to love the Apostle with all the power of his
+impetuous soul, exclaimed: "I swear, my teacher, that I will not leave
+thee here to destruction."
+
+"The Lord bless thee for thy wish," answered Peter; "but hast thou not
+heard that Christ repeated thrice on the lake to me, 'Feed my lambs'?"
+
+Vinicius was silent.
+
+"If thou, to whom no one has confided care over me, sayest that thou
+wilt not leave me to destruction, how canst thou wish me to leave my
+flock in the day of disaster?  When there was a storm on the lake, and
+we were terrified in heart, He did not desert us; why should I, a
+servant, not follow my Master's example?"
+
+Then Linus raised his emaciated face and inquired,--
+
+"O viceregent of the Lord, why should I not follow thy example?"
+
+Vinicius began to pass his hand over his head, as if struggling with
+himself or fighting with his thoughts; then, seizing Lygia by the hand,
+he said, in a voice in which the energy of a Roman soldier was
+quivering,--
+
+"Hear me, Peter, Linus, and thou, Lygia!  I spoke as my human reason
+dictated; but ye have another reason, which regards, not your own
+danger, but the commands of the Redeemer.  True, I did not understand
+this, and I erred, for the beam is not taken from my eyes yet, and the
+former nature is heard in me.  But since I love Christ, and wish to be
+His servant, though it is a question for me of something more than my
+own life, I kneel here before thee, and swear that I will accomplish the
+command of love, and will not leave my brethren in the day of trouble."
+
+Then he knelt, and enthusiasm possessed him; raising his hands and eyes,
+he cried: "Do I understand Thee, O Christ?  Am I worthy of Thee?"
+
+His hands trembled; his eyes glistened with tears; his body trembled
+with faith and love.  Peter took an earthen vessel with water, and,
+bringing it near him, said with solemnity,--
+
+"Behold, I baptize thee in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
+Amen."
+
+Then a religious ecstasy seized all present.  They thought that some
+light from beyond this world had filled the hut, that they heard some
+superhuman music, that the cliffs had opened above their heads, that
+choirs of angels were floating down from heaven, and far up there they
+saw a cross, and pierced hands blessing them.
+
+Meanwhile the shouts of fighting were heard outside, and the roar of
+flames in the burning city.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XLVIII
+
+
+CAMPS of people were disposed in the lordly gardens of Cćsar, formerly
+gardens of Domitius and Agrippina; they were disposed also on the Campus
+Martius, in the gardens of Pompey, Sallust, and Mćcenas, in porticos,
+tennis-courts, splendid summer-houses, and buildings erected for wild
+beasts.  Peacocks, flamingoes, swans, ostriches, gazelles, African
+antelopes, and deer, which had served as ornaments to those gardens,
+went under the knives of the rabble.  Provisions began to come in now
+from Ostria so abundantly that one might walk, as on a bridge, over
+ships, boats, and barges from one bank of the Tiber to the other.  Wheat
+was sold at the unheard-of low price of three sestertia, and was given
+gratis to the indigent.  Immense supplies of wine, olives, and chestnuts
+were brought to the city; sheep and cattle were driven in every day from
+the mountains.  Wretches who before the fire had been hiding in alleys
+of the Subura, and were perishing of hunger in ordinary times, had a
+more pleasant life now.  The danger of famine was averted completely,
+but it was more difficult to suppress robbery, murder, and abuses.  A
+nomadic life insured impunity to thieves; the more easily since they
+proclaimed themselves admirers of Cćsar, and were unsparing of plaudits
+wherever he appeared.  Moreover, when, by the pressure of events, the
+authorities were in abeyance, and there was a lack of armed force to
+quell insolence in a city inhabited by the dregs of contemporary
+mankind, deeds were done which passed human imagination.  Every night
+there were battles and murders; every night boys and women were snatched
+away.  At the Porta Mugionis, where there was a halting-place for herds
+driven in from the Campania, it come to engagements in which people
+perished by hundreds.  Every morning the banks of the Tiber were covered
+with drowned bodies, which no one collected; these decayed quickly
+because of heat heightened by fire, and filled the air with foul odors.
+Sickness broke out on the camping-grounds, and the more timorous foresaw
+a great pestilence.
+
+But the city burned on unceasingly.  Only on the sixth day, when the
+fire reached empty spaces on the Esquiline, where an enormous number of
+houses had been demolished purposely, did it weaken.  But the piles of
+burning cinders gave such strong light yet that people would not believe
+that the end of the catastrophe had come.  In fact the fire burst forth
+with fresh force on the seventh night in the buildings of Tigellinus,
+but had short duration for lack of fuel.  Burnt houses, however, fell
+here and there, and threw up towers of flame and pillars of sparks.  But
+the glowing ruins began to grow black on the surface.  After sunset the
+heavens ceased to gleam with bloody light, and only after dark did blue
+tongues quiver above the extended black waste, tongues which rose from
+piles of cinders.
+
+Of the fourteen divisions of Rome there remained only four, including
+the Trans-Tiber.  Flames had consumed all the others. When at last the
+piles of cinders had been turned into ashes, an immense space was
+visible from the Tiber to the Esquiline, gray, gloomy, dead.  In this
+space stood rows of chimneys, like columns over graves in a cemetery.
+Among these columns gloomy crowds of people moved about in the daytime,
+some seeking for precious objects, others for the bones of those dear to
+them.  In the night dogs howled above the ashes and ruins of former
+dwellings.
+
+All the bounty and aid shown by Cćsar to the populace did not restrain
+evil speech and indignation.  Only the herd of robbers, criminals, and
+homeless ruffians, who could eat, drink, and rob enough, were contented.
+People who had lost all their property and their nearest relatives were
+not won over by the opening of gardens, the distribution of bread, or
+the promise of games and gifts.  The catastrophe had been too great and
+unparalleled.  Others, in whom was hidden yet some spark of love for the
+city and their birthplace, were brought to despair by news that the old
+name "Roma" was to vanish, and that from the ashes of the capital Cćsar
+would erect a new city called Neropolis.  A flood of hatred rose and
+swelled every day, despite the flatteries of the Augustians and the
+calumnies of Tigellinus.  Nero, more sensitive than any former Cćsar to
+the favor of the populace, thought with alarm that in the sullen and
+mortal struggle which he was waging with patricians in the Senate, he
+might lack support.  The Augustians themselves were not less alarmed,
+for any morning might bring them destruction.  Tigellinus thought of
+summoning certain legions from Asia Minor.  Vatinius, who laughed even
+when slapped on the face, lost his humor; Vitelius lost his appetite.
+
+Others were taking counsel among themselves how to avert the danger, for
+it was no secret that were an outburst to carry off Cćsar, not one of
+the Augustians would escape, except, perhaps, Petronius.  To their
+influence were ascribed the madnesses of Nero, to their suggestions all
+the crimes which he committed.  Hatred for them almost surpassed that
+for Nero.  Hence some began to make efforts to rid themselves of
+responsibility for the burning of the city.  But to free themselves they
+must clear Cćsar also from suspicion, or no one would believe that they
+had not caused the catastrophe.  Tigellinus took counsel on this subject
+with Domitius Afer, and even with Seneca, though he hated him.  Poppća,
+who understood that the ruin of Nero would be her own sentence, took the
+opinion of her confidants and of Hebrew priests, for it had been
+admitted for years that she held the faith of Jehovah.  Nero found his
+own methods, which, frequently terrible, were more frequently foolish,
+and fell now into terror, now into childish delight, but above all he
+complained.
+
+On a time a long and fruitless consultation was held in the house of
+Tiberius, which had survived the fire.  Petronius thought it best to
+leave troubles, go to Greece, thence to Egypt and Asia Minor. The
+journey had been planned long before; why defer it, when in Rome were
+sadness and danger?
+
+Cćsar accepted the counsel with eagerness; but Seneca when he had
+thought awhile, said,--
+
+"It is easy to go, but it would be more difficult to return."
+
+"By Heracles!" replied Petronius, "we may return at the head of Asiatic
+legions."
+
+"This will I do!" exclaimed Nero.
+
+But Tigellinus opposed.  He could discover nothing himself, and if the
+arbiter's idea had come to his own head he would beyond doubt have
+declared it the saving one; but with him the question was that Petronius
+might not be a second time the only man who in difficult moments could
+rescue all and every one.
+
+"Hear me, divinity," said he, "this advice is destructive!  Before thou
+art at Ostia a civil war will break out; who knows but one of the
+surviving collateral descendants of the divine Augustus will declare
+himself Cćsar, and what shall we do if the legions take his side?"
+
+"We shall try," answered Nero, "that there be no descendants of
+Augustus.  There are not many now; hence it is easy to rid ourselves of
+them."
+
+"It is possible to do so, but is it a question of them alone?  No longer
+ago than yesterday my people heard in the crowd that a man like Thrasea
+should be Cćsar."
+
+Nero bit his lips.  After a while he raised his eyes and said:
+"Insatiable and thankless.  They have grain enough, and they have coal
+on which to bake cakes; what more do they want?"
+
+"Vengeance!" replied Tigellinus.
+
+Silence followed.  Cćsar rose on a sudden, extended his hand, and began
+to declaim,--
+
+"Hearts call for vengeance, and vengeance wants a victim."  Then,
+forgetting everything, he said, with radiant face: "Give me the tablet
+and stilus to write this line.  Never could Lucan have composed the
+like.  Have ye noticed that I found it in a twinkle?"
+
+"O incomparable!" exclaimed a number of voices.  Nero wrote down the
+line, and said,--
+
+"Yes, vengeance wants a victim."  Then he cast a glance on those around
+him.  "But if we spread the report that Vatinius gave command to burn
+the city, and devote him to the anger of the people?"
+
+"O divinity!  Who am I?" exclaimed Vatmius.
+
+"True!  One more important than thou is demanded.  Is it Vitelius?"
+
+Vitelius grew pale, but began to laugh.
+
+"My fat," answered he, "might start the fire again."
+
+But Nero had something else on his mind; in his soul he was looking for
+a victim who might really satisfy the people's anger, and he found him.
+
+"Tigellinus," said he after a while, "it was thou who didst burn Rome!"
+A shiver ran through those present.  They understood that Cćsar had
+ceased to jest this time, and that a moment had come which was pregnant
+with events.
+
+The face of Tigellinus was wrinkled, like the lips of a dog about to
+bite.
+
+"I burnt Rome at thy command!" said he.
+
+And the two glared at each other like a pair of devils.  Such silence
+followed that the buzzing of flies was heard as they flew through the
+atrium.
+
+"Tigellinus," said Nero, "dost thou love me?"
+
+"Thou knowest, lord."
+
+"Sacrifice thyself for me."
+
+"O divine Cćsar," answered Tigellinus, "why present the sweet cup which
+I may not raise to my lips?  The people are muttering and rising; dost
+thou wish the pretorians also to rise?"
+
+A feeling of terror pressed the hearts of those present.  Tigellinus was
+pretorian prefect, and his words had the direct meaning of a threat.
+Nero himself understood this, and his face became pallid.
+
+At that moment Epaphroditus, Cćsar's freedman, entered, announcing that
+the divine Augusta wished to see Tigellinus, as there were people in her
+apartments whom the prefect ought to hear.
+
+Tigellinus bowed to Cćsar, and went out with a face calm and
+contemptuous.  Now, when they had wished to strike him, he had shown his
+teeth; he had made them understand who he was, and, knowing Nero's
+cowardice, he was confident that that ruler of the world would never
+dare to raise a hand against him.
+
+Nero sat in silence for a moment; then, seeing that those present
+expected some answer, he said,--
+
+"I have reared a serpent in my bosom."
+
+Petronius shrugged his shoulders, as if to say that it was not difficult
+to pluck the head from such a serpent.
+
+"What wilt thou say?  Speak, advise!" exclaimed Nero, noticing this
+motion.  "I trust in thee alone, for thou hast more sense than all of
+them, and thou lovest me."
+
+Petronius had the following on his lips: "Make me pretorian prefect, I
+will deliver Tigellinus to the people, and pacify the city in a day."
+But his innate slothfulness prevailed.  To be prefect meant to bear on
+his shoulder's Cćsar's person and also thousands of public affairs.  And
+why should he perform that labor?  Was it not better to read poetry in
+his splendid library, look at vases and statues, or hold to his breast
+the divine body of Eunice, twining her golden hair through his fingers,
+and inclining his lips to her coral mouth?  Hence he said,--
+
+"I advise the journey to Achća."
+
+"Ah!" answered Nero, "I looked for something more from thee. The Senate
+hates me.  If I depart, who will guarantee that it will not revolt and
+proclaim some one else Cćsar?  The people have been faithful to me so
+far, but now they will follow the Senate.  By Hades! if that Senate and
+that people had one head!--"
+
+"Permit me to say, O divinity, that if thou desire to save Rome, there
+is need to save even a few Romans," remarked Petronius, with a smile.
+
+"What care I for Rome and Romans?" complained Nero.  "I should be obeyed
+in Achća.  Here only treason surrounds me.  All desert me, and ye are
+making ready for treason.  I know it, I know it.  Ye do not even imagine
+what future ages will say of you if ye desert such an artist as I am."
+
+Here he tapped his forehead on a sudden, and cried,--
+
+"True!  Amid these cares even I forget who I am."
+
+Then he turned to Petronius with a radiant face.
+
+"Petronius," said he, "the people murmur; but if I take my lute and go
+to the Campus Martius, if I sing that song to them which I sang during
+the conflagration, dost thou not think that I will move them, as Orpheus
+moved wild beasts?"
+
+To this Tullius Senecio, who was impatient to return to his slave women
+brought in from Antium, and who had been impatient a long time,
+replied,--
+
+"Beyond doubt, O Cćsar, if they permit thee to begin."
+
+"Let us go to Hellas!" cried Nero, with disgust.
+
+But at that moment Poppća appeared, and with her Tigellinis. The eyes of
+those present turned to him unconsciously, for never had triumphator
+ascended the Capitol with pride such as his when he stood before Cćsar.
+He began to speak slowly and with emphasis, in tones through which the
+bite of iron, as it were, was heard,--
+
+"Listen.  O Cćsar, for I can say: I have found!  The people want
+vengeance, they want not one victim, but hundreds, thousands. Hast
+heard, lord, who Christos was,--he who was crucified by Pontius Pilate?
+And knowest thou who the Christians are?  Have I not told thee of their
+crimes and foul ceremonies, of their predictions that fire would cause
+the end of the world?  People hate and suspect them.  No one has seen
+them in a temple at any time, for they consider our gods evil spirits;
+they are not in the Stadium, for they despise horse races.  Never have
+the hands of a Christian done thee honor with plaudits.  Never has one
+of them recognized thee as god.  They are enemies of the human race, of
+the city, and of thee.  The people murmur against thee; but thou hast
+given me no command to burn Rome, and I did not burn it.  The people
+want vengeance; let them have it.  The people want blood and games; let
+them have them.  The people suspect thee; let their suspicion turn in
+another direction."
+
+Nero listened with amazement at first; but as Tigellinus proceeded, his
+actor's face changed, and assumed in succession expressions of anger,
+sorrow, sympathy, indignation.  Suddenly he rose, and, casting off the
+toga, which dropped at his feet, he raised both hands and stood silent
+for a time.  At last he said, in the tones of a tragedian,--
+
+"O Zeus, Apollo, Here, Athene, Persephone, and all ye immortals! why did
+ye not come to aid us?  What has this hapless city done to those cruel
+wretches that they burnt it so inhumanly?"
+
+"They are enemies of mankind and of thee," said Poppća.
+
+"Do justice!" cried others.  "Punish the incendiaries!  The gods
+themselves call for vengeance!"
+
+Nero sat down, dropped his head to his breast, and was silent a second
+time, as if stunned by the wickedness of which he had heard.  But after
+a while he shook his hands, and said,--
+
+"What punishments, what tortures befit such a crime?  But the gods will
+inspire me, and, aided by the powers of Tartarus, I will give my poor
+people such a spectacle that they will remember me for ages with
+gratitude."
+
+The forehead of Petronius was covered with a sudden cloud.  He thought
+of the danger hanging over Lygia and over Vinicius, whom he loved, and
+over all those people whose religion he rejected, but of whose innocence
+he was certain.  He thought also that one of those bloody orgies would
+begin which his eyes, those of an ćsthetic man, could not suffer.  But
+above all he thought: "I must save Vinicius, who will go mad if that
+maiden perishes"; and this consideration outweighed every other, for
+Petronius understood well that he was beginning a game far more perilous
+than any in his life.  He began, however, to speak freely and
+carelessly, as his wont was when criticising or ridiculing plans of
+Cćsar and the Augustians that were not sufficiently ćsthetic,--
+
+"Ye have found victims!  That is true.  Ye may send them to the arena,
+or array them in 'painful tunics.' That is true also.  But hear me!  Ye
+have authority, ye have pretorians, ye have power; then be sincere, at
+least, when no one is listening!  Deceive the people, but deceive not
+one another.  Give the Christians to the populace, condemn them to any
+torture ye like; but have courage to say to yourselves that it was not
+they who burnt Rome.  Phy!  Ye call me 'arbiter elegantiarum'; hence I
+declare to you that I cannot endure wretched comedies!  Phy! how all
+this reminds me of the theatrical booths near the Porta Asinaria, in
+which actors play the parts of gods and kings to amuse the suburban
+rabble, and when the play is over wash down onions with sour wine, or
+get blows of clubs!  Be gods and kings in reality; for I say that ye can
+permit yourselves the position!  As to thee, O Cćsar, thou hast
+threatened us with the sentence of coming ages; but think, those ages
+will utter judgment concerning thee also.  By the divine Clio!  Nero,
+ruler of the world, Nero, a god, burnt Rome, because he was as powerful
+on earth as Zeus on Olympus,--Nero the poet loved poetry so much that he
+sacrificed to it his country!  From the beginning of the world no one
+did the like, no one ventured on the like.  I beseech thee in the name
+of the double-crowned Libethrides, renounce not such glory, for songs of
+thee will sound to the end of ages!  What will Priam be when compared
+with thee; what Agamenmon; what Achilles; what the gods themselves?  We
+need not say that the burning of Rome was good, but it was colossal and
+uncommon.  I tell thee, besides, that the people will raise no hand
+against thee!  It is not true that they will.  Have courage; guard
+thyself against acts unworthy of thee,--for this alone threatens thee,
+that future ages may say, 'Nero burned Rome; but as a timid Cćsar and a
+timid poet he denied the great deed out of fear, and cast the blame of
+it on the innocent!'"
+
+The arbiter's words produced the usual deep impression on Nero; but
+Petronius was not deceived as to this, that what he had said was a
+desperate means which in a fortunate event might save the Christians, it
+is true, but might still more easily destroy himself. He had not
+hesitated, however, for it was a question at once of Vinicius whom he
+loved, and of hazard with which he amused himself.  "The dice are
+thrown," said he to himself, "and we shall see how far fear for his own
+life outweighs in the monkey his love of glory."
+
+And in his soul he had no doubt that fear would outweigh.
+
+Meanwhile silence fell after his words.  Poppća and all present were
+looking at Nero's eyes as at a rainbow.  He began to raise his lips,
+drawing them to his very nostrils, as was his custom when he knew not
+what to do; at last disgust and trouble were evident on his features.
+
+"Lord," cried Tigellinus, on noting this, "permit me to go; for when
+people wish to expose thy person to destruction, and call thee, besides,
+a cowardly Cćsar, a cowardly poet, an incendiary, and a comedian, my
+ears cannot suffer such expressions!"
+
+"I have lost," thought Petronius.  But turning to Tigellinus, he
+measured him with a glance in which was that contempt for a ruffian
+which is felt by a great lord who is an exquisite.
+
+"Tigellinus," said he, "it was thou whom I called a comedian; for thou
+art one at this very moment."
+
+"Is it because I will not listen to thy insults?"
+
+"It is because thou art feigning boundless love for Cćsar,--thou who a
+short while since wert threatening him with pretorians, which we all
+understood as did he!"
+
+Tigellinus, who had not thought Petronius sufficiently daring to throw
+dice such as those on the table, turned pale, lost his head, and was
+speechless.  This was, however, the last victory of the arbiter over his
+rival, for that moment Poppća said,--
+
+"Lord, how permit that such a thought should even pass through the head
+of any one, and all the more that any one should venture to express it
+aloud in thy presence!"
+
+"Punish the insolent!" exclaimed Vitelius.
+
+Nero raised his lips again to his nostrils, and, turning his
+near-sighted, glassy eyes on Petronius, said,--
+
+"Is this the way thou payest me for the friendship which I had for
+thee?"
+
+"If I am mistaken, show me my error," said Petronius; "but know that I
+speak that which love for thee dictates."
+
+"Punish the insolent!" repeated Vitelius.
+
+"Punish!" called a number of voices.
+
+In the atrium there was a murmur and a movement, for people began to
+withdraw from Petronius.  Even Tullius Senecio, his constant companion
+at the court, pushed away, as did young Nerva, who had shown him
+hitherto the greatest friendship.  After a while Petronius was alone on
+the left side of the atrium, with a smile on his lips; and gathering
+with his hands the folds of his toga, he waited yet for what Cćsar would
+say or do.
+
+"Ye wish me to punish him" said Cćsar; "but he is my friend and comrade.
+Though he has wounded my heart, let him know that for friends this heart
+has naught but forgiveness."
+
+"I have lost, and am ruined," thought Petronius.
+
+Meanwhile Cćsar rose, and the consultation was ended.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XLIX
+
+
+PETRONIUS went home.  Nero and Tigellinus went to Poppća's atrium, where
+they were expected by people with whom the prefect had spoken already.
+
+There were two Trans-Tiber rabbis in long solemn robes and mitred, a
+young copyist, their assistant, together with Chilo.  At sight of Cćsar
+the priests grew pale from emotion, and, raising their hands an arm's
+length, bent their heads to his hands.
+
+"Be greeted, O ruler of the earth, guardian of the chosen people, and
+Cćsar, lion among men, whose reign is like sunlight, like the cedar of
+Lebanon, like a spring, like a palm, like the balsam of Jericho."
+
+"Do ye refuse to call me god?" inquired Nero.
+
+The priests grew still paler.  The chief one spoke again,--
+
+"Thy words, O lord, are as sweet as a cluster of grapes, as a ripe fig,
+--for Jehovah filled thy heart with goodness!  Thy father's predecessor,
+Cćsar Caius, was stern; still our envoys did not call him god,
+preferring death itself to violation of the law."
+
+"And did not Caligula give command to throw them to the lions?"
+
+"No, lord; Cćsar Caius feared Jehovah's anger."
+
+And they raised their heads, for the name of the powerful Jehovah gave
+them courage; confident in his might, they looked into Nero's eyes with
+more boldness.
+
+"Do ye accuse the Christians of burning Rome?" inquired Cćsar. "We,
+lord, accuse them of this alone,--that they are enemies of the law, of
+the human race, of Rome, and of thee; that long since they have
+threatened the city and the world with fire!  The rest will be told thee
+by this man, whose lips are unstained by a lie, for in his mother's
+veins flowed the blood of the chosen people."
+
+Nero turned to Chilo:  "Who art thou?"
+
+"One who honors thee, O Cyrus; and, besides, a poor Stoic-"
+
+"I hate the Stoics," said Nero.  "I hate Thrasea; I hate Musonius and
+Cornutus.  Their speech is repulsive to me; their contempt for art,
+their voluntary squalor and filth."
+
+"O lord, thy master Seneca has one thousand tables of citrus wood. At
+thy wish I will have twice as many.  I am a Stoic from necessity. Dress
+my stoicism, O Radiant One, in a garland of roses, put a pitcher of wine
+before it; it will sing Anacreon in such strains as to deafen every
+Epicurean."
+
+Nero, who was pleased by the title "Radiant," smiled and said,-"Thou
+dost please me."
+
+"This man is worth his weight in gold!" cried Tigellinus.
+
+"Put thy liberality with my weight," answered Chilo, "or the wind will
+blow my reward away."
+
+"He would not outweigh Vitelius," put in Cćsar.
+
+"Eheu!  Silver-bowed, my wit is not of lead."
+
+"I see that thy faith does not hinder thee from calling me a god."
+
+"O Immortal!  My faith is in thee; the Christians blaspheme against that
+faith, and I hate them."
+
+"What dost thou know of the Christians?"
+
+"Wilt thou permit me to weep, O divinity?"
+
+"No," answered Nero; "weeping annoys me."
+
+"Thou art triply right, for eyes that have seen thee should be free of
+tears forever.  O lord, defend me against my enemies."
+
+"Speak of the Christians," said Poppća, with a shade of impatience.
+
+"It will be at thy command, O Isis," answered Chilo.  "From youth I
+devoted myself to philosophy, and sought truth.  I sought it among the
+ancient divine sages, in the Academy at Athens, and in the Serapeum at
+Alexandria.  When I heard of the Christians, I judged that they formed
+some new school in which I could find certain kernels of truth; and to
+my misfortune I made their acquaintance. The first Christian whom evil
+fate brought near me was one Glaucus, a physician of Naples.  From him I
+learned in time that they worship a certain Chrestos, who promised to
+exterminate all people and destroy every city on earth, but to spare
+them if they helped him to exterminate the children of Deucalion.  For
+this reason, O lady, they hate men, and poison fountains; for this
+reason in their assemblies they shower curses on Rome, and on all
+temples in which our gods are honored.  Chrestos was crucified; but he
+promised that when Rome was destroyed by fire, he would come again and
+give Christians dominion over the world."
+
+"People will understand now why Rome was destroyed," interrupted
+Tigellinus.
+
+"Many understand that already, O lord, for I go about in the gardens, I
+go to the Campus Martius, and teach.  But if ye listen to the end, ye
+will know my reasons for vengeance.  Glaucus the physician did not
+reveal to me at first that their religion taught hatred.  On the
+contrary, he told me that Chrestos was a good divinity, that the basis
+of their religion was love.  My sensitive heart could not resist such a
+truth; hence I took to loving Glaucus, I trusted him, I shared every
+morsel of bread with him, every copper coin, and dost thou know, lady,
+how he repaid me?  On the road from Naples to Rome he thrust a knife
+into my body, and my wife, the beautiful and youthful Berenice, he sold
+to a slave-merchant.  If Sophocles knew my history--but what do I say?
+One better than Sophocles is listening."
+
+"Poor man!" said Poppća.
+
+"Whoso has seen the face of Aphrodite is not poor, lady; and I see it at
+this moment.  But then I sought consolation in philosophy. When I came
+to Rome, I tried to meet Christian elders to obtain justice against
+Glaucus.  I thought that they would force him to yield up my wife.  I
+became acquainted with their chief priest; I became acquainted with
+another, named Paul, who was in prison in this city, but was liberated
+afterward; I became acquainted with the son of Zebedee, with Linus and
+Clitus and many others.  I know where they lived before the fire, I know
+where they meet.  I can point out one excavation in the Vatican Hill and
+a cemetery beyond the Nomentan Gate, where they celebrate their
+shameless ceremonies.  I saw the Apostle Peter.  I saw how Glaucus
+killed children, so that the Apostle might have something to sprinkle on
+the heads of those present; and I saw Lygia, the foster-child of
+Pomponia Grćcina, who boasted that though unable to bring the blood of
+an infant, she brought the death of an infant, for she bewitched the
+little Augusta, thy daughter, O Cyrus, and thine, O Isis!"
+
+"Dost hear, Cćsar?" asked Poppća.
+
+"Can that be!" exclaimed Nero.
+
+"I could forgive wrongs done myself," continued Chilo, "but when I heard
+of yours, I wanted to stab her.  Unfortunately I was stopped by the
+noble Vinicius, who loves her."
+
+"Vinicius?  But did she not flee from him?"
+
+"She fled, but he made search for her; he could not exist without her.
+For wretched pay I helped him in the search, and it was I who pointed
+out to him the house in which she lived among the Christians in the
+Trans-Tiber.  We went there together, and with us thy wrestler Croton,
+whom the noble Vinicius hired to protect him. But Ursus, Lygia's slave,
+crushed Croton.  That is a man of dreadful strength, O Lord, who can
+break a bull's neck as easily as another might a poppy stalk.  Aulus and
+Pomponia loved him because of that."
+
+"By Hercules," said Nero, "the mortal who crushed Croton deserves a
+statue in the Forum.  But, old man, thou art mistaken or art inventing,
+for Vinicius killed Croton with a knife."
+
+"That is how people calumniate the gods.  O lord, I myself saw Croton's
+ribs breaking in the arms of Ursus, who rushed then on Vinicius and
+would have killed him but for Lygia.  Vinicius was ill for a long time
+after that but they nursed him in the hope that through love he would
+become a Christian.  In fact, he did become a Christian."
+
+"Vinicius?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"And, perhaps, Petronius too?" inquired Tigellinus, hurriedly.
+
+Chilo squirmed, rubbed his hands, and said,--
+
+"I admire thy penetration, O lord.  He may have become one!  He may very
+well have become one."
+
+"Now I understand why he defended the Christians."
+
+Nero laughed:  "Petronius a Christian!  Petronius an enemy of life and
+luxury!  Be not foolish; do not ask me to believe that, since I am ready
+not to believe anything."
+
+"But the noble Vinicius became a Christian, lord.  I swear by that
+radiance which comes from thee that I speak the truth, and that nothing
+pierces me with such disgust as lying.  Pomponia Grćcina is a Christian,
+little Aulus is a Christian, Lygia is a Christian, and so is Vinicius.
+I served him faithfully, and in return, at the desire of Glaucus the
+physician, he gave command to flog me, though I am old and was sick and
+hungry.  And I have sworn by Hades that I will not forget that for him.
+O lord, avenge my wrongs on them, and I will deliver to thee Peter the
+Apostle and Linus and Clitus and Glaucus and Crispus, the highest ones,
+and Lygia and Ursus.  I will point out hundreds of them to you,
+thousands; I will indicate their houses of prayer, the cemeteries,   all
+thy prisons will not hold them!  Without me ye could not find them.  In
+misfortunes I have sought consolation; hitherto in philosophy alone, now
+I will find it in favors that will descend on me.  I am old, and have
+not known life; let me begin."
+
+"It is thy wish to be a Stoic before a full plate," said Nero.
+
+"Whoso renders service to thee will fill it by that same."
+
+"Thou art not mistaken, O philosopher."
+
+But Poppća did not forget her enemies.  Her fancy for Vinicius was,
+indeed, rather a momentary whim, which had risen under the influence of
+jealousy, anger, and wounded vanity.  Still the coolness of the young
+patrician touched her deeply, and filled her heart with a stubborn
+feeling of offence.  This alone, that he had dared to prefer another,
+seemed to her a crime calling for vengeance.  As to Lygia, she hated her
+from the first moment, when the beauty of that northern lily alarmed
+her.  Petronius, who spoke of the too narrow hips of the girl, might
+talk what he pleased into Cćsar, but not into the Augusta.  Poppća the
+critic understood at one cast of the eye that in all Rome Lygia alone
+could rival and even surpass her.  Thenceforth she vowed her ruin.
+
+"Lord," said she, "avenge our child."
+
+"Hasten!" cried Chilo, "hasten!  Otherwise Vinicius will hide her. I
+will point out the house to which she returned after the fire."
+
+"I will give thee ten men, and go this moment," said Tigellinus.
+
+"O lord! thou hast not seen Croton in the arms of Ursus; if thou wilt
+give fifty men, I will only show the house from a distance.  But if ye
+will not imprison Vinicius, I am lost."
+
+Tigellinus looked at Nero.  "Would it not be well, O divinity, to finish
+at once with the uncle and nephew?"
+
+Nero thought a moment and answered,--
+
+"No, not now.  People would not believe us if we tried to persuade them
+that Petronius, Vinicius, or Pomponia Grćcina had fired Rome.  Their
+houses were too beautiful.  Their turn will come later; to-day other
+victims are needed."
+
+"Then, O lord, give me soldiers as a guard," said Chilo.
+
+"See to this, Tigellinus."
+
+"Thou wilt lodge meanwhile with me," said the prefect to Chilo.
+
+Delight beamed from the face of the Greek.
+
+"I will give up all! only hasten!--hasten!" cried he, with a hoarse
+voice.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter L
+
+
+ON leaving Cćsar, Petronius had himself borne to his house on the
+Carinć, which, being surrounded on three sides by a garden, and having
+in front the small Cecilian Forum, escaped the fire luckily.  For this
+cause other Augustians, who had lost their houses and in them vast
+wealth and many works of art, called Petronius fortunate.  For years it
+had been repeated that he was the first-born of Fortune, and Cćsar's
+growing friendship in recent times seemed to confirm the correctness of
+this statement.
+
+But that first-born of Fortune might meditate now on the fickleness of
+his mother, or rather on her likeness to Chronos, who devoured his own
+children.
+
+"Were my house burnt," said he to himself, "and with it my gems,
+Etruscan vases, Alexandrian glass, and Corinthian bronze, Nero might
+indeed have forgotten the offence.  By Pollux!  And to think that it
+depended on me alone to be pretorian prefect at this moment.  I should
+proclaim Tigellinus the incendiary, which he is really; I should array
+him in the 'painful tunic,' and deliver him to the populace, protect the
+Christians, rebuild Rome.  Who knows even if a better epoch would not
+begin thus for honest people?  I ought to have taken the office, simply
+out of regard for Vinicius.  In case of overwork I could have
+surrendered command to him, and Nero would not have even tried to
+resist.  Then let Vinicius baptize all the pretorians, nay, Cćsar
+himself; what harm could that be to me?  Nero pious, Nero virtuous and
+merciful,--this would be even an amusing spectacle."
+
+And his carelessness was so great that he began to laugh.  But after a
+time his thoughts turned in another direction.  It seemed to him that he
+was in Antium; that Paul of Tarsus was saying to him, "Ye call us
+enemies of life, but answer me, Petronius: If Cćsar were a Christian,
+and acted according to our religion, would not life be safer and more
+certain?"
+
+And remembering these words, he continued: "By Castor!  No matter how
+many Christians they murder here, Paul will find as many new ones; for
+he is right, unless the world can rest on scoundrelism.  But who knows
+that this will not be the case soon?  I myself, who have learned not a
+little, did not learn how to be a great enough scoundrel; hence I shall
+have to open my veins.  But in every case it must have ended thus, and
+if not thus, in some other way.  I am sorry for Eunice and my Myrrhene
+vase; but Eunice is free, and the vase will go with me.  Ahenobarbus
+will not get it, in any event!  I am sorry also for Vinicius.  But,
+though I was bored less of late than before, I am ready.  In the world
+things are beautiful; but people are so vile for the greater part that
+life is not worth a regret.  He who knew how to live should know how to
+die. Though I belong to the Augustians, I was freer than they supposed."
+Here he shrugged his shoulders.  "They may think that my knees are
+trembling at this moment, and that terror has raised the hair on my
+head; but on reaching home, I will take a bath in violet water, my
+golden-haired herself will anoint me; then after refreshment we will
+have sung to us that hymn to Apollo composed by Anthemios.  I said once
+to myself that it was not worth while to think of death, for death
+thinks of us without our assistance.  It would be a wonder if there are
+really Elysian fields, and in them shades of people.  Eunice would come
+in time to me, and we should wander together over asphodel meadows.  I
+should find, too, society better than this.  What buffoons, tricksters,
+a vile herd without taste or polish!  Tens of Arbiters Elegantiarum
+could not transform those Trimalchilons into decent people.  By
+Persephone!  I have had enough!"
+
+And he noted with astonishment that something separated him from those
+people already.  He had known them well earlier, and had known what to
+think of them; still they seemed to him now as farther away and more
+deserving of contempt than usual.  Indeed, he had had enough of them!
+
+But afterward he began to think over his position.  Thanks to his
+acuteness, he knew that destruction was not threatening him directly.
+Nero had seized an appropriate occasion to utter a few select, lofty
+phrases about friendship and forgiveness, thus binding himself for the
+moment.  "He will have to seek pretexts, and before he finds them much
+time may pass.  First of all, he will celebrate the games with
+Christians," said Petronius to himself; "only then will he think of me,
+and if that be true, it is not worth while to take trouble or change my
+course of life.  Nearer danger threatens Vinicius!"
+
+And thenceforth he thought only of Vinicius, whom he resolved to rescue.
+Four sturdy Bithynians bore his litter quickly through ruins, ash-heaps,
+and stones with which the Carinć was filled yet; but he commanded them
+to run swiftly so as to be home at the earliest. Vinicius, whose
+"insula" had been burned, was living with him, and was at home,
+fortunately.
+
+"Hast seen Lygia to-day?" were the first words of Petronius.
+
+"I have just come from her."
+
+"Hear what I tell thee, and lose no time in questions.  It has been
+decided this morning at Cćsar's to lay the blame of burning Rome on the
+Christians.  Persecutions and tortures threaten them.  Pursuit may begin
+any instant.  Take Lygia and flee at once beyond the Alps even, or to
+Africa.  And hasten, for the Palatine is nearer the Trans-Tiber than is
+this place."
+
+Vinicius was, indeed, too much of a soldier to lose time in useless
+queries.  He listened with frowning brows, and a face intent and
+terrible, but fearless.  Evidently the first feeling of his nature in
+presence of peril was a wish to defend and give battle.
+
+"I go," said he.
+
+"One word more.  Take a purse of gold, take weapons, and a handful of
+thy Christians.  In case of need, rescue her!"
+
+Vinicius was in the door of the atrium already.
+
+"Send me news by a slave!" cried Petronius.
+
+When left alone, he began to walk by the columns which adorned the
+atrium, thinking of what had happened.  He knew that Lygia and Linus had
+returned after the fire to the former house, which, like the greater
+part of the Trans-Tiber, had been saved; and that was an unfavorable
+circumstance, for otherwise it would have been difficult to find them
+among throngs of people.  Petronius hoped, however, that as things were,
+no one in the Palatine knew where they lived, and therefore in every
+case Vinicius would anticipate the pretorians.  It occurred to him also
+that Tigellinus, wishing to seize at one attempt as many Christians as
+possible, would extend his net over all Rome.  "If they send no more
+than ten people after her," thought he, "that giant Lygian will break
+their bones and what will it be if Vinicius comes with assistance?"
+Thinking of this he was consoled.  True, armed resistance to the
+pretorians was almost the same as war with Cćsar.  Petronius knew also
+that if Vinicius hid from the vengeance of Nero, that vengeance might
+fall on himself; but he cared little.  On the contrary, he rejoiced at
+the thought of crossing Nero's plans and those of Tigellinus, and
+determined to spare in the matter neither men nor money.  Since in
+Antium Paul of Tarsus had converted most of his slaves, he, while
+defending Christians, might count on their zeal and devotion.
+
+The entrance of Eunice interrupted his thoughts.  At sight of her all
+his cares and troubles vanished without a trace.  He forgot Cćsar, the
+disfavor into which he had fallen, the degraded Augustians, the
+persecution threatening the Christians, Vinicius, Lygia, and looked only
+at her with the eyes of an anthetic man enamoured of marvellous forms,
+and of a lover for whom love breathes from those forms.  She, in a
+transparent violet robe called "Coa vestis," through which her maiden-
+like form appeared, was really as beautiful as a goddess.  Feeling
+herself admired meanwhile, and loving him with all her soul, ever eager
+for his fondling, she blushed with delight as if she had been an
+innocent maiden.
+
+"What wilt thou say to me, Charis?" asked Petronius, stretching his
+hands to her.
+
+She, inclining her golden head to him, answered,--"Anthemios has come
+with his choristers, and asks if 'tis thy wish to hear him."
+
+"Let him stay; he will sing to us during dinner the hymn to Apollo. By
+the groves of Paphos! when I see thee in that Coan gauze, I think that
+Aphrodite has veiled herself with a piece of the sky, and is standing
+before me."
+
+"O lord!"
+
+"Come hither, Eunice, embrace me with thy arms, and give thy lips to me.
+Dost thou love me?"
+
+"I should not have loved Zeus more."
+
+Then she pressed her lips to his, while quivering in his arms from
+happiness.  After a while Petronius asked,--
+
+"But if we should have to separate?"
+
+Eunice looked at him with fear in her eyes.
+
+"How is that, lord?"
+
+"Fear not; I ask, for who knows but I may have to set out on a long
+journey?"
+
+"Take me with thee-"
+
+Petronius changed the conversation quickly, and said,--
+
+"Tell me, are there asphodels on the grass plot in the garden?"
+
+"The cypresses and the grass plots are yellow from the fire, the leaves
+have fallen from the myrtles, and the whole garden seems dead."
+
+"All Rome seems dead, and soon it will be a real graveyard.  Dost thou
+know that an edict against the Christians is to be issued, and a
+persecution will begin during which thousands will perish?"
+
+"Why punish the Christians, lord?  They are good and peaceful."
+
+"For that very reason."
+
+"Let us go to the sea.  Thy beautiful eyes do not like to see blood."
+
+"Well, but meanwhile I must bathe.  Come to the elćothesium to anoint my
+arms.  By the girdle of Kypris! never hast thou seemed to me so
+beautiful.  I will give command to make a bath for thee in the form of a
+shell; thou wilt be like a costly pearl in it.  Come, Golden-haired!"
+
+He went out, and an hour later both, in garlands of roses and with misty
+eyes, were resting before a table covered with a service of gold.  They
+were served by boys dressed as Cupids, they drank wine from ivy-wreathed
+goblets, and heard the hymn to Apollo sung to the sound of harps, under
+direction of Anthemios.  What cared they if around the villa chimneys
+pointed up from the ruins of houses, and gusts of wind swept the ashes
+of burnt Rome in every direction?  They were happy thinking only of
+love, which had made their lives like a divine dream.  But before the
+hymn was finished a slave, the chief of the atrium, entered the hall.
+
+"Lord," said he, in a voice quivering with alarm, "a centurion with a
+detachment of pretorians is standing before the gate, and, at command of
+Cćsar, wishes to see thee."
+
+The song and the sound of lutes ceased.  Alarm was roused in all
+present; for Cćsar, in communications with friends, did not employ
+pretorians usually, and their arrival at such times foreboded no good.
+Petronius alone showed not the slightest emotion, but said, like a man
+annoyed by continual visits,--
+
+"They might let me dine in peace."  Then turning to the chief of the
+atrium, he said, "Let him enter."
+
+The slave disappeared behind the curtain; a moment later heavy steps
+were heard, and an acquaintance of Petronius appeared, the centurion
+Aper, armed, and with an iron helmet on his head.
+
+"Noble lord," said he, "here is a letter from Cćsar."
+
+Petronius extended his white hand lazily, took the tablet, and, casting
+his eye over it, gave it, in all calmness to Eunice.
+
+"He will read a new book of the Troyad this evening, and invites me to
+come.'
+
+"I have only the order to deliver the letter," said the centurion.
+
+"Yes, there will be no answer.  But, centurion, thou mightst rest a
+while with us and empty a goblet of wine?"
+
+"Thanks to thee, noble lord.  A goblet of wine I will drink to thy
+health willingly; but rest I may not, for I am on duty."
+
+"Why was the letter given to thee, and not sent by a slave?"
+
+"I know not, lord.  Perhaps because I was sent in this direction on
+other duty."
+
+"I know, against the Christians?"
+
+"Yes, lord."
+
+"Is it long since the pursuit was begun?"
+
+"Some divisions were sent to the Trans-Tiber before midday." When he had
+said this, the centurion shook a little wine from the goblet in honor of
+Mars; then he emptied it, and said,--
+
+"May the gods grant thee, lord, what thou desirest."
+
+"Take the goblet too," said Petronius.
+
+Then he gave a sign to Anthemios to finish the hymn to Apollo.
+
+"Bronzebeard is beginning to play with me and Vinicius," thought he,
+when the harps sounded anew.  "I divine his plan!  He wanted to terrify
+me by sending the invitation through a centurion.  They will ask the
+centurion in the evening how I received him.  No, no! thou wilt not
+amuse thyself overmuch, cruel and wicked prophet.  I know that thou wilt
+not forget the offence, I know that my destruction will not fail; but if
+thou think that I shall look into thy eyes imploringly, that thou wilt
+see fear and humility on my face, thou art mistaken."
+
+"Cćsar writes, lord," said Eunice, "'Come if thou hast the wish'; wilt
+thou go?"
+
+"I am in excellent health, and can listen even to his verses," answered
+Petronius; "hence I shall go, all the more since Vinicius cannot go."
+
+In fact, after the dinner was finished and after the usual walk, he gave
+himself into the hands of hairdressers and of slaves who arranged his
+robes, and an hour later, beautiful as a god, he gave command to take
+him to the Palatine.
+
+It was late, the evening was warm and calm; the moon shone so brightly
+that the lampadarii going before the litter put out their torches.  On
+the streets and among the ruins crowds of people were pushing along,
+drunk with wine, in garlands of ivy and honeysuckle, bearing in their
+hands branches of myrtle and laurel taken from Cćsar's gardens.
+Abundance of grain and hopes of great games filled the hearts of all
+with gladness.  Here and there songs were sung magnifying the "divine
+night" and love; here and there they were dancing by the light of the
+moon, and the slaves were forced repeatedly to demand space for the
+litter "of the noble Petronius," and then the crowd pushed apart,
+shouting in honor of their favorite.
+
+He was thinking of Vinicius, and wondering why he had no news from him.
+He was an Epicurean and an egotist, but passing time, now with Paul of
+Tarsus, now with Vinicius, hearing daily of the Christians, he had
+changed somewhat without his own knowledge. A certain breeze from them
+had blown on him; this cast new seeds into his soul.  Besides his own
+person others began to occupy him; moreover, he had been always attached
+to Vinicius, for in childhood he had loved greatly his sister, the
+mother of Vinicius; at present, therefore, when he had taken part in his
+affairs, he looked on them with that interest with which he would have
+looked on some tragedy.
+
+Petronius did not lose hope that Vinicius had anticipated the pretorians
+and fled with Lygia, or, in the worse case, had rescued her.  But he
+would have preferred to be certain, since he foresaw that he might have
+to answer various questions for which he would better be prepared.
+
+Stopping before the house of Tiberius, he alighted from the litter, and
+after a while entered the atrium, filled already with Augustians.
+Yesterday's friends, though astonished that he was invited, still pushed
+back; but he moved on among them, beautiful, free, unconcerned, as self-
+confident as if he himself had the power to distribute favors.  Some,
+seeing him thus, were alarmed in spirit lest they had shown him
+indifference too early.
+
+Cćsar, however, feigned not to see him, and did not return his
+obeisance, pretending to be occupied in conversation.  But Tigellinus
+approached and said,
+
+"Good evening, Arbiter Elegantiarum.  Dost thou assert still that it was
+not the Christians who burnt Rome?"
+
+Petronius shrugged his shoulders, and, clapping Tigellinus on the back
+as he would a freedman, answered,--
+
+"Thou knowest as well as I what to think of that."
+
+"I do not dare to rival thee in wisdom."
+
+"And thou art right, for when Cćsar reads to us a new book from the
+Troyad, thou, instead of crying out like a jackdaw, wouldst have to give
+an opinion that was not pointless."
+
+Tigellinus bit his lips.  He was not over-rejoiced that Cćsar had
+decided to read a new book, for that opened a field in which he could
+not rival Petronius.  In fact, during the reading, Nero, from habit,
+turned his eyes involuntarily toward Petronius, looking carefully to see
+what he could read in his face.  The latter listened, raised his brows,
+agreed at times, in places increased his attention as if to be sure that
+he heard correctly.  Then he praised or criticised, demanded corrections
+or the smoothing of certain verses.  Nero himself felt that for others
+in their exaggerated praises it was simply a question of themselves,
+that Petronius alone was occupied with poetry for its own sake; that he
+alone understood it, and that if he praised one could be sure that the
+verses deserved praise.  Gradually therefore he began to discuss with
+him, to dispute; and when at last Petronius brought the fitness of a
+certain expression into doubt, he said,--
+
+"Thou wilt see in the last book why I used it."
+
+"Ah," thought Petronius, "then we shall wait for the last book."
+
+More than one hearing this said in spirit: "Woe to me!  Petronius with
+time before him may return to favor and overturn even Tigellinus."  And
+they began again to approach him.  But the end of the evening was less
+fortunate; for Cćsar, at the moment when Petronius was taking leave,
+inquired suddenly, with blinking eyes and a face at once glad and
+malicious,--
+
+"But why did not Vinicius come?"
+
+Had Petronius been sure that Vinicius and Lygia were beyond the gates of
+the city, he would have answered, "With thy permission he has married
+and gone."  But seeing Nero's strange smile, he answered,--
+
+"Thy invitation, divinity, did not find him at home."
+
+"Say to Vinicius that I shall be glad to see him," answered Nero, "and
+tell him from me not to neglect the games in which Christians will
+appear."
+
+These words alarmed Petronius.  It seemed to him that they related to
+Lygia directly.  Sitting in his litter, he gave command to bear him home
+still more quickly than in the morning.  That, however, was not easy.
+Before the house of Tiberius stood a crowd dense and noisy, drunk as
+before, though not singing and dancing, but, as it were, excited.  From
+afar came certain shouts which Petronius could not understand at once,
+but which rose and grew till at last they were one savage roar,--
+
+"To the lions with Christians!"
+
+Rich litters of courtiers pushed through the howling rabble.  From the
+depth of burnt streets new crowds rushed forth continually; these,
+hearing the cry, repeated it.  News passed from mouth to mouth that the
+pursuit had continued from the forenoon, that a multitude of
+incendiaries were seized; and immediately along the newly cleared and
+the old streets, through alleys lying among ruins around the Palatine,
+over all the hills and gardens were heard through the length and breadth
+of Rome shouts of swelling rage,--
+
+"To the lions with Christians!"
+
+"Herd!" repeated Petronius, with contempt; "a people worthy of Cćsar!"
+And he began to think that a society resting on superior force, on
+cruelty of which even barbarians had no conception, on crimes and mad
+profligacy, could not endure.  Rome ruled the world, but was also its
+ulcer.  The odor of a corpse was rising from it.  Over its decaying life
+the shadow of death was descending. More than once this had been
+mentioned even among the Augustians, but never before had Petronius had
+a clearer view of this truth that the laurelled chariot on which Rome
+stood in the form of a triumphator, and which dragged behind a chained
+herd of nations, was going to the precipice.  The life of that world-
+ruling city seemed to him a kind of mad dance, an orgy, which must end.
+He saw then that the Christians alone had a new basis of life; but he
+judged that soon there would not remain a trace of the Christians.  And
+what then?
+
+The mad dance would continue under Nero; and if Nero disappeared,
+another would be found of the same kind or worse, for with such a people
+and such patricians there was no reason to find a better leader.  There
+would be a new orgy, and moreover a fouler and a viler one.
+
+But the orgy could not last forever, and there would be need of sleep
+when it was over, even because of simple exhaustion.
+
+While thinking of this, Petronius felt immensely wearied.  Was it worth
+while to live, and live in uncertainty, with no purpose but to look at
+such a society?  The genius of death was not less beautiful than the
+genius of sleep, and he also had wings at his shoulders.
+
+The litter stopped before the arbiter's door, which was opened that
+instant by the watchful keeper.
+
+"Has the noble Vinicius returned?" inquired Petronius.
+
+"Yes, lord, a moment ago," replied the slave.
+
+"He has not rescued her," thought Petronius.  And casting aside his
+toga, he ran into the atrium.  Vinicius was sitting on a stool; his head
+bent almost to his knees with his hands on his head; but at the sound of
+steps he raised his stony face, in which the eyes alone had a feverish
+brightness.
+
+"Thou wert late?" asked Petronius.
+
+"Yes; they seized her before midday."
+
+A moment of silence followed.
+
+"Hast thou seen her?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Where is she?"
+
+"In the Mamertine prison."
+
+Petronius trembled and looked at Vinicius with an inquiring glance.  The
+latter understood.
+
+"No," said he.  "She was not thrust down to the Tullianum [The lowest
+part of the prison, lying entirely underground, with a single opening in
+the ceiling.  Jugurtha died there of hunger.] nor even to the middle
+prison.  I paid the guard to give her his own room.  Ursus took his
+place at the threshold and is guarding her."
+
+"Why did Ursus not defend her?"
+
+"They sent fifty pretorians, and Linus forbade him."
+
+"But Linus?"
+
+"Linus is dying; therefore they did not seize him."
+
+"What is thy intention?"
+
+"To save her or die with her.  I too believe in Christ."
+
+Vinicius spoke with apparent calmness; but there was such despair in his
+voice that the heart of Petronius quivered from pure pity.
+
+"I understand thee," said he; "but how dost thou think to save her?"
+
+"I paid the guards highly, first to shield her from indignity, and
+second not to hinder her flight."
+
+"When can that happen?"
+
+"They answered that they could not give her to me at once, as they
+feared responsibility.  When the prison will be filled with a multitude
+of people, and when the tally of prisoners is confused, they will
+deliver her.  But that is a desperate thing!  Do thou save her, and me
+first!  Thou art a friend of Cćsar.  He himself gave her to me.  Go to
+him and save me!"
+
+Petronius, instead of answering, called a slave, and, commanding him to
+bring two dark mantles and two swords, turned to Vinicius,
+
+"On the way I will tell thee," said he.  "Meanwhile take the mantle and
+weapon, and we will go to the prison.  There give the guards a hundred
+thousand sestertia; give them twice and five times more, if they will
+free Lygia at once.  Otherwise it will be too late."
+
+"Let us go," said Vinicius.
+
+After a while both were on the street.
+
+"Now listen to me," said Petronius.  "I did not wish to lose time.  I am
+in disfavor, beginning with to-day.  My own life is hanging on a hair;
+hence I can do nothing with Cćsar.  Worse than that, I am sure that he
+would act in opposition to my request.  If that were not the case, would
+I advise thee to flee with Lygia or to rescue her? Besides, if thou
+escape, Cćsar's wrath will turn on me.  To-day he would rather do
+something at thy request than at mine.  Do not count on that, however.
+Get her out of the prison, and flee! Nothing else is left.  If that does
+not succeed, there will be time for other methods.  Meanwhile know that
+Lygia is in prison, not alone for belief in Christ; Poppća's anger is
+pursuing her and thee.  Thou hast offended the Augusta by rejecting her,
+dost remember?  She knows that she was rejected for Lygia, whom she
+hated from the first cast of the eye.  Nay, she tried to destroy Lygia
+before by ascribing the death of her own infant to her witchcraft.  The
+hand of Poppća is in this.  How explain that Lygia was the first to be
+imprisoned?  Who could point out the house of Linus?  But I tell thee
+that she has been followed this long time.  I know that I wring thy
+soul, and take the remnant of thy hope from thee, but I tell thee this
+purposely, for the reason that if thou free her not before they come at
+the idea that thou wilt try, ye are both lost."
+
+"Yes; I understand!" muttered Vinicius.
+
+The streets were empty because of the late hour.  Their further
+conversation was interrupted, however, by a drunken gladiator who came
+toward them.  He reeled against Petronius, put one hand on his shoulder,
+covering his face with a breath filled with wine, and shouted in a
+hoarse voice,--
+
+"To the lions with Christians!"
+
+"Mirmillon," answered Petronius, quietly, "listen to good counsel; go
+thy way."
+
+With his other hand the drunken man seized him by the arm,--
+
+"Shout with me, or I'll break thy neck: Christians to the lions!"  But
+the arbiter's nerves had had enough of those shouts.  From the time that
+he had left the Palatine they had been stifling him like a nightmare,
+and rending his ears.  So when he saw the fist of the giant above him,
+the measure of his patience was exceeded.
+
+"Friend," said he, "thou hint the smell of wine, and art stopping my
+way."
+
+Thus speaking, he drove into the man's breast to the hilt the short
+sword which he had brought from home; then, taking the arm of Vinicius,
+he continued as if nothing had happened,--
+
+"Cćsar said to-day, 'Tell Vinicius from me to be at the games in which
+Christians will appear.' Dost understand what that means?  They wish to
+make a spectacle of thy pain.  That is a settled affair. Perhaps that is
+why thou and I are not imprisoned yet.  If thou art not able to get her
+at once--I do not know--Acte might take thy part; but can she effect
+anything?  Thy Sicilian lands, too, might tempt Tigellinus.  Make the
+trial."
+
+"I will give him all that I have," answered Vinicius.
+
+From the Carinć to the Forum was not very far; hence they arrived soon.
+The night had begun to pale, and the walls of the castle came out
+definitely from the shadow.
+
+Suddenly, as they turned toward the Mamertine prison, Petronius stopped,
+and said,
+
+"Pretorians!  Too late!"
+
+In fact the prison was surrounded by a double rank of soldiers.  The
+morning dawn was silvering their helmets and the points of their
+javelins.
+
+Vinicius grew as pale as marble.  "Let us go on," said he.
+
+After a while they halted before the line.  Gifted with an uncommon
+memory, Petronius knew not only the officers, but nearly all the
+pretorian soldiers.  Soon he saw an acquaintance, a leader of a cohort,
+and nodded to him.
+
+"But what is this, Niger?" asked he; "are ye commanded to watch the
+prison?"
+
+"Yes, noble Petronius.  The prefect feared lest they might try to rescue
+the incendiaries."
+
+"Have ye the order to admit no one?" inquired Vinicius.
+
+"We have not; acquaintances will visit the prisoners, and in that way we
+shall seize more Christians."
+
+"Then let me in," said Vinicius; and pressing Petronius's hand, he said,
+"See Acte, I will come to learn her answer."
+
+"Come," responded Petronius.
+
+At that moment under the ground and beyond the thick walls was heard
+singing.  The hymn, at first low and muffled, rose more and more.  The
+voices of men, women, and children were mingled in one harmonious
+chorus.  The whole prison began to sound, in the calmness of dawn, like
+a harp.  But those were not voices of sorrow or despair; on the
+contrary, gladness and triumph were heard in them.
+
+The soldiers looked at one another with amazement.  The first golden and
+rosy gleams of the morning appeared in the sky.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter LI
+
+
+THE cry, "Christians to the lions!" was heard increasingly in every part
+of the city.  At first not only did no one doubt that they were the real
+authors of the catastrophe, but no one wished to doubt, since their
+punishment was to be a splendid amusement for the populace.  Still the
+opinion spread that the catastrophe would not have assumed such dreadful
+proportions but for the anger of the gods; for this reason "piacula," or
+purifying sacrifices, were commanded in the temples.  By advice of the
+Sibylline books, the Senate ordained solemnities and public prayer to
+Vulcan, Ceres, and Proserpina.  Matrons made offerings to Juno; a whole
+procession of them went to the seashore to take water and sprinkle with
+it the statue of the goddess.  Married women prepared feasts to the gods
+and night watches.  All Rome purified itself from sin, made offerings,
+and placated the Immortals.  Meanwhile new broad streets were opened
+among the ruins.  In one place and another foundations were laid for
+magnificent houses, palaces, and temples.  But first of all they built
+with unheard-of haste an enormous wooden amphitheatre in which
+Christians were to die. Immediately after that consultation in the house
+of Tiberius, orders went to consuls to furnish wild beasts.  Tigellinus
+emptied the vivaria of all Italian cities, not excepting the smaller
+ones.  In Africa, at his command, gigantic hunts were organized, in
+which the entire local population was forced to take part.  Elephants
+and tigers were brought in from Asia, crocodiles and hippopotamuses from
+the Nile, lions from the Atlas, wolves and bears from the Pyrenees,
+savage hounds from Hibernia, Molossian dogs from Epirus, bisons and the
+gigantic wild aurochs from Germany. Because of the number of prisoners,
+the games were to surpass in greatness anything seen up to that time.
+Cćsar wished to drown all memory of the fire in blood, and make Rome
+drunk with it; hence never had there been a greater promise of
+bloodshed.
+
+The willing people helped guards and pretorians in hunting Christians.
+That was no difficult labor for whole groups of them camped with the
+other population in the midst of the gardens, and confessed their faith
+openly.  When surrounded, they knelt, and while singing hymns let
+themselves be borne away without resistance.  But their patience only
+increased the anger of the populace, who, not understanding its origin,
+considered it as rage and persistence in crime.  A madness seized the
+persecutors.  It happened that the mob wrested Christians from
+pretorians, and tore them to pieces; women were dragged to prison by the
+hair; children's heads were dashed against stones.  Thousands of people
+rushed, howling, night and day through the streets.  Victims were sought
+in ruins, in chimneys, in cellars.  Before the prison bacchanalian
+feasts and dances were celebrated at fires, around casks of wine.
+
+In the evening was heard with delight bellowing which was like thunder,
+and which sounded throughout the city.  The prisons were overflowing
+with thousands of people; every day the mob and pretorians drove in new
+victims.  Pity had died out.  It seemed that people had forgotten to
+speak, and in their wild frenzy remembered one shout alone: "To the
+lions with Christians!" Wonderfully hot days came, and nights more
+stifling than ever before; the very air seemed filled with blood, crime,
+and madness.
+
+And that surpassing measure of cruelty was answered by an equal measure
+of desire for martyrdom,--the confessors of Christ went to death
+willingly, or even sought death till they were restrained by the stern
+commands of superiors.  By the injunction of these superiors they began
+to assemble only outside the city, in excavations near the Appian Way,
+and in vineyards belonging to patrician Christians, of whom none had
+been imprisoned so far.  It was known perfectly on the Palatine that to
+the confessors of Christ belonged Flavius, Domitilla, Pomponia Grćcina,
+Cornelius Pudens, and Vinicius.  Cćsar himself, however, feared that the
+mob would not believe that such people had burned Rome, and since it was
+important beyond everything to convince the mob, punishment and
+vengeance were deferred till later days.  Others were of the opinion,
+but erroneously, that those patricians were saved by the influence of
+Acte.  Petronius, after parting with Vinicius, turned to Acte, it is
+true, to gain assistance for Lygia; but she could offer him only tears,
+for she lived in oblivion and suffering, and was endured only in so far
+as she hid herself from Poppća and Cćsar.
+
+But she had visited Lygia in prison, she had carried her clothing and
+food, and above all had saved her from injury on the part of the prison-
+guards, who, moreover, were bribed already.
+
+Petronius, unable to forget that had it not been for him and his plan of
+taking Lygia from the house of Aulus, probably she would not be in
+prison at that moment, and, besides, wishing to win the game against
+Tigellinus, spared neither time nor efforts.  In the course of a few
+days he saw Seneca, Domitius Afer, Crispinilla, and Diodorus, through
+whom he wished to reach Poppća; he saw Terpnos, and the beautiful
+Pythagoras, and finally Aliturus and Paris, to whom Cćsar usually
+refused nothing.  With the help of Chrysothemis, then mistress of
+Vatinius, he tried to gain even his aid, not sparing in this case and in
+others promises and money.
+
+But all these efforts were fruitless.  Seneca, uncertain of the morrow,
+fell to explaining to him that the Christians, even if they had not
+burned Rome, should be exterminated, for the good of the city,--in a
+word, he justified the coming slaughter for political reasons.  Terpnos
+and Diodorus took the money, and did nothing in return for it.  Vatinius
+reported to Cćsar that they had been trying to bribe him.  Aliturus
+alone, who at first was hostile to the Christians, took pity on them
+then, and made bold to mention to Cćsar the imprisoned maiden, and to
+implore in her behalf.  He obtained nothing, however, but the answer,--
+
+"Dost thou think that I have a soul inferior to that of Brutus, who
+spared not his own sons for the good of Rome?"
+
+When this answer was repeated to Petronius, he said,--
+
+"Since Nero has compared himself to Brutus, there is no salvation."
+
+But he was sorry for Vinicius, and dread seized him lest he might
+attempt his own life.  "Now," thought the arbiter, "he is upheld by the
+efforts which he makes to save her, by the sight of her, and by his own
+suffering; but when all means fail and the last ray of hope is quenched,
+by Castor! he will not survive, he will throw himself on his sword."
+Petronius understood better how to die thus than to love and suffer like
+Vinicius.
+
+Meanwhile Vinicius did all that he could think of to save Lygia. He
+visited Augustians; and he, once so proud, now begged their assistance.
+Through Vitelius he offered Tigellinus all his Sicilian estates, and
+whatever else the man might ask; but Tigellinus, not wishing apparently
+to offend the Augusta, refused.  To go to Cćsar himself, embrace his
+knees and implore, would lead to nothing. Vinicius wished, it is true,
+to do this; but Petronius, hearing of his purpose, inquired,--
+
+"But should he refuse thee, or answer with a jest or a shameless threat,
+what wouldst thou do?"
+
+At this the young tribune's features contracted with pain and rage, and
+from his fixed jaws a gritting sound was heard.
+
+"Yes," said Petronius, "I advise thee against this, because thou wouldst
+close all paths of rescue."
+
+Vinicius restrained himself, and passing his palm over his forehead,
+which was covered with cold sweat, replied,--
+
+"No, no!  I am a Christian."
+
+"But thou will forget this, as thou didst a moment ago.  Thou hast the
+right to ruin thyself, but not her.  Remember what the daughter of
+Sejanus passed through before death."
+
+Speaking thus he was not altogether sincere, since he was concerned more
+for Vinicius than for Lygia.  Still he knew that in no way could he
+restrain him from a dangerous step as well as by telling him that he
+would bring inexorable destruction on Lygia. Moreover he was right; for
+on the Palatine they had counted on the visit of the young tribune, and
+had taken needful precautions.
+
+But the suffering of Vinicius surpassed human endurance.  From the
+moment that Lygia was imprisoned and the glory of coming martyrdom had
+fallen on her, not only did he love her a hundred times more, but he
+began simply to give her in his soul almost religious honor, as he would
+a superhuman being.  And now, at the thought that he must lose this
+being both loved and holy, that besides death torments might be
+inflicted on her more terrible than death itself, the blood stiffened in
+his veins.  His soul was turned into one groan, his thoughts were
+confused.  At times it seemed to him that his skull was filled with
+living fire, which would either burn or burst it.  He ceased to
+understand what was happening; he ceased to understand why Christ, the
+Merciful, the Divine, did not come with aid to His adherents; why the
+dingy walls of the Palatine did not sink through the earth, and with
+them Nero, the Augustians, the pretorian camp, and all that city of
+crime.  He thought that it could not and should not be otherwise; and
+all that his eyes saw, and because of which his heart was breaking, was
+a dream.  But the roaring of wild beasts informed him that it was
+reality; the sound of the axes beneath which rose the arena told him
+that it was reality; the howling of the people and the overfilled
+prisons confirmed this.  Then his faith in Christ was alarmed; and that
+alarm was a new torture, the most dreadful of all, perhaps.
+
+"Remember what the daughter of Sejanus endured before death," said
+Petronius to him, meanwhile.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter LII
+
+
+AND everything had failed.  Vinicius lowered himself to the degree that
+he sought support from freedmen and slaves, both those of Cćsar and
+Poppća; he overpaid their empty promises, he won their good will with
+rich gifts.  He found the first husband of Poppća, Rufus Crispinus, and
+obtained from him a letter.  He gave a villa in Antium to Rufius, her
+son by the first marriage; but thereby he merely angered Cćsar, who
+hated his step-son.  By a special courier he sent a letter to Poppća's
+second husband, Otho, in Spain.  He sacrificed his property and himself,
+until he saw at last that he was simply the plaything of people; that if
+he had pretended that the imprisonment of Lygia concerned him little, he
+would have freed her sooner.
+
+Petronius saw this, too.  Meanwhile day followed day.  The amphitheatre
+was finished.  The "tesserć" were distributed,--that is, tickets of
+entrance, to the ludus matutinus (morning games). But this time the
+morning games, because of the unheard-of number of victims, were to
+continue for days, weeks, and months. It was not known where to put the
+Christians.  The prisons were crammed, and fever was raging in them.
+The puticuli--common pits in which slaves were kept--began to be
+overfilled.  There was fear that diseases might spread over the whole
+city hence, haste.
+
+All these reports struck the ears of Vinicius, extinguishing in him the
+last hope.  While there was yet time, he might delude himself with the
+belief that he could do something, but now there was no time.  The
+spectacles must begin.  Lygia might find herself any day in a cuniculum
+of the circus, whence the only exit was to the arena.  Vinicius, not
+knowing whither fate and the cruelty of superior force might throw her,
+visited all the circuses, bribed guards and beast-keepers, laying before
+them plans which they could not execute.  In time he saw that he was
+working for this only,--to make death less terrible to her; and just
+then he felt that instead of brains he had glowing coals in his head.
+
+For the rest he had no thought of surviving her, and determined to
+perish at the same time.  But he feared lest pain might burn his life
+out before the dreadful hour came.  His friends and Petronius thought
+also that any day might open the kingdom of shadows before him.  His
+face was black, and resembled those waxen masks kept in lararia.  In his
+features astonishment had grown frigid, as if he hid no understanding of
+what had happened and what might happen.  When any one spoke to him, he
+raised his hands to his face mechanically, and, pressing his temples,
+looked at the speaker with an inquiring and astonished gaze.  He passed
+whole nights with Ursus at Lygia's door in the prison; if she commanded
+him to go away and rest, he returned to Petronius, and walked in the
+atrium till morning.  The slaves found him frequently kneeling with
+upraised hands or lying with his face to the earth.  He prayed to
+Christ, for Christ was his last hope.  Everything had failed him. Only a
+miracle could save Lygia; hence he beat the stone flags with his
+forehead and prayed for the miracle.
+
+But he knew enough yet to understand that Peter's prayers were more
+important than his own.  Peter had promised him Lygia, Peter had
+baptized him, Peter had performed miracles, let him give aid and rescue.
+
+And a certain night he went to seek the Apostle.  The Christians, of
+whom not many remained, had concealed him now carefully even from other
+brethren, lest any of the weaker in spirit might betray him wittingly or
+unwittingly.  Vinicius, amid the general confusion and disaster,
+occupied also in efforts to get Lygia out of prison, had lost sight of
+Peter, he had barely seen him once from the time of his own baptism till
+the beginning of the persecution.  But betaking himself to that
+quarryman in whose hut he was baptized, he learned that there would be a
+meeting outside the Porta Salaria in a vineyard which belonged to
+Cornelius Pudens.  The quarryman offered to guide him, and declared that
+he would find Peter there. They started about dusk, and, passing beyond
+the wall, through hollows overgrown with reeds, reached the vineyard in
+a wild and lonely place.  The meeting was held in a wine-shed.  As
+Vinicius drew near, the murmur of prayer reached his ears.  On entering
+he saw by dim lamplight a few tens of kneeling figures sunk in prayer.
+They were saying a kind of litany; a chorus of voices, male and female,
+repeated every moment, "Christ have mercy on us."  In those voices,
+deep, piercing sadness and sorrow were heard.
+
+Peter was present.  He was kneeling in front of the others, before a
+wooden cross nailed to the wall of the shed, and was praying. From a
+distance Vinicius recognized his white hair and his upraised hands.  The
+first thought of the young patrician was to pass through the assembly,
+cast himself at the Apostle's feet, and cry, "Save!" but whether it was
+the solemnity of the prayer, or because weakness bent the knees under
+Vinicius, he began to repeat while he groaned and clasped his hands:
+"Christ have mercy!"  Had he been conscious, he would have understood
+that his was not the only prayer in which there was a groan; that he was
+not the only one who had brought with him his pain, alarm, and grief.
+There was not in that assembly one soul which had not lost persons dear
+to the heart; and when the most zealous and courageous confessors were
+in prison already, when with every moment new tidings were borne about
+of insults and tortures inflicted on them in the prisons, when the
+greatness of the calamity exceeded every imagination, when only that
+handful remained, there was not one heart there which was not terrified
+in its faith, which did not ask doubtfully, Where is Christ? and why
+does He let evil be mightier than God?  Meanwhile they implored Him
+despairingly for mercy, since in each soul there still smouldered a
+spark of hope that He would come, hurl Nero into the abyss, and rule the
+world.  They looked yet toward the sky; they listened yet; they prayed
+yet with trembling.  Vinicius, too, in proportion as they repeated,
+"Christ have mercy on us!" was seized by such an ecstasy as formerly in
+the quarryman's hut.  Now from the depths they call on Him in the
+profoundness of their sorrow, now Peter calls on Him; so any moment the
+heavens may be rent, the earth tremble to its foundations, and He appear
+in infinite glory, with stars at His feet, merciful, but awful.  He will
+raise up the faithful, and command the abysses to swallow the
+persecutors.
+
+Vinicius covered his face with both hands, and bowed to the earth.
+Immediately silence was around him, as if fear had stopped further
+breathing on the lips of all present.  And it seemed to him that
+something must happen surely, that a moment of miracle would follow.  He
+felt certain that when he rose and opened his eyes he would see a light
+from which mortal eyes would be blinded, and hear a voice from which
+hearts would grow faint.
+
+But the silence was unbroken.  It was interrupted at last by the sobbing
+of women.  Vinicius rose and looked forward with dazed eyes.  In the
+shed, instead of glories not of earth, shone the faint gleam of
+lanterns, and rays of the moon, entering through an opening in the roof,
+filled the place with silvery light.  The people kneeling around
+Vinicius raised their tearful eyes toward the cross in silence; here and
+there sobbing was heard, and from outside came the warning whistles of
+watchmen.  Meanwhile Peter rose, and, turning to the assembly, said,
+
+"Children, raise your hearts to the Redeemer and offer Him your tears."
+
+After that he was silent.
+
+All at once was heard the voice of a woman, full of sorrowful complaint
+and pain,--
+
+"I am a widow; I had one son who supported me.  Give him back, O Lord!"
+Silence followed again.  Peter was standing before the kneeling
+audience, old, full of care.  In that moment he seemed to them
+decrepitude and weakness personified.  With that a second voice began to
+complain,
+
+"Executioners insulted my daughter, and Christ permitted them!"
+
+Then a third,--
+
+"I alone have remained to my children, and when I am taken who will give
+them bread and water?"
+
+Then a fourth,--
+
+"Linus, spared at first, they have taken now and put to torture, O
+Lord!"
+
+Then a fifth,
+
+"When we return to our houses, pretorians will seize us.  We know not
+where to hide."
+
+"Woe to us!  Who will protect us?"
+
+And thus in that silence of the night complaint after complaint was
+heard.  The old fisherman closed his eyes and shook his white head over
+that human pain and fear.  New silence followed; the watchman merely
+gave out low whistles beyond the shed.
+
+Vinicius sprang up again, so as to break through the crowd to the
+Apostle and demand salvation; but on a sudden he saw before him, as it
+were, a precipice, the sight of which took strength from his feet.  What
+if the Apostle were to confess his own weakness, affirm that the Roman
+Cćsar was stronger than Christ the Nazarene? And at that thought terror
+raised the hair on his head, for he felt that in such a case not only
+the remnant of his hope would fall into that abyss, but with it he
+himself, and all through which he had life, and there would remain only
+night and death, resembling a shoreless sea.
+
+Meanwhile Peter began to speak in a voice so low at first that it was
+barely possible to hear him,--
+
+"My children, on Golgotha I saw them nail God to the cross.  I heard the
+hammers, and I saw them raise the cross on high, so that the rabble
+might gaze at the death of the Son of Man.  I saw them open His side,
+and I saw Him die.  When returning from the cross, I cried in pain, as
+ye are crying, 'Woe! woe!  O Lord, Thou art God! Why hast Thou permitted
+this?  Why hast Thou died, and why hast Thou tormented the hearts of us
+who believed that Thy kingdom would come?'
+
+"But He, our Lord and God, rose from the dead the third day, and was
+among us till He entered His kingdom in great glory.
+
+"And we, seeing our little faith, became strong in heart, and from that
+time we are sowing His grain."
+
+Here, turning toward the place whence the first complaint came, he began
+in a voice now stronger,--
+
+"Why do ye complain?  God gave Himself to torture and death, and ye wish
+Him to shield you from the same.  People of little faith, have ye
+received His teaching?  Has He promised you nothing but life?  He comes
+to you and says, 'Follow in my path.' He raises you to Himself, and ye
+catch at this earth with your hands, crying, 'Lord, save us!' I am dust
+before God, but before you I am His apostle and viceregent.  I speak to
+you in the name of Christ.  Not death is before you, but life; not
+tortures, but endless delights; not tears and groans, but singing; not
+bondage, but rule!  I, God's apostle, say this: O widow, thy son will
+not die; he will be born into glory, into eternal life, and thou wilt
+rejoin him!  To thee, O father, whose innocent daughter was defiled by
+executioners, I promise that thou shalt find her whiter than the lilies
+of Hebron! To you, mothers, whom they are tearing away from your
+orphans; to you who lose fathers; to you who complain; to you who will
+see the death of loved ones; to you the careworn, the unfortunate, the
+timid; to you who must die,--in the name of Christ I declare that ye
+will wake as if from sleep to a happy waking, as if from night to the
+light of God.  In the name of Christ, let the beam fall from your eyes,
+and let your hearts be inflamed."
+
+When he had said this, he raised his hand as if commanding, and they
+felt new blood in their veins, and also a quiver in their bones; for
+before them was standing, not a decrepit and careworn old man, but a
+potentate, who took their souls and raised them from dust and terror.
+
+"Amen!" called a number of voices.
+
+From the Apostle's eyes came a light ever increasing, power issued from
+him, majesty issued from him, and holiness.  Heads bent before him, and
+he, when the "Amen" ceased, continued:--
+
+"Ye sow in tears to reap in joy.  Why fear ye the power of evil? Above
+the earth, above Rome, above the walls of cities is the Lord, who has
+taken His dwelling within you.  The stones will be wet from tears, the
+sand steeped in blood, the valleys will be filled with your bodies, but
+I say that ye are victorious.  The Lord is advancing to the conquest of
+this city of crime, oppression, and pride, and ye are His legions!  He
+redeemed with His own blood and torture the sins of the world; so He
+wishes that ye should redeem with torture and blood this nest of
+injustice.  This He announces to you through my lips."
+
+And he opened his arms, and fixed his eyes upward; the hearts almost
+ceased to beat in their breasts, for they felt that his glance beheld
+something which their mortal sight could not see.
+
+In fact, his face had changed, and was overspread with serenity; he
+gazed some time in silence, as if speechless from ecstasy, but after a
+while they heard his voice,--
+
+"Thou art here, O Lord, and dost show Thy ways to me.  True, O Christ!
+Not in Jerusalem, but in this city of Satan wilt Thou fix Thy capital.
+Here out of these tears and this blood dost Thou wish to build Thy
+Church.  Here, where Nero rules to-day, Thy eternal kingdom is to stand.
+Thine, O Lord, O Lord!  And Thou commandest these timid ones to form the
+foundation of Thy holy Zion of their bones, and Thou commandest my
+spirit to assume rule over it, and over peoples of the earth.  And Thou
+art pouring the fountain of strength on the weak, so that they become
+strong; and now Thou commandest me to feed Thy sheep from this spot, to
+the end of ages.  Oh, be Thou praised in Thy decrees by which Thou
+commandest to conquer.  Hosanna!  Hosanna!"
+
+Those who were timid rose; into those who doubted streams of faith
+flowed.  Some voices cried, "Hosanna!" others, "Pro Christo!" Then
+silence followed.  Bright summer lightning illuminated the interior of
+the shed, and the pale, excited faces.
+
+Peter, fixed in a vision, prayed a long time yet; but conscious at last,
+he turned his inspired face, full of light, to the assembly, and said,--
+
+"This is how the Lord has overcome doubt in you; so ye will go to
+victory in His name."
+
+And though he knew that they would conquer, though he knew what would
+grow out of their tears and blood, still his voice quivered with emotion
+when he was blessing them with the cross, and he said,--
+
+"Now I bless you, my children, as ye go to torture, to death, to
+eternity."
+
+They gathered round him and wept.  "We are ready," said they; "but do
+thou, O holy head, guard thyself, for thou art the viceregent who
+performs the office of Christ."
+
+And thus speaking, they seized his mantle; he placed his hands on their
+heads, and blessed each one separately, just as a father does children
+whom he is sending on a long journey.
+
+And they began at once to go out of the shed, for they were in a hurry,
+to their houses, and from them to the prisons and arenas. Their thoughts
+were separated from the earth, their souls had taken flight toward
+eternity, and they walked on as if in a dream, in ecstasy opposing that
+force which was in them to the force and the cruelty of the "Beast."
+
+Nereus, the servant of Pudens, took the Apostle and led him by a secret
+path in the vineyard to his house.  But Vinicius followed them in the
+clear night, and when they reached the cottage of Nereus at last, he
+threw himself suddenly at the feet of the Apostle.
+
+"What dost thou wish, my Son?" asked Peter, recognizing him.
+
+After what he had heard in the vineyard, Vinicius dared not implore him
+for anything; but, embracing his feet with both hands, he pressed his
+forehead to them with sobbing, and called for compassion in that dumb
+manner.
+
+"I know.  They took the maiden whom thou lovest.  Pray for her."
+
+"Lord," groaned Vinicius, embracing his feet still more firmly,--"Lord,
+I am a wretched worm; but thou didst know Christ. Implore Him,--take her
+part."
+
+And from pain he trembled like a leaf; and he beat the earth with his
+forehead, for, knowing the strength of the Apostle, he knew that he
+alone could rescue her.
+
+Peter was moved by that pain.  He remembered how on a time Lygia
+herself, when attacked by Crispus, lay at his feet in like manner
+imploring pity.  He remembered that he had raised her and comforted her;
+hence now he raised Vinicius.
+
+"My son," said he, "I will pray for her; but do thou remember that I
+told those doubting ones that God Himself passed through the torment of
+the cross, and remember that after this life begins another,--an eternal
+one."
+
+"I know; I have heard!" answered Vinicius, catching the air with his
+pale lips; "but thou seest, lord, that I cannot!  If blood is required,
+implore Christ to take mine,--I am a soldier.  Let Him double, let Him
+triple, the torment intended for her, I will suffer it; but let Him
+spare her.  She is a child yet, and He is mightier than Cćsar, I
+believe, mightier.  Thou didst love her thyself; thou didst bless us.
+She is an innocent child yet."
+
+Again he bowed, and, putting his face to Peter's knees, he repeated,--
+
+"Thou didst know Christ, lord,--thou didst know Him.  He will give ear
+to thee; take her part."
+
+Peter closed his lids, and prayed earnestly.  The summer lightning
+illuminated the sky again.  Vinicius, by the light of it, looked at the
+lips of the Apostle, waiting sentence of life or death from them.  In
+the silence quails were heard calling in the vineyard, and the dull,
+distant sound of treadmills near the Via Salaria.
+
+"Vinicius," asked the Apostle at last, "dost thou believe?"
+
+"Would I have come hither if I believed not?" answered Vinicius.
+
+"Then believe to the end, for faith will remove mountains.  Hence,
+though thou wert to see that maiden under the sword of the executioner
+or in the jaws of a lion, believe that Christ can save her.  Believe,
+and pray to Him, and I will pray with thee."
+
+Then, raising his face toward heaven, he said aloud,--
+
+"O merciful Christ, look on this aching heart and console it!  O
+merciful Christ, temper the wind to the fleece of the lamb!  O merciful
+Christ, who didst implore the Father to turn away the bitter cup from
+Thy mouth, turn it from the mouth of this Thy servant!  Amen."
+
+But Vinicius, stretching his hand toward the stars, said, groaning,--
+
+"I am Thine; take me instead of her."
+
+The sky began to grow pale in the east.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter LIII
+
+
+VINICIUS, on leaving the Apostle, went to the prison with a heart
+renewed by hope.  Somewhere in the depth of his soul, despair and terror
+were still crying; but he stifled those voices.  It seemed to him
+impossible that the intercession of the viceregent of God and the power
+of his prayer should be without effect.  He feared to hope; he feared to
+doubt.  "I will believe in His mercy," said he to himself, "even though
+I saw her in the jaws of a lion."  And at this thought, even though the
+soul quivered in him and cold sweat drenched his temples, he believed.
+Every throb of his heart was a prayer then.  He began to understand that
+faith would move mountains, for he felt in himself a wonderful strength,
+which he had not felt earlier.  It seemed to him that he could do things
+which he had not the power to do the day before.  At moments he had an
+impression that the danger had passed.  If despair was heard groaning
+again in his soul, he recalled that night, and that holy gray face
+raised to heaven in prayer.
+
+"No, Christ will not refuse His first disciple and the pastor of His
+flock!  Christ will not refuse him!  I will not doubt!"  And he ran
+toward the prison as a herald of good news.
+
+But there an unexpected thing awaited him.
+
+All the pretorian guards taking turn before the Mamertine prison knew
+him, and generally they raised not the least difficulty; this time,
+however, the line did not open, but a centurion approached him and
+said,--
+
+"Pardon, noble tribune, to-day we have a command to admit no one."
+
+"A command?" repeated Vinicius, growing pale.
+
+The soldier looked at him with pity, and answered,--
+
+"Yes, lord, a command of Cćsar.  In the prison there are many sick, and
+perhaps it is feared that visitors might spread infection through the
+city."
+
+"But hast thou said that the order was for to-day only?"
+
+"The guards change at noon."
+
+Vinicius was silent and uncovered his head, for it seemed to him that
+the pileolus which he wore was of lead.
+
+Meanwhile the soldier approached him, and said in a low voice,
+
+"Be at rest, lord, the guard and Ursus are watching over her." When he
+had said this, he bent and, in the twinkle of an eye, drew with his long
+Gallic sword on the flag stone the form of a fish.
+
+Vinicius looked at him quickly.
+
+"And thou art a pretorian?"
+
+"Till I shall be there," answered the soldier, pointing to the prison.
+
+"And I, too, worship Christ."
+
+"May His name be praised!  I know, lord, I cannot admit thee to the
+prison, but write a letter, I will give it to the guard."
+
+"Thanks to thee, brother."
+
+He pressed the soldier's hand, and went away.  The pileolus ceased to
+weigh like lead.  The morning sun rose over the walls of the prison, and
+with its brightness consolation began to enter his heart again.  That
+Christian soldier was for him a new witness of the power of Christ.
+After a while he halted, and, fixing his glance on the rosy clouds above
+the Capitol and the temple of Jupiter Stator, he said,--
+
+"I have not seen her to-day, O Lord, but I believe in Thy mercy."
+
+At the house he found Petronius, who, making day out of night as usual,
+had returned not long before.  He had succeeded, however, in taking his
+bath and anointing himself for sleep.
+
+"I have news for thee," said he.  "To-day I was with Tullius Senecio,
+whom Cćsar also visited.  I know not whence it came to the mind of the
+Augusta to bring little Rufius with her,--perhaps to soften the heart of
+Cćsar by his beauty.  Unfortunately, the child, wearied by drowsiness,
+fell asleep during the reading, as Vespasian did once; seeing this,
+Ahenobarbus hurled a goblet at his step-son, and wounded him seriously.
+Poppća fainted; all heard how Cćsar said, 'I have enough of this brood!'
+and that, knowest thou, means as much as death."
+
+"The punishment of God was hanging over the Augusta," answered Vinicius;
+"but why dost thou tell me this?"
+
+"I tell thee because the anger of Poppća pursued thee and Lygia;
+occupied now by her own misfortune, she may leave her vengeance and be
+more easily influenced.  I will see her this evening and talk with her."
+
+"Thanks to thee.  Thou givest me good news."
+
+"But do thou bathe and rest.  Thy lips are blue, and there is not a
+shadow of thee left."
+
+"Is not the time of the first 'ludus matutinus' announced?" inquired
+Vinicius.
+
+"In ten days.  But they will take other prisons first.  The more time
+that remains to us the better.  All is not lost yet."
+
+But he did not believe this; for he knew perfectly that since to the
+request of Aliturus, Cćsar had found the splendidly sounding answer in
+which he compared himself to Brutus, there was no rescue for Lygia.  He
+hid also, through pity, what he had heard at Senecio's, that Cćsar and
+Tigellinus had decided to select for themselves and their friends the
+most beautiful Christian maidens, and defile them before the torture;
+the others were to be given, on the day of the games, to pretorians and
+beast-keepers.
+
+Knowing that Vinicius would not survive Lygia in any case, he
+strengthened hope in his heart designedly, first, through sympathy for
+him; and second, because he wished that if Vinicius had to die, he
+should die beautiful,--not with a face deformed and black from pain and
+watching.
+
+"To-day I will speak more or less thus to Augusta," said he: "'Save
+Lygia for Vinicius, I will save Ruflus for thee.' And I will think of
+that seriously.
+
+"One word spoken to Ahenobarbus at the right moment may save or ruin any
+one.  In the worst case, we will gain time."
+
+"Thanks to thee," repeated Vinicius.
+
+"Thou wilt thank me best if thou eat and sleep.  By Athene!  In the
+greatest straits Odysseus had sleep and food in mind.  Thou hast spent
+the whole night in prison, of course?"
+
+"No," answered Vinicius; "I wished to visit the prison to-day, but there
+is an order to admit no one.  Learn, O Petronius, if the order is for
+to-day alone or till the day of the games."
+
+"I will discover this evening, and to-morrow morning will tell thee for
+what time and why the order was issued.  But now, even were Helios to go
+to Cimmerian regions from sorrow, I shall sleep, and do thou follow my
+example."
+
+They separated; but Vinicius went to the library and wrote a letter to
+Lygia.  When he had finished, he took it himself to the Christian
+centurion who carried it at once to the prison.  After a while he
+returned with a greeting from Lygia, and promised to deliver her answer
+that day.
+
+Vinicius did not wish to return home, but sat on a stone and waited for
+Lygia's letter.  The sun had risen high in the heavens, and crowds of
+people flowed in, as usual, through the Clivus Argentarius to the Forum.
+Hucksters called out their wares, soothsayers offered their services to
+passers-by, citizens walked with deliberate steps toward the rostra to
+hear orators of the day, or tell the latest news to one another.  As the
+heat increased, crowds of idlers betook themselves to the porticos of
+the temples, from under which flew from moment to moment, with great
+rustle of wings, flocks of doves, whose white feathers glistened in the
+sunlight and in the blue of the sky.
+
+From excess of light and the influence of bustle, heat, and great
+weariness, the eyes of Vinicius began to close.  The monotonous calls of
+boys playing mora, and the measured tread of soldiers, lulled him to
+sleep.  He raised his head still a number of times, and took in the
+prison with his eyes; then he leaned against a Stone, sighed like a
+child drowsy after long weeping, and dropped asleep.
+
+Soon dreams came.  It seemed to him that he was carrying Lygia in his
+arms at night through a strange vineyard.  Before him was Pomponia
+Grćcina lighting the way with a lamp.  A voice, as it were of Petronius
+called from afar to him, "Turn back!" but he did not mind the call, and
+followed Pomponia till they reached a cottage; at the threshold of the
+cottage stood Peter.  He showed Peter Lygia, and said, "We are coming
+from the arena, lord, but we cannot wake her; wake her thou."  "Christ
+himself  will come to wake her," answered the Apostle.
+
+Then the pictures began to change.  Through the dream he saw Nero, and
+Poppća holding in her arms little Ruflus with bleeding head, which
+Petronius was washing and he saw Tigellinus sprinkling ashes on tables
+covered with costly dishes, and Vitelius devouring those dishes, while a
+multitude of other Augustians were sitting at the feast.  He himself was
+resting near Lygia; but between the tables walked lions from out whose
+yellow manes trickled blood.  Lygia begged him to take her away, but so
+terrible a weakness had seized him that he could not even move.  Then
+still greater disorder involved his visions, and finally all fell into
+perfect darkness.
+
+He was roused from deep sleep at last by the heat of the sun, and shouts
+given forth right there around the place where he was sitting.  Vinicius
+rubbed his eyes.  The street was swarming with people; but two runners,
+wearing yellow tunics, pushed aside the throng with long staffs, crying
+and making room for a splendid litter which was carried by four stalwart
+Egyptian slaves.
+
+In the litter sat a man in white robes, whose face was not easily seen,
+for he held close to his eyes a roll of papyrus and was reading
+something diligently.
+
+"Make way for the noble Augustian!" cried the runners.
+
+But the street was so crowded that the litter had to wait awhile. The
+Augustian put down his roll of papyrus and bent his head, crying,--
+
+"Push aside those wretches!  Make haste!"
+
+Seeing Vinicius suddenly, he drew back his head and raised the papyrus
+quickly.
+
+Vinicius drew his hand across his forehead, thinking that he was
+dreaming yet.
+
+In the litter was sitting Chilo.
+
+Meanwhile the runners had opened the way, and the Egyptians were ready
+to move, when the young tribune, who in one moment understood many
+things which till then had been incomprehensible, approached the litter.
+
+"A greeting to thee, O Chilo!" said he.
+
+"Young man," answered the Greek, with pride and importance, endeavoring
+to give his face an expression of calmness which was not in his soul,
+"be greeted, but detain me not, for I am hastening to my friend, the
+noble Tigellinus."
+
+Vinicius, grasping the edge of the litter and looking him straight in
+the eyes, said with a lowered voice,--
+
+"Didst thou betray Lygia?"
+
+"Colossus of Memnon!" cried Chilo, with fear.
+
+But there was no threat in the eyes of Vinicius; hence the old Greek's
+alarm vanished quickly.  He remembered that he was under the protection
+of Tigellinus and of Cćsar himself,--that is, of a power before which
+everything trembled,--that he was surrounded by sturdy slaves, and that
+Vinicius stood before him unarmed, with an emaciated face and body bent
+by suffering.
+
+At this thought his insolence returned to him.  He fixed on Vinicius his
+eyes, which were surrounded by red lids, and whispered in answer,--
+
+"But thou, when I was dying of hunger, didst give command to flog me."
+
+For a moment both were silent; then the dull voice of Vinicius was
+heard,--
+
+"I wronged thee, Chilo."
+
+The Greek raised his head, and, snapping his fingers which in Rome was a
+mark of slight and contempt, said so loudly that all could hear him,--
+
+"Friend, if thou hast a petition to present, come to my house on the
+Esquiline in the morning hour, when I receive guests and clients after
+my bath."
+
+And he waved his hand; at that sign the Egyptians raised the litter, and
+the slaves, dressed in yellow tunics, began to cry as they brandished
+their staffs,--
+
+"Make way for the litter of the noble Chilo Chilonides!  Make way, make
+way!"
+
+
+
+
+Chapter LIV
+
+
+LYGIA, in a long letter written hurriedly, took farewell to Vinicius
+forever.  She knew that no one was permitted to enter the prison, and
+that she could see Vinicius only from the arena.  She begged him
+therefore to discover when the turn of the Mamertine prisoners would
+come, and to be at the games, for she wished to see him once more in
+life.  No fear was evident in her letter.  She wrote that she and the
+others were longing for the arena, where they would find liberation from
+imprisonment.  She hoped for the coming of Pomponia and Aulus; she
+entreated that they too be present.  Every word of her showed ecstasy,
+and that separation from life in which all the prisoners lived, and at
+the same time an unshaken faith that all promises would be fulfilled
+beyond the grave.
+
+"Whether Christ," wrote she, "frees me in this life or after death, He
+has promised me to thee by the lips of the Apostle; therefore I am
+thine."  She implored him not to grieve for her, and not to let himself
+be overcome by suffering.  For her death was not a dissolution of
+marriage.  With the confidence of a child she assured Vinicius that
+immediately after her suffering in the arena she would tell Christ that
+her betrothed Marcus had remained in Rome, that he was longing for her
+with his whole heart.  And she thought that Christ would permit her
+soul, perhaps, to return to him for a moment, to tell him that she was
+living, that she did not remember her torments, and that she was happy.
+Her whole letter breathed happiness and immense hope.  There was only
+one request in it connected with affairs of earth,--that Vinicius should
+take her body from the spoliarium and bury it as that of his wife in the
+tomb in which he himself would rest sometime.
+
+He read this letter with a suffering spirit, but at the same time it
+seemed to him impossible that Lygia should perish under the claws of
+wild beasts, and that Christ would not take compassion on her. But just
+in that were hidden hope and trust.  When he returned home, he wrote
+that he would come every day to the walls of the Tullianum to wait till
+Christ crushed the walls and restored her.  He commanded her to believe
+that Christ could give her to him, even in the Circus; that the great
+Apostle was imploring Him to do so, and that the hour of liberation was
+near.  The converted centurion was to bear this letter to her on the
+morrow.
+
+But when Vinicius came to the prison next morning, the centurion left
+the rank, approached him first, and said,--
+
+"Listen to me, lord.  Christ, who enlightened thee, has shown thee
+favor.  Last night Cćsar's freedman and those of the prefect came to
+select Christian maidens for disgrace; they inquired for thy betrothed,
+but our Lord sent her a fever, of which prisoners are dying in the
+Tullianum, and they left her.  Last evening she was unconscious, and
+blessed be the name of the Redeemer, for the sickness which has saved
+her from shame may save her from death."
+
+Vinicius placed his hand on the soldier's shoulder to guard himself from
+falling; but the other continued,--
+
+"Thank the mercy of the Lord!  They took and tortured Linus, but, seeing
+that he was dying, they surrendered him.  They may give her now to thee,
+and Christ will give back health to her."
+
+The young tribune stood some time with drooping head; then raised it and
+said in a whisper,--
+
+"True, centurion.  Christ, who saved her from shame, will save her from
+death."  And sitting at the wall of the prison till evening, he returned
+home to send people for Linus and have him taken to one of his suburban
+villas.
+
+But when Petronius had heard everything, he determined to act also.  He
+had visited the Augusta; now he went to her a second time.  He found her
+at the bed of little Rufius.  The child with broken head was struggling
+in a fever; his mother, with despair and terror in her heart, was trying
+to save him, thinking, however, that if she did save him it might be
+only to perish soon by a more dreadful death.
+
+Occupied exclusively with her own suffering, she would not even hear of
+Vinicius and Lygia; but Petronius terrified her.
+
+"Thou hast offended," said he to her, "a new, unknown divinity. Thou,
+Augusta, art a worshipper, it seems, of the Hebrew Jehovah; but the
+Christians maintain that Chrestos is his son.  Reflect, then, if the
+anger of the father is not pursuing thee.  Who knows but it is their
+vengeance which has struck thee?  Who knows but the life of Rufius
+depends on this,--how thou wilt act?"
+
+"What dost thou wish me to do?" asked Poppća, with terror.
+
+"Mollify the offended deities."
+
+"How?"
+
+"Lygia is sick; influence Cćsar or Tigellinus to give her to Vinicius."
+
+"Dost thou think that I can do that?" asked she, in despair.
+
+"Thou canst do something else.  If Lygia recovers, she must die.  Go
+thou to the temple of Vesta, and ask the virgo magna to happen near the
+Tullianum at the moment when they are leading prisoners out to death,
+and give command to free that maiden.  The chief vestal will not refuse
+thee."
+
+"But if Lygia dies of the fever?"
+
+"The Christians say that Christ is vengeful, but just; maybe thou wilt
+soften Him by thy wish alone."
+
+"Let Him give me some sign that will heal Rufius."
+
+Petronius shrugged his shoulders.
+
+"I have not come as His envoy; O divinity, I merely say to thee, Be on
+better terms with all the gods, Roman and foreign."
+
+"I will go!" said Poppća, with a broken voice.
+
+Petronius drew a deep breath.  "At last I have done something," thought
+he, and returning to Vinicius he said to him,--
+
+"Implore thy God that Lygia die not of the fever, for should she
+survive, the chief vestal will give command to free her.  The Augusta
+herself will ask her to do so."
+
+"Christ will free her," said Vinicius, looking at him with eyes in which
+fever was glittering.
+
+Poppća, who for the recovery of Rufius was willing to burn hecatombs to
+all the gods of the world, went that same evening through the Forum to
+the vestals, leaving care over the sick child to her faithful nurse,
+Silvia, by whom she herself had been reared.
+
+But on the Palatine sentence had been issued against the child already;
+for barely had Poppća's litter vanished behind the great gate when two
+freedmen entered the chamber in which her son was resting.  One of these
+threw himself on old Silvia and gagged her; the other, seizing a bronze
+statue of the Sphinx, stunned the old woman with the first blow.
+
+Then they approached Rufius.  The little boy, tormented with fever and
+insensible, not knowing what was passing around him, smiled at them, and
+blinked with his beautiful eyes, as if trying to recognize the men.
+Stripping from the nurse her girdle, they put it around his neck and
+pulled it.  The child called once for his mother, and died easily.  Then
+they wound him in a sheet, and sitting on horses which were waiting,
+hurried to Ostia, where they threw the body into the sea.
+
+Poppća, not finding the virgo magna, who with other vestals was at the
+house of Vatinius, returned soon to the Palatine.  Seeing the empty bed
+and the cold body of Silvia, she fainted, and when they restored her she
+began to scream; her wild cries were heard all that night and the day
+following.
+
+But Cćsar commanded her to appear at a feast on the third day; so,
+arraying herself in an amethyst-colored tunic, she came and sat with
+stony face, golden-haired, silent, wonderful, and as ominous as an angel
+of death.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter LV
+
+
+BEFORE the Flavii had reared the Colosseum, amphitheatres in Rome were
+built of wood mainly; for that reason nearly all of them had burned
+during the fire.  But Nero, for the celebration of the promised games,
+had given command to build several, and among them a gigantic one, for
+which they began, immediately after the fire was extinguished, to bring
+by sea and the Tiber great trunks of trees cut on the slopes of Atlas;
+for the games were to surpass all previous ones in splendor and the
+number of victims.
+
+Large spaces were given therefore for people and for animals. Thousands
+of mechanics worked at the structure night and day. They built and
+ornamented without rest.  Wonders were told concerning pillars inlaid
+with bronze, amber, ivory, mother of pearl, and transmarine tortoise-
+shells.  Canals filled with ice-cold water from the mountains and
+running along the seats were to keep an agreeable coolness in the
+building, even during the greatest heat.  A gigantic purple velarium
+gave shelter from the rays of the sun.  Among the rows of seats were
+disposed vessels for the burning of Arabian perfumes; above them were
+fixed instruments to sprinkle the spectators with dew of saffron and
+verbena.  The renowned builders Severus and Celer put forth all their
+skill to construct an amphitheatre at once incomparable and fitted for
+such a number of the curious as none of those known before had been able
+to accommodate.
+
+Hence, the day when the ludus matutinus was to begin, throngs of the
+populace were awaiting from daylight the opening of the gates, listening
+with delight to the roars of lions, the hoarse growls of panthers, and
+the howls of dogs.  The beasts had not been fed for two days, but pieces
+of bloody flesh had been pushed before them to rouse their rage and
+hunger all the more.  At times such a storm of wild voices was raised
+that people standing before the Circus could not converse, and the most
+sensitive grew pale from fear.
+
+With the rising of the sun were intoned in the enclosure of the Circus
+hymns resonant but calm.  The people heard these with amazement, and
+said one to another, "The Christians! the Christians!"  In fact, many
+detachments of Christians had been brought to the amphitheatre that
+night, and not from one place, as planned at first, but a few from each
+prison.  It was known in the crowd that the spectacles would continue
+through weeks and months, but they doubted that it would be possible to
+finish in a single day those Christians who had been intended for that
+one occasion.  The voices of men, women, and children singing the
+morning hymn were so numerous that spectators of experience asserted
+that even if one or two hundred persons were sent out at once, the
+beasts would grow tired, become sated, and not tear all to pieces before
+evening.  Others declared that an excessive number of victims in the
+arena would divert attention, and not give a chance to enjoy the
+spectacle properly.
+
+As the moment drew near for opening the vomitoria, or passages which led
+to the interior, people grew animated and joyous; they discussed and
+disputed about various things touching the spectacle.  Parties were
+formed praising the greater efficiency of lions or tigers in tearing.
+Here and there bets were made.  Others however talked about gladiators
+who were to appear in the arena earlier than the Christians; and again
+there were parties, some in favor of Samnites, others of Gauls, others
+of Mirmillons, others of Thracians, others of the retiarii.
+
+Early in the morning larger or smaller detachments of gladiators began
+to arrive at the amphitheatre under the lead of masters, called lanistć.
+Not wishing to be wearied too soon, they entered unarmed, often entirely
+naked, often with green boughs in their hands, or crowned with flowers,
+young, beautiful, in the light of morning, and full of life.  Their
+bodies, shining from olive oil, were strong as if chiselled from marble;
+they roused to delight people who loved shapely forms.  Many were known
+personally, and from moment to moment were heard: "A greeting, Furnius!
+A greeting, Leo!  A greeting, Maximus!  A greeting, Diomed!"  Young
+maidens raised to them eyes full of admiration; they, selecting the
+maiden most beautiful, answered with jests, as if no care weighed on
+them, sending kisses, or exclaiming, "Embrace me before death does!"
+Then they vanished in the gates, through which many of them were never
+to come forth again.
+
+New arrivals drew away the attention of the throngs.  Behind the
+gladiators came mastigophori; that is, men armed with scourges, whose
+office it was to lash and urge forward combatants.  Next mules drew, in
+the direction of the spoliarium, whole rows of vehicles on which were
+piled wooden coffins.  People were diverted at sight of this, inferring
+from the number of coffins the greatness of the spectacle.  Now marched
+in men who were to kill the wounded; these were dressed so that each
+resembled Charon or Mercury.  Next came those who looked after order in
+the Circus, and assigned places; after that slaves to bear around food
+and refreshments; finally, pretorians, whom every Cćsar had always at
+hand in the amphitheatre.
+
+At last the vomitoria were opened, and crowds rushed to the centre.  But
+such was the number of those assembled that they flowed in and flowed in
+for hours, till it was a marvel that the Circus could hold such a
+countless multitude.  The roars of wild beasts, catching the exhalations
+of people, grew louder.  While taking their places, the spectators made
+an uproar like the sea in time of storm.
+
+Finally, the prefect of the city came, surrounded by guards; and after
+him, in unbroken line, appeared the litters of senators, consuls,
+pretors, ediles, officials of the government and the palace, of
+pretorian officers, patricians, and exquisite ladies.  Some litters were
+preceded by lictors bearing maces in bundles of rods; others by crowds
+of slaves.  In the sun gleamed the gilding of the litters, the white and
+varied colored stuffs, feathers, earrings, jewels, steel of the maces.
+From the Circus came shouts with which the people greeted great
+dignitaries.  Small divisions of pretorians arrived from time to time.
+
+The priests of various temples came somewhat later; only after them were
+brought in the sacred virgins of Vesta, preceded by lictors.
+
+To begin the spectacle, they were waiting now only for Cćsar, who,
+unwilling to expose the people to over-long waiting, and wishing to win
+them by promptness, came soon, in company with the Augusta and
+Augustians.
+
+Petronius arrived among the Augustians, having Vinicius in his litter.
+The latter knew that Lygia was sick and unconscious; but as access to
+the prison had been forbidden most strictly during the preceding days,
+and as the former guards had been replaced by new ones who were not
+permitted to speak with the jailers or even to communicate the least
+information to those who came to inquire about prisoners, he was not
+even sure that she was not among the victims intended for the first day
+of spectacles.  They might send out even a sick woman for the lions,
+though she were unconscious. But since the victims were to be sewed up
+in skins of wild beasts and sent to the arena in crowds, no spectator
+could be certain that one more or less might not be among them, and no
+man could recognize any one.  The jailers and all the servants of the
+amphitheatre had been bribed, and a bargain made with the beast-keepers
+to hide Lygia in some dark corner, and give her at night into the hands
+of a confidant of Vinicius, who would take her at once to the Alban
+Hills.  Petronius, admitted to the secret, advised Vinicius to go with
+him openly to the amphitheatre, and after he had entered to disappear in
+the throng and hurry to the vaults, where, to avoid possible mistake, he
+was to point out Lygia to the guards personally.
+
+The guards admitted him through a small door by which they came out
+themselves.  One of these, named Cyrus, led him at once to the
+Christians.  On the way he said,--
+
+"I know not, lord, that thou wilt find what thou art seeking.  We
+inquired for a maiden named Lygia, but no one gave us answer; it may be,
+though, that they do not trust us."
+
+"Are there many?" asked Vinicius.
+
+"Many, lord, had to wait till to-morrow."
+
+"Are there sick ones among them?"
+
+"There were none who could not stand."
+
+Cyrus opened a door and entered as it were an enormous chamber, but low
+and dark, for the light came in only through grated openings which
+separated it from the arena.  At first Vinicius could see nothing; he
+heard only the murmur of voices in the room, and the shouts of people in
+the amphitheatre.  But after a time, when his eyes had grown used to the
+gloom, he saw crowds of strange beings, resembling wolves and bears.
+Those were Christians sewed up in skins of beasts.  Some of them were
+standing; others were kneeling in prayer.  Here and there one might
+divine by the long hair flowing over the skin that the victim was a
+woman.  Women, looking like wolves, carried in their arms children sewed
+up in equally shaggy coverings.  But from beneath the skins appeared
+bright faces and eyes which in the darkness gleamed with delight and
+feverishness.  It was evident that the greater number of those people
+were mastered by one thought, exclusive and beyond the earth,--a thought
+which during life made them indifferent to everything which happened
+around them and which could meet them.  Some, when asked by Vinicius
+about Lygia, looked at him with eyes as if roused from sleep, without
+answering his questions; others smiled at him, placing a finger on their
+lips or pointing to the iron grating through which bright streaks of
+light entered.  But here and there children were crying, frightened by
+the roaring of beasts, the howling of dogs, the uproar of people, and
+the forms of their own parents who looked like wild beasts.  Vinicius as
+he walked by the side of Cyrus looked into faces, searched, inquired, at
+times stumbled against bodies of people who had fainted from the crowd,
+the stifling air, the heat, and pushed farther into the dark depth of
+the room, which seemed to be as spacious as a whole amphitheatre.
+
+But he stopped on a sudden, for he seemed to hear near the grating a
+voice known to him.  He listened for a while, turned, and, pushing
+through the crowd, went near.  Light fell on the face of the speaker,
+and Vinicius recognized under the skin of a wolf the emaciated and
+implacable countenance of Crispus.
+
+"Mourn for your sins!" exclaimed Crispus, "for the moment is near.  But
+whoso thinks by death itself to redeem his sins commits a fresh sin, and
+will be hurled into endless fire.  With every sin committed in life ye
+have renewed the Lord's suffering; how dare ye think that that life
+which awaits you will redeem this one? To-day the just and the sinner
+will die the same death; but the Lord will find His own.  Woe to you,
+the claws of the lions will rend your bodies; but not your sins, nor
+your reckoning with God.  The Lord showed mercy sufficient when He let
+Himself be nailed to the cross; but thenceforth He will be only the
+judge, who will leave no fault unpunished.  Whoso among you has thought
+to extinguish his sins by suffering, has blasphemed against God's
+justice, and will sink all the deeper.  Mercy is at an end, and the hour
+of God's wrath has come.  Soon ye will stand before the awful Judge in
+whose presence the good will hardly be justified.  Bewail your sins, for
+the jaws of hell are open; woe to you, husbands and wives; woe to you,
+parents and children."
+
+And stretching forth his bony hands, he shook them above the bent heads;
+he was unterrified and implacable even in the presence of death, to
+which in a while all those doomed people were to go. After his words,
+were heard voices:  "We bewail our sins!"  Then came silence, and only
+the cry of children was audible, and the beating of hands against
+breasts.
+
+The blood of Vinicius stiffened in his veins.  He, who had placed all
+his hope in the mercy of Christ, heard now that the day of wrath had
+come, and that even death in the arena would not obtain mercy.  Through
+his head shot, it is true, the thought, clear and swift as lightning,
+that Peter would have spoken otherwise to those about to die.  Still
+those terrible words of Crispus filled with fanaticism that dark chamber
+with its grating, beyond which was the field of torture.  The nearness
+of that torture, and the throng of victims arrayed for death already,
+filled his soul with fear and terror.  All this seemed to him dreadful,
+and a hundred times more ghastly than the bloodiest battle in which he
+had ever taken part. The odor and heat began to stifle him; cold sweat
+came out on his forehead.  He was seized by fear that he would faint
+like those against whose bodies he had stumbled while searching in the
+depth of the apartment; so when he remembered that they might open the
+grating any moment, he began to call Lygia and Ursus aloud, in the hope
+that, if not they, some one knowing them would answer.
+
+In fact, some man, clothed as a bear, pulled his toga, and said,--
+
+"Lord, they remained in prison.  I was the last one brought out; I saw
+her sick on the couch."
+
+"Who art thou?" inquired Vinicius.
+
+"The quarryman in whose hut the Apostle baptized thee, lord.  They
+imprisoned me three days ago, and to-day I die."
+
+Vinicius was relieved.  When entering, he had wished to find Lygia; now
+he was ready to thank Christ that she was not there, and to see in that
+a sign of mercy.  Meanwhile the quarryman pulled his toga again, and
+said,--
+
+"Dost remember, lord, that I conducted thee to the vineyard of
+Cornelius, when the Apostle discoursed in the shed?"
+
+"I remember."
+
+"I saw him later, the day before they imprisoned me, He blessed me, and
+said that he would come to the amphitheatre to bless the perishing.  If
+I could look at him in the moment of death and see the sign of the
+cross, it would be easier for me to die.  If thou know where he is,
+lord, inform me."
+
+Vinicius lowered his voice, and said,--
+
+"He is among the people of Petronius, disguised as a slave.  I know not
+where they chose their places, but I will return to the Circus and see.
+Look thou at me when ye enter the arena.  I will rise and turn my face
+toward them; then thou wilt find him with thy eyes."
+
+"Thanks to thee, lord, and peace be with thee."
+
+"May the Redeemer be merciful to thee."
+
+"Amen."
+
+Vinicius went out of the cuniculum, and betook himself to the
+amphitheatre, where he had a place near Petronius among the other
+Augustians.
+
+"Is she there?" inquired Petronius.
+
+"No; she remained in prison."
+
+"Hear what has occurred to me, but while listening look at Nigidia for
+example, so that we may seem to talk of her hair-dressing. Tigellinus
+and Chilo are looking at us now.  Listen then.  Let them put Lygia in a
+coffin at night and carry her out of the prison as a corpse; thou
+divinest the rest?"
+
+"Yes," answered Vinicius.
+
+Their further conversation was interrupted by Tullius Senecio, who,
+bending toward them, asked,--
+
+"Do ye know whether they will give weapons to the Christians?"
+
+"We do not," answered Petronius.  "I should prefer that arms were
+given," said Tullius; "if not, the arena will become like butcher's
+shambles too early.  But what a splendid amphitheatre!"
+
+The sight was, in truth, magnificent.  The lower seats, crowded with
+togas were as white as snow.  In the gilded podium sat Cćsar, wearing a
+diamond collar and a golden crown on his head; next to him sat the
+beautiful and gloomy Augusta, and on both sides were vestal virgins,
+great officials, senators with embroidered togas, officers of the army
+with glittering weapons,--in a word, all that was powerful, brilliant,
+and wealthy in Rome.  In the farther rows sat knights; and higher up
+darkened in rows a sea of common heads, above which from pillar to
+pillar hung festoons of roses, lilies, ivy, and grapevines.
+
+People conversed aloud, called to one another, sang; at times they broke
+into laughter at some witty word which was sent from row to row, and
+they stamped with impatience to hasten the spectacle.
+
+At last the stamping became like thunder, and unbroken.  Then the
+prefect of the city, who rode around the arena with a brilliant retinue,
+gave a signal with a handkerchief, which was answered throughout the
+amphitheatre by "A-a-a!" from thousands of breasts.
+
+Usually a spectacle was begun by hunts of wild beasts, in which various
+Northern and Southern barbarians excelled; but this time they had too
+many beasts, so they began with andabates,--that is, men wearing helmets
+without an opening for the eyes, hence fighting blindfold.  A number of
+these came into the arena together, and slashed at random with their
+swords; the scourgers with long forks pushed some toward others to make
+them meet.  The more select of the audience looked with contempt and
+indifference at this spectacle; but the crowd were amused by the awkward
+motions of the swordsmen.  When it happened that they met with their
+shoulders, they burst out in loud laughter.  "To the right!"  "To the
+left!" cried they, misleading the opponents frequently by design.  A
+number of pairs closed, however, and the struggle began to be bloody.
+The determined combatants cast aside their shields, and giving their
+left hands to each other, so as not to part again, struggled to the
+death with their right.  Whoever fell raised his fingers, begging mercy
+by that sign; but in the beginning of a spectacle the audience demanded
+death usually for the wounded, especially in the case of men who had
+their faces covered and were unknown.  Gradually the number of
+combatants decreased; and when at last only two remained, these were
+pushed together; both fell on the sand, and stabbed each other mutually.
+Then, amid cries of "Peractum est!" servants carried out the bodies,
+youths raked away the bloody traces on the sand and sprinkled it with
+leaves of saffron.
+
+Now a more important contest was to come,--rousing interest not only in
+the herd, but in exquisites; during this contest young patricians made
+enormous bets at times, often losing all they owned.  Straightway from
+hand to hand went tablets on which were written names of favorites, and
+also the number of sestertia which each man wagered on his favorite.
+"Spectati"--that is, champions who had appeared already on the arena and
+gained victories--found most partisans; but among betters were also
+those who risked considerably on gladiators who were new and quite
+unknown, hoping to win immense sums should these conquer. Cćsar himself
+bet; priests, vestals, senators, knights bet; the populace bet.  People
+of the crowd, when money failed them, bet their own freedom frequently.
+They waited with heart-beating and even with fear for the combatants,
+and more than one made audible vows to the gods to gain their protection
+for a favorite.
+
+In fact, when the shrill sound of trumpets was heard, there was a
+stillness of expectation in the amphitheatre.  Thousands of eyes were
+turned to the great bolts, which a man approached dressed like Charon,
+and amid the universal silence struck three times with a hammer, as if
+summoning to death those who were hidden behind them.  Then both halves
+of the gate opened slowly, showing a black gully, out of which
+gladiators began to appear in the bright arena.  They came in divisions
+of twenty-five, Thracians, Mirmillons, Samnites, Gauls, each nation
+separately, all heavily armed; and last the retiarii, holding in one
+hand a net, in the other a trident.  At sight of them, here and there on
+the benches rose applause, which soon turned into one immense and
+unbroken storm.  From above to below were seen excited faces, clapping
+hands, and open mouths, from which shouts burst forth.  The gladiators
+encircled the whole arena with even and springy tread, gleaming with
+their weapons and rich outfit; they halted before Cćsar's podium, proud,
+calm, and brilliant.  The shrill sound of a horn stopped the applause;
+the combatants stretched their right hands upward, raised their eyes and
+heads toward Cćsar, and began to cry or rather to chant with drawling
+voice,--
+
+"Ave, Cćsar imperator! Morituri te salutant!"
+
+Then they pushed apart quickly, occupying their places on the arena.
+They were to attack one another in whole detachments; but first it was
+permitted the most famous fencers to have a series of single combats, in
+which the strength, dexterity, and courage of opponents were best
+exhibited.  In fact, from among the Gauls appeared a champion, well
+known to lovers of the amphitheatre under the name of Lanio, a victor in
+many games.  With a great helmet on his head, and in mail which formed a
+ridge in front of his powerful breast and behind, he looked in the gleam
+of the golden arena like a giant beetle.  The no less famous retiarius
+Calendio came out against him.
+
+Among the spectators people began to bet.
+
+"Five hundred sestertia on the Gaul!"
+
+"Five hundred on Calendio!"
+
+"By Hercules, one thousand!"
+
+"Two thousand!"
+
+Meanwhile the Gaul, reaching the centre of the arena, began to withdraw
+with pointed sword, and, lowering his head, watched his opponent
+carefully through the opening of his visor; the light retiarius,
+stately, statuesque, wholly naked save a belt around his loins, circled
+quickly about his heavy antagonist, waving the net with graceful
+movement, lowering or raising his trident, and singing the usual song of
+the retiarius,--
+
+"Non te peto, piscem peto; Quid me fugis, Galle?"
+
+["I seek not thee, I seek a fish; Why flee from me O Gaul?"]
+
+But the Gaul was not fleeing, for after a while he stopped, and standing
+in one place began to turn with barely a slight movement, so as to have
+his enemy always in front, in his form and monstrously large head there
+was now something terrible. The spectators understood perfectly that
+that heavy body encased in bronze was preparing for a sudden throw to
+decide the battle.  The retiarius meanwhile sprang up to him, then
+sprang away, making with his three-toothed fork motions so quick that
+the eye hardly followed them.  The sound of the teeth on the shield was
+heard repeatedly; but the Gaul did not quiver, giving proof by this of
+his gigantic strength.  All his attention seemed fixed, not on the
+trident, but the net which was circling above his head, like a bird of
+ill omen.  The spectators held the breath in their breasts, and followed
+the masterly play of the gladiators.  The Gaul waited, chose the moment,
+and rushed at last on his enemy; the latter with equal quickness shot
+past under his sword, straightened himself with raised arm, and threw
+the net.
+
+The Gaul, turning where he stood, caught it on his shield; then both
+sprang apart.  In the amphitheatre shouts of "Macte!" thundered; in the
+lower rows they began to make new bets.  Cćsar himself, who at first had
+been talking with Rubria, and so far had not paid much attention to the
+spectacle, turned his head toward the arena.
+
+They began to struggle again, so regularly and with such precision in
+their movements, that sometimes it seemed that with them it was not a
+question of life or death, but of exhibiting skill.  The Gaul escaping
+twice more from the net, pushed toward the edge of the arena; those who
+held bets against him, not wishing the champion to rest, began to cry,
+"Bear on!"  The Gaul obeyed, and attacked.  The arm of the retiarius was
+covered on a sudden with blood, and his net dropped.  The Gaul summoned
+his strength, and sprang forward to give the final blow.  That instant
+Calendio, who feigned inability to wield the net, sprang aside, escaped
+the thrust, ran the trident between the knees of his opponent, and
+brought him to the earth.
+
+The Gaul tried to rise, but in a twinkle he was covered by the fatal
+meshes, in which he was entangled more and more by every movement of his
+feet and hands.  Meanwhile stabs of the trident fixed him time after
+time to the earth.  He made one more effort, rested on his arm, and
+tried to rise; in vain!  He raised to his head his falling hand which
+could hold the sword no longer, and fell on his back.  Calendio pressed
+his neck to the ground with the trident, and, resting both hands on the
+handle of it, turned toward Cćsar's box.
+
+The whole Circus was trembling from plaudits and the roar of people.
+For those who had bet on Calendio he was at that moment greater than
+Cćsar; but for this very reason animosity against the Gaul vanished from
+their hearts.  At the cost of his blood he had filled their purses.  The
+voices of the audience were divided.  On the upper seats half the signs
+were for death, and half for mercy; but the retiarius looked only at the
+box of Cćsar and the vestals, waiting for what they would decide.
+
+To the misfortune of the fallen gladiator, Nero did not like him, for at
+the last games before the fire he had bet against the Gaul, and had lost
+considerable sums to Licinus; hence he thrust his hand out of the
+podium, and turned his thumb toward the earth.
+
+The vestals supported the sign at once.  Calendio knelt on the breast of
+the Gaul, drew a short knife from his belt, pushed apart the armor
+around the neck of his opponent, and drove the three-edged blade into
+his throat to the handle.
+
+"Peractum est!" sounded voices in the amphitheatre.
+
+The Gaul quivered a time, like a stabbed bullock, dug the sand with his
+heels, stretched, and was motionless.
+
+Mercury had no need to try with heated iron if he were living yet. He
+was hidden away quickly, and other pairs appeared.  After them came a
+battle of whole detachments.  The audience took part in it with soul,
+heart, and eyes.  They howled, roared, whistled, applauded, laughed,
+urged on the combatants, grew wild.  The gladiators on the arena,
+divided into two legions, fought with the rage of wild beasts; breast
+struck breast, bodies were intertwined in a death grapple, strong limbs
+cracked in their joints, swords were buried in breasts and in stomachs,
+pale lips threw blood on to the sand.  Toward the end such terrible fear
+seized some novices that, tearing themselves from the turmoil, they
+fled; but the scourgers drove them back again quickly to the battle with
+lashes tipped with lead.  On the sand great dark spots were formed; more
+and more naked and armed bodies lay stretched like grain sheaves. The
+living fought on the corpses; they struck against armor and shields, cut
+their feet against broken weapons, and fell.  The audience lost self-
+command from delight; and intoxicated with death breathed it, sated
+their eyes with the sight of it, and drew into their lungs the
+exhalations of it with ecstasy.
+
+The conquered lay dead, almost every man.  Barely a few wounded knelt in
+the middle of the arena, and trembling stretched their hands to the
+audience with a prayer for mercy.  To the victors were given rewards,--
+crowns, olive wreaths.  And a moment of rest came, which, at command of
+the all-powerful Cćsar, was turned into a feast.  Perfumes were burned
+in vases.  Sprinklers scattered saffron and violet rain on the people.
+Cooling drinks were served, roasted meats, sweet cakes, wine, olives,
+and fruits.  The people devoured, talked, and shouted in honor of Cćsar,
+to incline him to greater bounteousness.  When hunger and thirst had
+been satisfied, hundreds of slaves bore around baskets full of gifts,
+from which boys, dressed as Cupids, took various objects and threw them
+with both hands among the seats.  When lottery tickets were distributed,
+a battle began.  People crowded, threw, trampled one another; cried for
+rescue, sprang over rows of seats, stifled one another in the terrible
+crush, since whoever got a lucky number might win possibly a house with
+a garden, a slave, a splendid dress, or a wild beast which he could sell
+to the amphitheatre afterward.  For this reason there were such
+disorders that frequently the pretorians had to interfere; and after
+every distribution they carried out people with broken arms or legs, and
+some were even trampled to death in the throng.
+
+But the more wealthy took no part in the fight for tesserć.  The
+Augustians amused themselves now with the spectacle of Chilo, and with
+making sport of his vain efforts to show that he could look at fighting
+and blood-spilling as well as any man.  But in vain did the unfortunate
+Greek wrinkle his brow, gnaw his lips, and squeeze his fists till the
+nails entered his palms.  His Greek nature and his personal cowardice
+were unable to endure such sights.  His face grew pale, his forehead was
+dotted with drops of sweat, his lips were blue, his eyes turned in, his
+teeth began to chatter, and a trembling seized his body.  At the end of
+the battle he recovered somewhat; but when they attacked him with
+tongues, sudden anger seized him, and he defended himself desperately.
+
+"Ha, Greek! the sight of torn skin on a man is beyond thy strength!"
+said Vatinius, taking him by the beard.
+
+Chilo bared his last two yellow teeth at him and answered,--
+
+"My father was not a cobbler, so I cannot mend it."
+
+"Macte! habet (Good! he has caught it!)" called a number of voices; but
+others jeered on.
+
+"He is not to blame that instead of a heart he has a piece of cheese in
+his breast," said Senecio.
+
+"Thou art not to blame that instead of a head thou hast a bladder,"
+retorted Chilo.
+
+"Maybe thou wilt become a gladiator! thou wouldst look well with a net
+on the arena."
+
+"If I should catch thee in it, I should catch a stinking hoopoe."
+
+"And how will it be with the Christians?" asked Festus, from Liguria.
+"Wouldst thou not like to be a dog and bite them?"
+
+"I should not like to be thy brother."
+
+"Thou Mćotian copper-nose!"
+
+"Thou Ligurian mule!"
+
+"Thy skin is itching, evidently, but I don't advise thee to ask me to
+scratch it."
+
+"Scratch thyself.  If thou scratch thy own pimple, thou wilt destroy
+what is best in thee."
+
+And in this manner they attacked him.  He defended himself venomously,
+amid universal laughter.  Cćsar, clapping his hands, repeated, "Macte!"
+and urged them on.  After a while Petronius approached, and, touching
+the Greek's shoulder with his carved ivory cane, said coldly,--
+
+"This is well, philosopher; but in one thing thou hast blundered: the
+gods created thee a pickpocket, and thou hast become a demon.  That is
+why thou canst not endure."
+
+The old man looked at him with his red eyes, but this time somehow he
+did not find a ready insult.  He was silent for a moment; then answered,
+as if with a certain effort,--
+
+"I shall endure."
+
+Meanwhile the trumpets announced the end of the interval.  People began
+to leave the passages where they had assembled to straighten their legs
+and converse.  A general movement set in with the usual dispute about
+seats occupied previously.  Senators and patricians hastened to their
+places.  The uproar ceased after a time, and the amphitheatre returned
+to order.  On the arena a crowd of people appeared whose work was to dig
+out here and there lumps of sand formed with stiffened blood.
+
+The turn of the Christians was at hand.  But since that was a new
+spectacle for people, and no one knew how the Christians would bear
+themselves, all waited with a certain curiosity.  The disposition of the
+audience was attentive but unfriendly; they were waiting for uncommon
+scenes.  Those people who were to appear had burned Rome and its ancient
+treasures.  They had drunk the blood of infants, and poisoned water;
+they had cursed the whole human race, and committed the vilest crimes.
+The harshest punishment did not suffice the roused hatred; and if any
+fear possessed people's hearts, it was this: that the torture of the
+Christians would not equal the guilt of those ominous criminals.
+
+Meanwhile the sun had risen high; its rays, passing through the purple
+velarium, had filled the amphitheatre with blood-colored light.  The
+sand assumed a fiery hue, and in those gleams, in the faces of people,
+as well as in the empty arena, which after a time was to be filled with
+the torture of people and the rage of savage beasts, there was something
+terrible.  Death and terror seemed hovering in the air.  The throng,
+usually gladsome, became moody under the influence of hate and silence.
+Faces had a sullen expression.
+
+Now the prefect gave a sign.  The same old man appeared, dressed as
+Charon, who had called the gladiators to death, and, passing with slow
+step across the arena amid silence, he struck three times again on the
+door.
+
+Throughout the amphitheatre was heard the deep murmur,--
+
+"The Christians! the Christians!"
+
+The iron gratings creaked; through the dark openings were heard the
+usual cries of the scourgers, "To the sand!" and in one moment the arena
+was peopled with crowds as it were of satyrs covered with skins.  All
+ran quickly, somewhat feverishly, and, reaching the middle of the
+circle, they knelt one by another with raised heads. The spectators,
+judging this to be a prayer for pity, and enraged by such cowardice,
+began to stamp, whistle, throw empty wine-vessels, bones from which the
+flesh had been eaten, and shout, "The beasts! the beasts!"  But all at
+once something unexpected took place.  From out the shaggy assembly
+singing voices were raised, and then sounded that hynm heard for the
+first time in a Roman amphitheatre, "Christus regnat!" ["Christ
+reigns!"]
+
+Astonishment seized the spectators.  The condemned sang with eyes raised
+to the velarium.  The audience saw faces pale, but as it were inspired.
+All understood that those people were not asking for mercy, and that
+they seemed not to see the Circus, the audience, the Senate, or Cćsar.
+"Christus regnat!" rose ever louder, and in the seats, far up to the
+highest, among the rows of spectators, more than one asked himself the
+question, "What is happening, and who is that Christus who reigns in the
+mouths of those people who are about to die?"  But meanwhile a new
+grating was opened, and into the arena rushed, with mad speed and
+barking, whole packs of dogs,--gigantic, yellow Molossians from the
+Peloponnesus, pied dogs from the Pyrenees, and wolf-like hounds from
+Hibernia, purposely famished; their sides lank, and their eyes
+bloodshot. Their howls and whines filled the amphitheatre.  When the
+Christians had finished their hymn, they remained kneeling, motionless,
+as if petrified, merely repeating in one groaning chorus, "Pro Christo!
+Pro Christo!"  The dogs, catching the odor of people under the skins of
+beasts, and surprised by their silence, did not rush on them at once.
+Some stood against the walls of the boxes, as if wishing to go among the
+spectators; others ran around barking furiously, as though chasing some
+unseen beast.  The people were angry.  A thousand voices began to call;
+some howled like wild beasts; some barked like dogs; others urged them
+on in every language.  The amphitheatre was trembling from uproar.  The
+excited dogs began to run to the kneeling people, then to draw back,
+snapping their teeth, till at last one of the Molossians drove his teeth
+into the shoulder of a woman kneeling in front, and dragged her under
+him.
+
+Tens of dogs rushed into the crowd now, as if to break through it. The
+audience ceased to howl, so as to look with greater attention. Amidst
+the howling and whining were heard yet plaintive voices of men and
+women: "Pro Christo!  Pro Christo!" but on the arena were formed
+quivering masses of the bodies of dogs and people.  Blood flowed in
+streams from the torn bodies.  Dogs dragged from each other the bloody
+limbs of people.  The odor of blood and torn entrails was stronger than
+Arabian perfumes, and filled the whole Circus.
+
+At last only here and there were visible single kneeling forms, which
+were soon covered by moving squirming masses.
+
+Vinicius, who at the moment when the Christians ran in, stood up and
+turned so as to indicate to the quarryman, as he had promised, the
+direction in which the Apostle was hidden among the people of Petronius,
+sat down again, and with the face of a dead man continued to look with
+glassy eyes on the ghastly spectacle.  At first fear that the quarryman
+might have been mistaken, and that perchance Lygia was among the
+victims, benumbed him completely; but when he heard the voices, "Pro
+Christo!" when he saw the torture of so many victims who, in dying,
+confessed their faith and their God, another feeling possessed him,
+piercing him like the most dreadful pain, but irresistible.  That
+feeling was this,--if Christ Himself died in torment, if thousands are
+perishing for Him now, if a sea of blood is poured forth, one drop more
+signifies nothing, and it is a sin even to ask for mercy.  That thought
+came to him from the arena, penetrated him with the groans of the dying,
+with the odor of their blood.  But still he prayed and repeated with
+parched lips, "O Christ!  O Christ! and Thy Apostle prayed for her!"
+Then he forgot himself, lost consciousness of where he was.  It seemed
+to him that blood on the arena was rising and rising, that it was coming
+up and flowing out of the Circus over all Rome.  For the rest he heard
+nothing, neither the howling of dogs nor the uproar of the people nor
+the voices of the Augustians, who began all at once to cry,--
+
+"Chilo has fainted!"
+
+"Chilo has fainted!" said Petronius, turning toward the Greek.
+
+And he had fainted really; he sat there white as linen, his head fallen
+back, his mouth wide open, like that of a corpse.
+
+At that same moment they were urging into the arena new victims, sewed
+up in skins.
+
+These knelt immediately, like those who had gone before; but the weary
+dogs would not rend them.  Barely a few threw themselves on to those
+kneeling nearest; but others lay down, and, raising their bloody jaws,
+began to scratch their sides and yawn heavily.
+
+Then the audience, disturbed in spirit, but drunk with blood and wild,
+began to cry with hoarse voices,--
+
+"The lions! the lions!  Let out the lions!"
+
+The lions were to be kept for the next day; but in the amphitheatres the
+people imposed their will on every one, even on Cćsar. Caligula alone,
+insolent and changeable in his wishes, dared to oppose them, and there
+were cases when he gave command to beat the people with clubs; but even
+he yielded most frequently.  Nero, to whom plaudits were dearer than all
+else in the world, never resisted.  All the more did he not resist now,
+when it was a question of mollifying the populace, excited after the
+conflagration, and a question of the Christians, on whom he wished to
+cast the blame of the catastrophe.
+
+He gave the sign therefore to open the cuniculum, seeing which, the
+people were calmed in a moment.  They heard the creaking of the doors
+behind which were the lions.  At sight of the lions the dogs gathered
+with low whines, on the opposite side of the arena. The lions walked
+into the arena one after another, immense, tawny, with great shaggy
+heads.  Cćsar himself turned his wearied face toward them, and placed
+the emerald to his eye to see better. The Augustians greeted them with
+applause; the crowd counted them on their fingers, and followed eagerly
+the impression which the sight of them would make on the Christians
+kneeling in the centre, who again had begun to repeat the words, without
+meaning for many, though annoying to all, "Pro Christo!  Pro Christo!"
+
+But the lions, though hungry, did not hasten to their victims.  The
+ruddy light in the arena dazzled them and they half closed their eyes as
+if dazed.  Some stretched their yellowish bodies lazily; some, opening
+their jaws, yawned,--one might have said that they wanted to show their
+terrible teeth to the audience.  But later the odor of blood and torn
+bodies, many of which were lying on the sand, began to act on them.
+Soon their movements became restless, their manes rose, their nostrils
+drew in the air with hoarse sound.  One fell suddenly on the body of a
+woman with a torn face, and, lying with his fore paws on the body,
+licked with a rough tongue the stiffened blood: another approached a man
+who was holding in his arms a child sewed up in a fawn's skin.
+
+The child, trembling from crying, and weeping, clung convulsively to the
+neck of its father; he, to prolong its life even for a moment, tried to
+pull it from his neck, so as to hand it to those kneeling farther on.
+But the cry and the movement irritated the lion.  All at once he gave
+out a short, broken roar, killed the child with one blow of his paw, and
+seizing the head of the father in his jaws, crushed it in a twinkle.
+
+At sight of this all the other lions fell upon the crowd of Christians.
+Some women could not restrain cries of terror; but the audience drowned
+these with plaudits, which soon ceased, however, for the wish to see
+gained the mastery.  They beheld terrible things then: heads
+disappearing entirely in open jaws, breasts torn apart with one blow,
+hearts and lungs swept away; the crushing of bones under the teeth of
+lions.  Some lions, seizing victims by the ribs or loins, ran with mad
+springs through the arena, as if seeking hidden places in which to
+devour them; others fought, rose on their hind legs, grappled one
+another like wrestlers, and filled the amphitheatre with thunder.
+People rose from their places.  Some left their seats, went down lower
+through the passages to see better, and crowded one another mortally.
+It seemed that the excited multitude would throw itself at last into the
+arena, and rend the Christians in company with the lions.  At moments an
+unearthly noise was heard; at moments applause; at moments roaring,
+rumbling, the clashing of teeth, the howling of Molossian dogs; at times
+only groans.
+
+Cćsar, holding the emerald to his eye, looked now with attention. The
+face of Petronius assumed an expression of contempt and disgust.  Chilo
+had been borne out of the Circus.
+
+But from the cuniculum new victims were driven forth continually.
+
+From the highest row in the amphitheatre the Apostle Peter looked at
+them.  No one saw him, for all heads were turned to the arena; so he
+rose and as formerly in the vineyard of Cornelius he had blessed for
+death and eternity those who were intended for imprisonment, so now he
+blessed with the cross those who were perishing under the teeth of wild
+beasts.  He blessed their blood, their torture, their dead bodies turned
+into shapeless masses, and their souls flying away from the bloody sand.
+Some raised their eyes to him, and their faces grew radiant; they smiled
+when they saw high above them the sign of the cross.  But his heart was
+rent, and he said, "O Lord! let Thy will be done.  These my sheep perish
+to Thy glory in testimony of the truth.  Thou didst command me to feed
+them; hence I give them to Thee, and do Thou count them, Lord, take
+them, heal their wounds, soften their pain, give them happiness greater
+than the torments which they suffered here."
+
+And he blessed them one after another, crowd after crowd, with as much
+love as if they had been his children whom he was giving directly into
+the hands of Christ.  Then Cćsar, whether from madness, or the wish that
+the exhibition should surpass everything seen in Rome so far, whispered
+a few words to the prefect of the city.  He left the podium and went at
+once to the cuniculum.  Even the populace were astonished when, after a
+while, they saw the gratings open again.  Beasts of all kinds were let
+out this time,--tigers from the Euphrates, Numidian panthers, bears,
+wolves, hyenas, and jackals.  The whole arena was covered as with a
+moving sea of striped, yellow, flax-colored, dark-brown, and spotted
+skins.  There rose a chaos in which the eye could distinguish nothing
+save a terrible turning and twisting of the backs of wild beasts.  The
+spectacle lost the appearance of reality, and became as it were an orgy
+of blood, a dreadful dream, a gigantic kaleidoscope of mad fancy.  The
+measure was surpassed. Amidst roars, howls, whines, here and there on
+the seats of the spectators were heard the terrified and spasmodic
+laughter of women, whose strength had given way at last.  The people
+were terrified.  Faces grew dark.  Various voices began to cry, "Enough!
+enough!"
+
+But it was easier to let the beasts in than drive them back again.
+Cćsar, however, found a means of clearing the arena, and a new amusement
+for the people.  In all the passages between the seats appeared
+detachments of Numidians, black and stately, in feathers and earrings,
+with bows in their hands.  The people divined what was coming, and
+greeted the archers with a shout of delight.  The Numidians approached
+the railing, and, putting their arrows to the strings, began to shoot
+from their bows into the crowd of beasts. That was a new spectacle
+truly.  Their bodies, shapely as if cut from dark marble, bent backward,
+stretched the flexible bows, and sent bolt after bolt.  The whizzing of
+the strings and the whistling of the feathered missiles were mingled
+with the howling of beasts and cries of wonder from the audience.
+Wolves, bears, panthers, and people yet alive fell side by side.  Here
+and there a lion, feeling a shaft in his ribs, turned with sudden
+movement, his jaws wrinkled from rage, to seize and break the arrow.
+Others groaned from pain.  The small beasts, falling into a panic, ran
+around the arena at random, or thrust their heads into the grating;
+meanwhile the arrows whizzed and whizzed on, till all that was living
+had lain down in the final quiver of death.
+
+Hundreds of slaves rushed into the arena armed with spades, shovels,
+brooms, wheelbarrows, baskets for carrying out entrails, and bags of
+sand.  They came, crowd after crowd, and over the whole circle there
+seethed up a feverish activity.  The space was soon cleared of bodies,
+blood, and mire, dug over, made smooth, and sprinkled with a thick layer
+of fresh sand.  That done, Cupids ran in, scattering leaves of roses,
+lilies, and the greatest variety of flowers.  The censers were ignited
+again, and the velarium was removed, for the sun had sunk now
+considerably.  But people looked at one another with amazement, and
+inquired what kind of new spectacle was waiting for them on that day.
+
+Indeed, such a spectacle was waiting as no one had looked for. Cćsar,
+who had left the podium some time before, appeared all at once on the
+flowery arena, wearing a purple mantle, and a crown of gold.  Twelve
+choristers holding citharć followed him.  He had a silver lute, and
+advanced with solemn tread to the middle, bowed a number of times to the
+spectators, raised his eyes, and stood as if waiting for inspiration.
+
+Then he struck the strings and began to sing,--
+
+"O radiant son of Leto, Ruler of Tenedos, Chilos, Chrysos, Art thou he
+who, having in his care The sacred city of Ilion, Could yield it to
+Argive anger, And suffer sacred altars, Which blazed unceasingly to his
+honor, To be stained with Trojan blood? Aged men raised trembling hands
+to thee, O thou of the far-shooting silver bow, Mothers from the depth
+of their breasts Raised tearful cries to thee, Imploring pity on their
+offspring. Those complaints might have moved a stone, But to the
+suffering of people Thou, O Smintheus, wert less feeling than a stone!"
+
+The song passed gradually into an elegy, plaintive and full of pain. In
+the Circus there was silence.  After a while Cćsar, himself affected,
+sang on,--
+
+"With the sound of thy heavenly lyre Thou couldst drown the wailing, The
+lament of hearts. At the sad sound of this song The eye to-day is filled
+with tears, As a flower is filled with dew, But who can raise from dust
+and ashes That day of fire, disaster, ruin? O Smintheus, where wert thou
+then?"
+
+Here his voice quivered and his eyes grew moist.  Tears appeared on the
+lids of the vestals; the people listened in silence before they burst
+into a long unbroken storm of applause.
+
+Meanwhile from outside through the vomitoria came the sound of creaking
+vehicles on which were placed the bloody remnants of Christians, men,
+women, and children, to be taken to the pits called "puticuli."
+
+But the Apostle Peter seized his trembling white head with his hands,
+and cried in spirit,--
+
+"O Lord, O Lord! to whom hast Thou given rule over the earth, and why
+wilt Thou found in this place Thy capital?"
+
+
+
+
+Chapter LVI
+
+
+THE sun had lowered toward its setting, and seemed to dissolve in the
+red of the evening.  The spectacle was finished. Crowds were leaving the
+amphitheatre and pouring out to the city through the passages called
+vomitoria.  Only Augustians delayed; they were waiting for the stream of
+people to pass.  They had all left their seats and assembled at the
+podium, in which Cćsar appeared again to hear praises.  Though the
+spectators had not spared plaudits at the end of the song, Nero was not
+satisfied; he had looked for enthusiasm touching on frenzy.  In vain did
+hymns of praise sound in his ears; in vain did vestals kiss his "divine"
+hand, and while doing so Rubria bent till her reddish hair touched his
+breast.  Nero was not satisfied, and could not hide the fact.  He was
+astonished and also disturbed because Petronius was silent.  Some
+flattering and pointed word from his mouth would have been a great
+consolation at that moment.  Unable at last to restrain himself, Cćsar
+beckoned to the arbiter.
+
+"Speak," said he, when Petronius entered the podium.
+
+"I am silent," answered Petronius, coldly, "for I cannot find words.
+Thou hast surpassed thyself."
+
+"So it seemed to me too; but still this people--"
+
+"Canst thou expect mongrels to appreciate poetry?"
+
+"But thou too hast noticed that they have not thanked me as I deserve."
+
+"Because thou hast chosen a bad moment."
+
+"How?"
+
+"When men's brains are filled with the odor of blood, they cannot listen
+attentively."
+
+"Ah, those Christians!" replied Nero, clenching his fists.  "They burned
+Rome, and injure me now in addition.  What new punishment shall I invent
+for them?"
+
+Petronius saw that he had taken the wrong road, that his words had
+produced an effect the very opposite of what he intended; so, to turn
+Cćsar's mind in another direction, he bent toward him and whispered,--
+
+"Thy song is marvellous, but I will make one remark: in the fourth line
+of the third strophe the metre leaves something to be desired."
+
+Nero, blushing with shame, as if caught in a disgraceful deed, had fear
+in his look, and answered in a whisper also,--
+
+"Thou seest everything.  I know.  I will re-write that.  But no one else
+noticed it, I think.  And do thou, for the love of the gods, mention it
+to no one,--if life is dear to thee."
+
+To this Petronius answered, as if in an outburst of vexation and anger,
+
+"Condemn me to death, O divinity, if I deceive thee; but thou wilt not
+terrify me, for the gods know best of all if I fear death."
+
+And while speaking he looked straight into Cćsar's eyes, who answered
+after a while,--
+
+"Be not angry; thou knowest that I love thee."
+
+"A bad sign!" thought Petronius.
+
+"I wanted to invite thee to-day to a feast," continued Nero, "but I
+prefer to shut myself in and polish that cursed line in the third
+strophe.  Besides thee Seneca may have noticed it, and perhaps Secundus
+Carinas did; but I will rid myself of them quickly."
+
+Then he summoned Seneca, and declared that with Acratus and Secundus
+Carinas, he sent him to the Italian and all other provinces for money,
+which he commanded him to obtain from cities, villages, famous temples,
+--in a word, from every place where it was possible to find money, or
+from which they could force it.  But Seneca, who saw that Cćsar was
+confiding to him a work of plunder, sacrilege, and robbery, refused
+straightway.
+
+"I must go to the country, lord," said he, "and await death, for I am
+old and my nerves are sick."
+
+Seneca's Iberian nerves were stronger than Chilos; they were not sick,
+perhaps, but in general his health was bad, for he seemed like a shadow,
+and recently his hair had grown white altogether.
+
+Nero, too, when he looked at him, thought that he would not have to wait
+long for the man's death, and answered,--
+
+"I will not expose thee to a journey if thou art ill, but through
+affection I wish to keep thee near me.  Instead of going to the country,
+then, thou wilt stay in thy own house, and not leave it."
+
+Then he laughed, and said, "If I send Acratus and Carinas by themselves,
+it will be like sending wolves for sheep.  Whom shall I set above them?"
+
+"Me, lord," said Domitius Afer.
+
+"No! I have no wish to draw on Rome the wrath of Mercury, whom ye would
+put to shame with your villainy.  I need some stoic like Seneca, or like
+my new friend, the philosopher Chilo."
+
+Then he looked around, and asked,--
+
+"But what has happened to Chilo?"
+
+Chilo, who had recovered in the open air and returned to the
+amphitheatre for Cćsar's song, pushed up, and said,--
+
+"I am here, O Radiant Offspring of the sun and moon.  I was ill, but thy
+song has restored me."
+
+"I will send thee to Achća," said Nero.  "Thou must know to a copper how
+much there is in each temple there."
+
+"Do so, O Zeus, and the gods will give thee such tribute as they have
+never given any one."
+
+"I would, but I do not like to prevent thee from seeing the games."
+
+"Baal!" said Chilo.
+
+The Augustians, delighted that Cćsar had regained humor, fell to
+laughing, and exclaimed,--
+
+"No, lord, deprive not this valiant Greek of a sight of the games."
+
+"But preserve me, O lord, from the sight of these noisy geese of the
+Capitol, whose brains put together would not fill a nutshell," retorted
+Chilo.  "O first-born of Apollo, I am writing a Greek hymn in thy honor,
+and I wish to spend a few days in the temple of the Muses to implore
+inspiration."
+
+"Oh, no!" exclaimed Nero.  "It is thy wish to escape future games.
+Nothing will come of that!"
+
+"I swear to thee, lord, that I am writing a hymn."
+
+"Then thou wilt write it at night.  Beg inspiration of Diana, who, by
+the way, is a sister of Apollo."
+
+Chilo dropped his head and looked with malice on those present, who
+began to laugh again.  Cćsar, turning to Senecio and Suilius Nerulinus,
+said,--
+
+"Imagine, of the Christians appointed for to-day we have been able to
+finish hardly half!"
+
+At this old Aquilus Regulus, who had great knowledge of everything
+touching the amphitheatre, thought a while, and said,--
+
+"Spectacles in which people appear sine armis et sine arte last almost
+as long and are less entertaining."
+
+"I will command to give them weapons," answered Nero.
+
+But the superstitious Vestinius was roused from meditation at once, and
+asked in a mysterious voice,--
+
+"Have ye noticed that when dying they see something?  They look up, and
+die as it were without pain.  I am sure that they see something."
+
+He raised his eyes then to the opening of the amphitheatre, over which
+night had begun to extend its velarium dotted with stars.  But others
+answered with laughter and jesting suppositions as to what the
+Christians could see at the moment of death.  Meanwhile Cćsar gave a
+signal to the slave torch-bearers, and left the Circus; after him
+followed vestals, senators, dignitaries, and Augustians.
+
+The night was clear and warm.  Before the Circus were moving throngs of
+people, curious to witness the departure of Cćsar; but in some way they
+were gloomy and silent.  Here and there applause was heard, but it
+ceased quickly.  From the spoliarium creaking carts bore away the bloody
+remnants of Christians.
+
+Petronius and Vinicius passed over their road in silence.  Only when
+near his villa did Petronius inquire,--
+
+"Hast thou thought of what I told thee?"  "I have," answered Vinicius.
+
+"Dost believe that for me too this is a question of the highest
+importance?  I must liberate her in spite of Cćsar and Tigellinus. This
+is a kind of battle in which I have undertaken to conquer, a kind of
+play in which I wish to win, even at the cost of my life. This day has
+confirmed me still more in my plan."
+
+"May Christ reward thee."
+
+"Thou wilt see."
+
+Thus conversing, they stopped at the door of the villa and descended
+from the litter.  At that moment a dark figure approached them, and
+asked,--
+
+"Is the noble Vinicius here?"
+
+"He is," answered the tribune.  "What is thy wish?"
+
+"I am Nazarius, the son of Miriam.  I come from the prison, and bring
+tidings of Lygia."
+
+Vinicius placed his hand on the young man's shoulder and looked into his
+eyes by the torchlight, without power to speak a word, but Nazarius
+divined the question which was dying on his lips, and replied,--
+
+"She is living yet.  Ursus sent me to say that she prays in her fever,
+and repeats thy name."
+
+"Praise be to Christ, who has power to restore her to me," said
+Vinicius.  He conducted Nazarius to the library, and after a while
+Petronius came in to hear their conversation.
+
+"Sickness saved her from shame, for executioners are timid," said the
+youth.  "Ursus and Glaucus the physician watch over her night and day."
+
+"Are the guards the same?"
+
+"They are, and she is in their chamber.  All the prisoners in the lower
+dungeon died of fever, or were stifled from foul air."
+
+"Who art thou?" inquired Petronins.
+
+"The noble Vinicius knows me.  I am the son of that widow with whom
+Lygia lodged."
+
+"And a Christian?"
+
+The youth looked with inquiring glance at Vinicius, but, seeing him in
+prayer, he raised his head, and answered,--
+
+"I am."
+
+"How canst thou enter the prison freely?"
+
+"I hired myself to carry out corpses; I did so to assist my brethren and
+bring them news from the city."
+
+Petronius looked more attentively at the comely face of the youth, his
+blue eyes, and dark, abundant hair.
+
+"From what country art thou, youth?" asked he.
+
+"I am a Galilean, lord."
+
+"Wouldst thou like to see Lygia free?"
+
+The youth raised his eyes.  "Yes, even had I to die afterwards."
+
+Then Vinicius ceased to pray, and said,--
+
+"Tell the guards to place her in a coffin as if she were dead.  Thou
+wilt find assistants to bear her out in the night with thee.  Near the
+'Putrid Pits' will be people with a litter waiting for you; to them ye
+will give the coffin.  Promise the guards from me as much gold as each
+can carry in his mantle."
+
+While speaking, his face lost its usual torpor, and in him was roused
+the soldier to whom hope had restored his former energy.
+
+Nazarius was flushed with delight, and, raising his hands, he exclaimed,
+
+"May Christ give her health, for she will be free."
+
+"Dost thou think that the guards will consent?" inquired Petronius.
+
+"They, lord?  Yes, if they know that punishment and torture will not
+touch them."
+
+"The guards would consent to her flight; all the more will they let us
+bear her out as a corpse," said Vinicius.
+
+"There is a man, it is true," said Nazarius, "who burns with red-hot
+iron to see if the bodies which we carry out are dead.  But he will take
+even a few sestertia not to touch the face of the dead with iron.  For
+one aureus he will touch the coffin, not the body."
+
+"Tell him that he will get a cap full of aurei," said Petronius.  "But
+canst thou find reliable assistants?"
+
+"I can find men who would sell their own wives and children for money."
+
+"Where wilt thou find them?"
+
+"In the prison itself or in the city.  Once the guards are paid, they
+will admit whomever I like."
+
+"In that case take me as a hired servant," said Vinicius.
+
+But Petronius opposed this most earnestly.  "The pretorians might
+recognize thee even in disguise, and all would be lost.  Go neither to
+the prison nor the 'Putrid Pits.' All, including Cćsar and Tigellinus,
+should be convinced that she died; otherwise they will order immediate
+pursuit.  We can lull suspicion only in this way: When she is taken to
+the Alban Hills or farther, to Sicily, we shall be in Rome.  A week or
+two later thou wilt fall ill, and summon Nero's physician; he will tell
+thee to go to the mountains.  Thou and she will meet, and afterward--"
+
+Here he thought a while; then, waving his hand, he said,--
+
+"Other times may come."
+
+"May Christ have mercy on her," said Vinicius.  "Thou art speaking of
+Sicily, while she is sick and may die."
+
+"Let us keep her nearer Rome at first.  The air alone will restore her,
+if only we snatch her from the dungeon.  Hast thou no manager in the
+mountains whom thou canst trust?"
+
+"I have," replied Vinicius, hurriedly.  "Near Corioli is a reliable man
+who carried me in his arms when I was a child, and who loves me yet."
+
+"Write to him to come to-morrow," said Petronius, handing Vinicius
+tablets.  "I will send a courier at once."
+
+He called the chief of the atrium then, and gave the needful orders. A
+few minutes later, a mounted slave was coursing in the night toward
+Corioli.
+
+"It would please me were Ursus to accompany her," said Vinicius. "I
+should be more at rest."
+
+"Lord," said Nazarius, "that is a man of superhuman strength; he can
+break gratings and follow her.  There is one window above a steep, high
+rock where no guard is placed.  I will take Ursus a rope; the rest he
+will do himself."
+
+"By Hercules!" said Petronius, "let him tear himself out as he pleases,
+but not at the same time with her, and not two or three days later, for
+they would follow him and discover her hiding-place.  By Hercules! do ye
+wish to destroy yourselves and her?  I forbid you to name Corioli to
+him, or I wash my hands."
+
+Both recognized the justice of these words, and were silent. Nazarius
+took leave, promising to come the next morning at daybreak.
+
+He hoped to finish that night with the guards, but wished first to run
+in to see his mother, who in that uncertain and dreadful time had no
+rest for a moment thinking of her son.  After some thought he had
+determined not to seek an assistant in the city, but to find and bribe
+one from among his fellow corpse-bearers.  When going, he stopped, and,
+taking Vinicius aside, whispered,--
+
+"I will not mention our plan to any one, not even to my mother, but the
+Apostle Peter promised to come from the amphitheatre to our house; I
+will tell him everything."
+
+"Here thou canst speak openly," replied Vinicius.  "The Apostle was in
+the amphitheatre with the people of Petronius.  But I will go with you
+myself."
+
+He gave command to bring him a slave's mantle, and they passed out.
+Petronius sighed deeply.
+
+"I wished her to die of that fever," thought he, "since that would have
+been less terrible for Vinicius.  But now I am ready to offer a golden
+tripod to Esculapius for her health.  Ah! Ahenobarbus, thou hast the
+wish to turn a lover's pain into a spectacle; thou, Augusta, wert
+jealous of the maiden's beauty, and wouldst devour her alive because thy
+Rufius has perished.  Thou, Tigellinus, wouldst destroy her to spite me!
+We shall see.  I tell you that your eyes will not behold her on the
+arena, for she will either die her own death, or I shall wrest her from
+you as from the jaws of dogs, and wrest her in such fashion that ye
+shall not know it; and as often afterward as I look at you I shall
+think, These are the fools whom Caius Petronius outwitted."
+
+And, self-satisfied, he passed to the triclinium, where he sat down to
+supper with Eunice.  During the meal a lector read to them the Idyls of
+Theocritus.  Out of doors the wind brought clouds from the direction of
+Soracte, and a sudden storm broke the silence of the calm summer night.
+From time to time thunder reverberated on the seven hills, while they,
+reclining near each other at the table, listened to the bucolic poet,
+who in the singing Doric dialect celebrated the loves of shepherds.
+Later on, with minds at rest, they prepared for sweet slumber.
+
+But before this Vinicius returned.  Petronius heard of his coming, and
+went to meet him.
+
+"Well?  Have ye fixed anything new?" inquired he.  "Has Nazarius gone to
+the prison?"
+
+"He has," answered the young man, arranging his hair, wet from the rain.
+"Nazarius went to arrange with the guards, and I have seen Peter, who
+commanded me to pray and believe."
+
+"That is well.  If all goes favorably, we can bear her away to-morrow
+night."
+
+"My manager must be here at daybreak with men."
+
+"The road is a short one.  Now go to rest."
+
+But Vinicius knelt in his cubiculum and prayed.
+
+At sunrise Niger, the manager, arrived from Corioli, bringing with him,
+at the order of Vinicius, mules, a litter, and four trusty men selected
+among slaves from Britain, whom, to save appearances, he had left at an
+inn in the Subura.  Vinicius, who had watched all night, went to meet
+him. Niger, moved at sight of his youthful master, kissed his hands and
+eyes, saying,--
+
+"My dear, thou art ill, or else suffering has sucked the blood from thy
+face, for hardly did I know thee at first."
+
+Vinicius took him to the interior colonnade, and there admitted him to
+the secret.  Niger listened with fixed attention, and on his dry,
+sunburnt face great emotion was evident; this he did not even try to
+master.
+
+"Then she is a Christian?" exclaimed Niger; and he looked inquiringly
+into the face of Vinicius, who divined evidently what the gaze of the
+countryman was asking, since he answered,--
+
+"I too am a Christian."
+
+Tears glistened in Niger's eyes that moment.  He was silent for a while;
+then, raising his hands, he said,--
+
+"I thank Thee, O Christ, for having taken the beam from eyes which are
+the dearest on earth to me."
+
+Then he embraced the head of Vinicius, and, weeping from happiness, fell
+to kissing his forehead.  A moment later, Petronius appeared, bringing
+Nazarius.
+
+"Good news!" cried he, while still at a distance.
+
+Indeed, the news was good.  First, Glaucus the physician guaranteed
+Lygia's life, though she had the same prison fever of which, in the
+Tullianum and other dungeons, hundreds of people were dying daily.  As
+to the guards and the man who tried corpses with red-hot iron, there was
+not the least difficulty.  Attys, the assistant, was satisfied also.
+
+"We made openings in the coffin to let the sick woman breathe," said
+Nazarius.  "The only danger is that she may groan or speak as we pass
+the pretorians.  But she is very weak, and is lying with closed eyes
+since early morning.  Besides, Glaucus will give her a sleeping draught
+prepared by himself from drugs brought by me purposely from the city.
+The cover will not be nailed to the coffin; ye will raise it easily and
+take the patient to the litter.  We will place in the coffin a long bag
+of sand, which ye will provide."
+
+Vinicius, while hearing these words, was as pale as linen; but he
+listened with such attention that he seemed to divine at a glance what
+Nazarius had to say.
+
+"Will they carry out other bodies from the prison?" inquired Petronius.
+
+"About twenty died last night, and before evening more will be dead,"
+said the youth.  "We must go with a whole company, but we will delay and
+drop into the rear.  At the first corner my comrade will get lame
+purposely.  In that way we shall remain behind the others considerably.
+Ye will wait for us at the small temple of Libitina.  May God give a
+night as dark as possible!"
+
+"He will," said Niger.  "Last evening was bright, and then a sudden
+storm came.  To-day the sky is clear, but since morning it is sultry.
+Every night now there will be wind and rain."
+
+"Will ye go without torches?" inquired Vinicius.
+
+"The torches are carried only in advance.  In every event, be near the
+temple of Libitina at dark, though usually we carry out the corpses only
+just before midnight."
+
+They stopped.  Nothing was to be heard save the hurried breathing of
+Vinicius.  Petronius turned to him,--
+
+"I said yesterday that it would be best were we both to stay at home,
+but now I see that I could not stay.  Were it a question of flight,
+there would be need of the greatest caution; but since she will be borne
+out as a corpse, it seems that not the least suspicion will enter the
+head of any one."
+
+"True, true!" answered Vinicius.  "I must be there.  I will take her
+from the coffin myself."
+
+"Once she is in my house at Corioli, I answer for her," said Niger.
+Conversation stopped here.  Niger returned to his men at the inn.
+Nazarius took a purse of gold under his tunic and went to the prison.
+For Vinicius began a day filled with alarm, excitement, disquiet, and
+hope.
+
+"The undertaking ought to succeed, for it is well planned," said
+Petronius.  "It was impossible to plan better.  Thou must feign
+suffering, and wear a dark toga.  Do not desert the amphitheatre. Let
+people see thee.  All is so fixed that there cannot be failure.  But--
+art thou perfectly sure of thy manager?"
+
+"He is a Christian," replied Vinicius.
+
+Petronius looked at him with amazement, then shrugged his shoulders, and
+said, as if in soliloquy,--
+
+"By Pollux! how it spreads, and commands people's souls.  Under such
+terror as the present, men would renounce straightway all the gods of
+Rome, Greece, and Egypt.  Still, this is wonderful!  By Pollux! if I
+believed that anything depended on our gods, I would sacrifice six white
+bullocks to each of them, and twelve to Capitoline Jove.  Spare no
+promises to thy Christ."
+
+"I have given Him my soul," said Vinicius.
+
+And they parted.  Petronius returned to his cubiculum; but Vinicius went
+to look from a distance at the prison, and thence betook himself to the
+slope of the Vatican hill,--to that hut of the quarryman where he had
+received baptism from the hands of the Apostle.  It seemed to him that
+Christ would hear him more readily there than in any other place; so
+when he found it, he threw himself on the ground and exerted all the
+strength of his suffering soul in prayer for mercy, and so forgot
+himself that he remembered not where he was or what he was doing.  In
+the afternoon he was roused by the sound of trumpets which came from the
+direction of Nero's Circus.  He went out of the hut, and gazed around
+with eyes which were as if just opened from sleep.
+
+It was hot; the stillness was broken at intervals by the sound of brass
+and continually by the ceaseless noise of grasshoppers.  The air had
+become sultry, the sky was still clear over the city, but near the
+Sabine Hills dark clouds were gathering at the edge of the horizon.
+
+Vinicius went home.  Petronius was waiting for him in the atrium.
+
+"I have been on the Palatine," said he.  "I showed myself there
+purposely, and even sat down at dice.  There is a feast at the house of
+Vinicius this evening; I promised to go, but only after midnight, saying
+that I must sleep before that hour.  In fact I shall be there, and it
+would be well wert thou to go also."
+
+"Are there no tidings from Niger or Nazarius?" inquired Vinicius.
+
+"No; we shall see them only at midnight.  Hast noticed that a storm is
+threatening?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"To-morrow there is to be an exhibition of crucified Christians, but
+perhaps rain will prevent it."
+
+Then he drew nearer and said, touching his nephew's shoulder,--"But thou
+wilt not see her on the cross; thou wilt see her only in Corioli.  By
+Castor!  I would not give the moment in which we free her for all the
+gems in Rome.  The evening is near."
+
+In truth the evening was near, and darkness began to encircle the city
+earlier than usual because clouds covered the whole horizon. With the
+coming of night heavy rain fell, which turned into steam on the stones
+warmed by the heat of the day, and filled the streets of the city with
+mist.  After that came a lull, then brief violent showers.
+
+"Let us hurry!" said Vinicius at last; "they may carry bodies from the
+prison earlier because of the storm."
+
+"It is time!" said Petronius.
+
+And taking Gallic mantles with hoods, they passed through the garden
+door to the street.  Petronius had armed himself with a short Roman
+knife called sicca, which he took always during night trips.
+
+The city was empty because of the storm.  From time to time lightning
+rent the clouds, illuminating with its glare the fresh walls of houses
+newly built or in process of building and the wet flag-stones with which
+the streets were paved.  At last a flash came, when they saw, after a
+rather long road, the mound on which stood the small temple of Libitina,
+and at the foot of the mound a group of mules and horses.
+
+"Niger!" called Vinicius, in a low voice.
+
+"I am here, lord," said a voice in the rain.
+
+"Is everything ready?"
+
+"It is.  We were here at dark.  But hide yourselves under the rampart,
+or ye will be drenched.  What a storm!  Hail will fall, I think."
+
+In fact Niger's fear was justified, for soon hail began to fall, at
+first fine, then larger and more frequent.  The air grew cold at once.
+While standing under the rampart, sheltered from the wind and icy
+missiles, they conversed in low voices.
+
+"Even should some one see us," said Niger, "there will be no suspicion;
+we look like people waiting for the storm to pass.  But I fear that they
+may not bring the bodies out till morning."
+
+"The hail-storm will not last," said Petronius.  "We must wait even till
+daybreak."
+
+They waited, listening to hear the sound of the procession.  The
+hail-storm passed, but immediately after a shower began to roar. At
+times the wind rose, and brought from the "Putrid Pits" a dreadful odor
+of decaying bodies, buried near the surface and carelessly.
+
+"I see a light through the mist," said Niger,--"one, two, three,--those
+are torches.  See that the mules do not snort," said he, turning to the
+men.
+
+"They are coming!" said Petronius.
+
+The lights were growing more and more distinct.  After a time it was
+possible to see torches under the quivering flames.
+
+Niger made the sign of the cross, and began to pray.  Meanwhile the
+gloomy procession drew nearer, and halted at last in front of the temple
+of Libitina.  Petronius, Vinicius, and Niger pressed up to the rampart
+in silence, not knowing why the halt was made.  But the men had stopped
+only to cover their mouths and faces with cloths to ward off the
+stifling stench which at the edge of the "Putrid Pits" was simply
+unendurable; then they raised the biers with coffins and moved on.  Only
+one coffin stopped before the temple.  Vinicius sprang toward it, and
+after him Petronius, Niger, and two British slaves with the litter.
+
+But before they had reached it in the darkness, the voice of Nazarius
+was heard, full of pain,--
+
+"Lord, they took her with Ursus to the Esquiline prison.  We are
+carrying another body!  They removed her before midnight."
+
+Petronius, when he had returned home, was gloomy as a storm, and did not
+even try to console Vinicius.  He understood that to free Lygia from the
+Esquiline dungeons was not to be dreamed of.  He divined that very
+likely she had been taken from the Tullianum so as not to die of fever
+and escape the amphitheatre assigned to her. But for this very reason
+she was watched and guarded more carefully than others.  From the bottom
+of his soul Petronius was sorry for her and Vinicius, but he was wounded
+also by the thought that for the first time in life he had not
+succeeded, and for the first time was beaten in a struggle.
+
+"Fortune seems to desert me," said he to himself, "but the gods are
+mistaken if they think that I will accept such a life as his, for
+example."
+
+Here he turned toward Vinicius, who looked at him with staring eyes.
+"What is the matter?  Thou hast a fever," said Petronius.
+
+But Vinicius answered with a certain strange, broken, halting voice,
+like that of a sick child,--"But I believe that He--can restore her to
+me."
+
+Above the city the last thunders of the storm had ceased.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter LVII
+
+
+THREE days' rain, an exceptional phenomenon in Rome during summer, and
+hail falling in opposition to the natural order, not only in the day,
+but even at night, interrupted the spectacles. People were growing
+alarmed.  A failure of grapes was predicted, and when on a certain
+afternoon a thunderbolt melted the bronze statue of Ceres on the
+Capitol, sacrifices were ordered in the temple of Jupiter Salvator.  The
+priests of Ceres spread a report that the anger of the gods was turned
+on the city because of the too hasty punishment of Christians; hence
+crowds began to insist that the spectacles be given without reference to
+weather.  Delight seized all Rome when the announcement was made at last
+that the ludus would begin again after three days' interval.
+
+Meanwhile beautiful weather returned.  The amphitheatre was filled at
+daybreak with thousands of people.  Cćsar came early with the vestals
+and the court.  The spectacle was to begin with a battle among the
+Christians, who to this end were arrayed as gladiators and furnished
+with all kinds of weapons which served gladiators by profession in
+offensive and defensive struggles.  But here came disappointment.  The
+Christians threw nets, darts, tridents, and swords on the arena,
+embraced and encouraged one another to endurance in view of torture and
+death.  At this deep indignation and resentment seized the hearts of the
+multitude. Some reproached the Christians with cowardice and
+pusillanimity; others asserted that they refused to fight through hatred
+of the people, so as to deprive them of that pleasure which the sight of
+bravery produces.  Finally, at command of Cćsar, real gladiators were
+let out, who despatched in one twinkle the kneeling and defenceless
+victims.
+
+When these bodies were removed, the spectacle was a series of mythologic
+pictures,--Cćsar's own idea.  The audience saw Hercules blazing in
+living fire on Mount Oeta.  Vinicius had trembled at the thought that
+the role of Hercules might be intended for Ursus; but evidently the turn
+of Lygia's faithful servant had not come, for on the pile some other
+Christian was burning,--a man quite unknown to Vinicius.  In the next
+picture Chilo, whom Cćsar would not excuse from attendance, saw
+acquaintances.  The death of Dćdalus was represented, and also that of
+Icarus.  In the rôle of Dćdalus appeared Euricius, that old man who had
+given Chilo the sign of the fish; the role of Icarus was taken by his
+son, Quartus.  Both were raised aloft with cunning machinery, and then
+hurled suddenly from an immense height to the arena.  Young Quartus fell
+so near Cćsar's podium that he spattered with blood not only the
+external ornaments but the purple covering spread over the front of the
+podium.  Chilo did not see the fall, for he closed his eyes; but he
+heard the dull thump of the body, and when after a time he saw blood
+there close to him, he came near fainting a second time.
+
+The pictures changed quickly.  The shameful torments of maidens violated
+before death by gladiators dressed as wild beasts, delighted the hearts
+of the rabble.  They saw priestesses of Cybele and Ceres, they saw the
+Danaides, they saw Dirce and Pasiphaë; finally they saw young girls, not
+mature yet, torn asunder by wild horses.  Every moment the crowd
+applauded new ideas of Nero, who, proud of them, and made happy by
+plaudits, did not take the emerald from his eye for one instant while
+looking at white bodies torn with iron, and the convulsive quivering of
+victims.
+
+Pictures were given also from the history of the city.  After the
+maidens they saw Mucius Scćvola, whose hand fastened over a fire to a
+tripod filled the amphitheatre with the odor of burnt flesh; but this
+man, like the real Scćvola, remained without a groan, his eyes raised
+and the murmur of prayer on his blackening lips.  When he had expired
+and his body was dragged to the spoliarium, the usual midday interlude
+followed.  Cćsar with the vestals and the Augustians left the
+amphitheatre, and withdrew to an immense scarlet tent erected purposely;
+in this was prepared for him and the guests a magnificent prandium.  The
+spectators for the greater part followed his example, and, streaming
+out, disposed themselves in picturesque groups around the tent, to rest
+their limbs wearied from long sitting, and enjoy the food which, through
+Cćsar's favor, was served by slaves to them.  Only the most curious
+descended to the arena itself, and, touching with their fingers lumps of
+sand held together by blood, conversed, as specialists and amateurs, of
+that which had happened and of that which was to follow.  Soon even
+these went away, lest they might be late for the feast; only those few
+were left who stayed not through curiosity, but sympathy for the coming
+victims.  Those concealed themselves behind seats or in the lower
+places.
+
+Meanwhile the arena was levelled, and slaves began to dig holes one near
+the other in rows throughout the whole circuit from side to side, so
+that the last row was but a few paces distant from Cćsar's podium.  From
+outside came the murmur of people, shouts and plaudits, while within
+they were preparing in hot haste for new tortures.  The cunicula were
+opened simultaneously, and in all passages leading to the arena were
+urged forward crowds of Christians naked and carrying crosses on their
+shoulders.  The whole arena was filled with them.  Old men, bending
+under the weight of wooden beams, ran forward; at the side of these went
+men in the prime of life, women with loosened hair behind which they
+strove to hide their nakedness, small boys, and little children. The
+crosses, for the greater part, as well as the victims, were wreathed
+with flowers.  The servants of the amphitheatre beat the unfortunates
+with clubs, forcing them to lay down their crosses near the holes
+prepared, and stand themselves there in rows.  Thus were to perish those
+whom executioners had had no chance to drive out as food for dogs and
+wild beasts the first day of the games.  Black slaves seized the
+victims, laid them face upward on the wood, and fell to nailing their
+hands hurriedly and quickly to the arms of the crosses, so that people
+returning after the interlude might find all the crosses standing.  The
+whole amphitheatre resounded with the noise of hammers which echoed
+through all the rows, went out to the space surrounding the
+amphitheatre, and into the tent where Cćsar was entertaining his suite
+and the vestals.  There he drank wine, bantered with Chilo, and
+whispered strange words in the ears of the priestesses of Vesta; but on
+the arena the work was seething,--nails were going into the hands and
+feet of the Christians; shovels moved quickly, filling the holes in
+which the crosses had been planted.
+
+Among the new victims whose turn was to come soon was Crispus.  The
+lions had not had time to rend him; hence he was appointed to the cross.
+He, ready at all times for death, was delighted with the thought that
+his hour was approaching.  He seemed another man, for his emaciated body
+was wholly naked,--only a girdle of ivy encircled his hips, on his head
+was a garland of roses.  But in his eyes gleamed always that same
+exhaustless energy; that same fanatical stern face gazed from beneath
+the crown of roses.  Neither had his heart changed; for, as once in the
+cuniculum he had threatened with the wrath of God his brethren sewed up
+in the skins of wild beasts, so to-day he thundered in place of
+consoling them.
+
+"Thank the Redeemer," said Crispus, "that He permits you to die the same
+death that He Himself died.  Maybe a part of your sins will be remitted
+for this cause; but tremble, since justice must be satisfied, and there
+cannot be one reward for the just and the wicked."
+
+His words were accompanied by the sound of the hammers nailing the hands
+and feet of victims.  Every moment more crosses were raised on the
+arena; but he, turning to the crowd standing each man by his own cross,
+continued,--
+
+"I see heaven open, but I see also the yawning abyss.  I know not what
+account of my life to give the Lord, though I have believed, and hated
+evil.  I fear, not death, but resurrection; I fear, not torture, but
+judgment, for the day of wrath is at hand."
+
+At that moment was heard from between the nearest rows some voice, calm
+and solemn,--
+
+"Not the day of wrath, but of mercy, the day of salvation and happiness;
+for I say that Christ will gather you in, will comfort you and seat you
+at His right hand.  Be confident, for heaven is opening before you."
+
+At these words all eyes were turned to the benches; even those who were
+hanging on the crosses raised their pale, tortured faces, and looked
+toward the man who was speaking.
+
+But he went to the barrier surrounding the arena, and blessed them with
+the sign of the cross.
+
+Crispus stretched out his arm as if to thunder at him; but when he saw
+the man's face, he dropped his arm, the knees bent under him, and his
+lips whispered, "Paul the Apostle!"
+
+To the great astonishment of the servants of the Circus, all of those
+who were not nailed to the crosses yet knelt down.  Paul turned to
+Crispus and said,
+
+"Threaten them not, Crispus, for this day they will be with thee in
+paradise.  It is thy thought that they may be condemned.  But who will
+condemn?
+
+"Will God, who gave His Son for them?  Will Christ, who died for their
+salvation, condemn when they die for His name?  And how is it possible
+that He  who loves can condemn?  Who will accuse the chosen of God?  Who
+will say of this blood, 'It is cursed'?"
+
+"I have hated evil," said the old priest.
+
+"Christ's command to love men was higher than that to hate evil, for His
+religion is not hatred, but love."
+
+"I have sinned in the hour of death," answered Crispus, beating his
+breast.  The manager of the seats approached the Apostle, and inquired,
+
+"Who art thou, speaking to the condemned?"
+
+"A Roman citizen," answered Paul, calmly.  Then, turning to Crispus, he
+said: "Be confident, for to-day is a day of grace; die in peace, O
+servant of God."
+
+The black men approached Crispus at that moment to place him on the
+cross; but he looked around once again, and cried,--
+
+"My brethren, pray for me!"
+
+His face had lost its usual sternness; his stony features had taken an
+expression of peace and sweetness.  He stretched his arms himself along
+the arms of the cross, to make the work easier, and, looking directly
+into heaven, began to pray earnestly.  He seemed to feel nothing; for
+when the nails entered his hands, not the least quiver shook his body,
+nor on his face did there appear any wrinkle of pain.  He prayed when
+they raised the cross and trampled the earth around it.  Only when
+crowds began to fill the amphitheatre with shouts and laughter did his
+brows frown somewhat, as if in anger that a pagan people were disturbing
+the calm and peace of a sweet death.
+
+But all the crosses had been raised, so that in the arena there stood as
+it were a forest, with people hanging on the trees.  On the arms of the
+crosses and on the heads of the martyrs fell the gleam of the sun; but
+on the arena was a deep shadow, forming a kind of black involved grating
+through which glittered the golden sand.  That was a spectacle in which
+the whole delight of the audience consisted in looking at a lingering
+death.  Never before had men seen such a density of crosses.  The arena
+was packed so closely that the servants squeezed between them only with
+effort.  On the edges were women especially; but Crispus, as a leader,
+was raised almost in front of Cćsar's podium, on an immense cross,
+wreathed below with honeysuckle.  None of the victims had died yet, but
+some of those fastened earlier had fainted.  No one groaned; no one
+called for mercy.  Some were hanging with head inclined on one arm, or
+dropped on the breast, as if seized by sleep; some were as if in
+meditation; some, looking toward heaven, were moving their lips quietly.
+In this terrible forest of crosses, among those crucified bodies, in
+that silence of victims there was something ominous. The people who,
+filled by the feast and gladsome, had returned to the Circus with
+shouts, became silent, not knowing on which body to rest their eyes, or
+what to think of the spectacle.  The nakedness of strained female forms
+roused no feeling.  They did not make the usual bets as to who would die
+first,--a thing done generally when there was even the smallest number
+of criminals on the arena.  It seemed that Cćsar himself was bored, for
+he turned lazily and with drowsy expression to arrange his necklace.
+
+At that moment Crispus, who was hanging opposite, and who, like a man in
+a faint or dying, had kept his eyes closed, opened them and looked at
+Cćsar.  His face assumed an expression so pitiless, and his eyes flashed
+with such fire, that the Augustians whispered to one another, pointing
+at him with their fingers, and at last Cćsar himself turned to that
+cross, and placed the emerald to his eye sluggishly.
+
+Perfect silence followed.  The eyes of the spectators were fixed on
+Crispus, who strove to move his right hand, as if to tear it from the
+tree.
+
+After a while his breast rose, his ribs were visible, and he cried:
+"Matricide! woe to thee!"
+
+The Augustians, hearing this mortal insult flung at the lord of the
+world in presence of thousands, did not dare to breathe.  Chilo was half
+dead.  Cćsar trembled, and dropped the emerald from his fingers.  The
+people, too, held the breath in their breasts.  The voice of Crispus was
+heard, as it rose in power, throughout the amphitheatre,--
+
+"Woe to thee, murderer of wife and brother! woe to thee, Antichrist.
+The abyss is opening beneath thee, death is stretching its hands to
+thee, the grave is waiting for thee.  Woe, living corpse, for in terror
+shalt thou die and be damned to eternity!"
+
+Unable to tear his hand from the cross, Crispus strained awfully. He was
+terrible,--a living skeleton; unbending as predestination, he shook his
+white beard over Nero's podium, scattering, as he nodded, rose leaves
+from the garland on his head.
+
+"Woe to thee, murderer!  Thy measure is surpassed, and thy hour is at
+hand!"
+
+Here he made one more effort.  It seemed for a moment that he would free
+his hand from the cross and hold it in menace above Cćsar; but all at
+once his emaciated arms extended still more, his body settled down, his
+head fell on his breast, and he died.
+
+In that forest of crosses the weakest began also the sleep of eternity.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter LVIII
+
+
+"LORD," said Chilo, "the sea is like olive oil, the waves seem to sleep.
+Let us go to Achća.  There the glory of Apollo is awaiting thee, crowns
+and triumph are awaiting thee, the people will deify thee, the gods will
+receive thee as a guest, their own equal; but here, O lord--"
+
+And he stopped, for his lower lip began to quiver so violently that his
+words passed into meaningless sounds.
+
+"We will go when the games are over," replied Nero.  "I know that even
+now some call the Christians innoxia corpora.  If I were to go, all
+would repeat this.  What dost thou fear?"
+
+Then he frowned, but looked with inquiring glance at Chilo, as if
+expecting an answer, for he only feigned cool blood.  At the last
+exhibition he himself feared the words of Crispus; and when he had
+returned to the Palatine, he could not sleep from rage and shame, but
+also from fear.
+
+Then Vestinius, who heard their conversation in silence, looked around,
+and said in a mysterious voice,--
+
+"Listen, lord, to this old man.  There is something strange in those
+Christians.  Their deity gives them an easy death, but he may be
+vengeful."
+
+"It was not I who arranged the games, but Tigellinus," replied Nero,
+quickly.
+
+"True! it was I," added Tigellinus, who heard Cćsar's answer, "and I
+jeer at all Christian gods.  Vestinius is a bladder full of prejudices,
+and this valiant Greek is ready to die of terror at sight of a hen with
+feathers up in defence of her chickens."
+
+"True!" said Nero; "but henceforth give command to cut the tongues out
+of Christians and stop their mouths."
+
+"Fire will stop them, O divinity."
+
+"Woe is me!" groaned Chilo.
+
+But Cćsar, to whom the insolent confidence of Tigellinus gave courage,
+began to laugh, and said, pointing to the old Greek,--
+
+"See how the descendant of Achilles looks!"
+
+Indeed Chilo looked terribly.  The remnant of hair on his head had grown
+white; on his face was fixed an expression of some immense dread, alarm,
+and oppression.  He seemed at times, too, as if stunned and only half
+conscious.  Often he gave no answer to questions; then again he fell
+into anger, and became so insolent that the Augustians preferred not to
+attack him.  Such a moment had come to him then.
+
+"Do what ye like with me, but I will not go to the games!" cried he, in
+desperation.
+
+Nero looked at him for a while, and, turning to Tigellinus, said,--
+
+"Have a care that this Stoic is near me in the gardens.  I want to see
+what impression our torches will make on him."
+
+Chilo was afraid of the threat which quivered in Cćsar's voice. "O
+lord," said he, "I shall see nothing, for I cannot see in the night-
+time."
+
+"The night will be as bright as day," replied Cćsar, with a threatening
+laugh.
+
+Turning then to the Augustians, Nero talked about races which he
+intended to have when the games were over.
+
+Petronius approached Chilo, and asked, pushing him on the shoulder,--
+
+"Have I not said that thou wouldst not hold out?"
+
+"I wish to drink," said Chilo, stretching his trembling hand toward a
+goblet of wine; but he was unable to raise it to his lips.  Seeing this,
+Vestinius took the vessel; but later he drew near, and inquired with
+curious and frightened face,--
+
+"Are the Furies pursuing thee?"
+
+The old man looked at him a certain time with open lips, as if not
+understanding what he said.  But Vestinius repeated,
+
+"Are the Furies pursuing thee?"
+
+"No," answered Chilo; "but night is before me."
+
+"How, night?  May the gods have mercy on thee.  How night?"
+
+"Night, ghastly and impenetrable, in which something is moving,
+something coming toward me; but I know not what it is, and I am
+terrified."
+
+"I have always been sure that there are witches.  Dost thou not dream of
+something?"
+
+"No, for I do not sleep.  I did not think that they would be punished
+thus."
+
+"Art thou sorry for them?"
+
+"Why do ye shed so much blood?  Hast heard what that one said from the
+cross?  Woe to us!"
+
+"I heard," answered Vestinius, in a low voice.  "But they are
+incendiaries."
+
+"Not true!"
+
+"And enemies of the human race."
+
+"Not true!"
+
+"And poisoners of water."
+
+"Not true!"
+
+"And murderers of children."
+
+"Not true!"
+
+"How?" inquired Vestinius, with astonishment.  "Thou hast said so
+thyself, and given them into the hands of Tigellinus."
+
+"Therefore night has surrounded me, and death is coming toward me.  At
+times it seems to me that I am dead already, and ye also."
+
+"No! it is they who are dying; we are alive.  But tell me, what do they
+see when they are dying?"
+
+"Christ."
+
+"That is their god.  Is he a mighty god?"
+
+But Chilo answered with a question,--
+
+"What kind of torches are to burn in the gardens?  Hast thou heard what
+Cćsar said?"
+
+"I heard, and I know.  Those torches are called Sarmentitii and Semaxii.
+They are made by arraying men in painful tunics, steeped in pitch, and
+binding them to pillars, to which fire is set afterward. May their god
+not send misfortune on the city.  Semaxii! that is a dreadful
+punishment!"
+
+"I would rather see it, for there will not be blood," answered Chilo.
+"Command a slave to hold the goblet to my mouth.  I wish to drink, but I
+spill the wine; my hand trembles from age."
+
+Others also were speaking of the Christians.  Old Domitius Afer reviled
+them.
+
+"There is such a multitude of them," said he, "that they might raise a
+civil war; and, remember, there were fears lest they might arm. But they
+die like sheep."
+
+"Let them try to die otherwise!" said Tigellinus.
+
+To this Petronius answered, "Ye deceive yourselves.  They are arming."
+
+"With what?"
+
+"With patience."
+
+"That is a new kind of weapon."
+
+"True.  But can ye say that they die like common criminals?  No! They
+die as if the criminals were those who condemned them to death,--that
+is, we and the whole Roman people."
+
+"What raving!" said Tigellinus.
+
+"Hic Abdera!" answered Petronius.
+
+[A proverbial expression meaning "The dullest of the dull"--Note by the
+Author.]
+
+But others, struck by the justice of his remark, began to look at one
+another with astonishment, and repeat,--
+
+"True! there is something peculiar and strange in their death."
+
+"I tell you that they see their divinity!" cried Vestinius, from one
+side.  Thereupon a number of Augustians turned to Chilo,--
+
+"Hai, old man, thou knowest them well; tell us what they see."
+
+The Greek spat out wine on his tunic, and answered,--
+
+"The resurrection."  And he began to tremble so that the guests sitting
+nearer burst into loud laughter.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter LIX
+
+
+FOR some time Vinicius had spent his nights away from home.  It occurred
+to Petronius that perhaps he had formed a new plan, and was working to
+liberate Lygia from the Esquiline dungeon; he did not wish, however, to
+inquire about anything, lest he might bring misfortune to the work.
+This sceptical exquisite had become in a certain sense superstitious.
+He had failed to snatch Lygia from the Mamertine prison, hence had
+ceased to believe in his own star.
+
+Besides, he did not count this time on a favorable outcome for the
+efforts of Vinicius.  The Esquiline prison, formed in a hurry from the
+cellars of houses thrown down to stop the fire, was not, it is true, so
+terrible as the old Tullianum near the Capitol, but it was a hundred
+times better guarded.  Petronius understood perfectly that Lygia had
+been taken there only to escape death and not escape the amphitheatre.
+He could understand at once that for this very reason they were guarding
+her as a man guards the eye in his head.
+
+"Evidently," said he to himself, "Cćsar and Tigellinus have reserved her
+for some special spectacle, more dreadful than all others, and Vinicius
+is more likely to perish than rescue her."
+
+Vinicius, too, had lost hope of being able to free Lygia.  Christ alone
+could do that.  The young tribune now thought only of seeing her in
+prison.
+
+For some time the knowledge that Nazarius had penetrated the Mamertine
+prison as a corpse-bearer had given him no peace; hence he resolved to
+try that method also.
+
+The overseer of the "Putrid Pits," who had been bribed for an immense
+sum of money, admitted him at last among servants whom he sent nightly
+to prisons for corpses.  The danger that Vinicius might be recognized
+was really small.  He was preserved from it by night, the dress of a
+slave, and the defective illumination of the prison.  Besides, into
+whose head could it enter that a patrician, the grandson of one consul,
+the son of another, could be found among servants, corpse-bearers,
+exposed to the miasma of prisons and the "Putrid Pits"?  And he began
+work to which men were forced only by slavery or the direst need.
+
+When the desired evening came, he girded his loins gladly, covered his
+head with a cloth steeped in turpentine, and with throbbing heart betook
+himself, with a crowd of others, to the Esquiline.
+
+The pretorian guards made no trouble, for all had brought proper
+tesserć, which the centurion examined by the light of a lantern. After a
+while the great iron doors opened before them, and they entered.
+
+Vinicius saw an extensive vaulted cellar, from which they passed to a
+series of others.  Dim tapers illuminated the interior of each, which
+was filled with people.  Some of these were lying at the walls sunk in
+sleep, or dead, perhaps.  Others surrounded large vessels of water,
+standing in the middle, out of which they drank as people tormented with
+fever; others were sitting on the grounds, their elbows on their knees,
+their heads on their palms; here and there children were sleeping,
+nestled up to their mothers.  Groans, loud hurried breathing of the
+sick, weeping, whispered prayers, hymns in an undertone, the curses of
+overseers were heard round about it.  In this dungeon was the odor of
+crowds and corpses.  In its gloomy depth dark figures were swarming;
+nearer, close to flickering lights, were visible faces, pale, terrified,
+hungry, and cadaverous, with eyes dim, or else flaming with fever, with
+lips blue, with streams of sweat on their foreheads, and with clammy
+hair.  In corners the sick were moaning loudly; some begged for water;
+others, to be led to death.  And still that prison was less terrible
+than the old Tullianum.  The legs bent under Vinicius when he saw all
+this, and breath was failing in his breast.  At the thought that Lygia
+was in the midst of this misery and misfortune, the hair rose on his
+head, and he stifled a cry of despair.  The amphitheatre, the teeth of
+wild beasts, the cross,--anything was better than those dreadful
+dungeons filled with the odor of corpses, places in which imploring
+voices called from every corner,--
+
+"Lead us to death!"
+
+Vinicius pressed his nails into his palms, for he felt that he was
+growing weak, and that presence of mind was deserting him.  All that he
+had felt till then, all his love and pain, changed in him to one desire
+for death.
+
+Just then near his side was heard the overseer of the "Putrid Pits,"
+
+"How many corpses have ye to-day?"
+
+"About a dozen," answered the guardian of the prison, "but there will be
+more before morning; some are in agony at the walls."
+
+And he fell to complaining of women who concealed dead children so as to
+keep them near and not yield them to the "Putrid Pits."  "We must
+discover corpses first by the odor; through this the air, so terrible
+already, is spoiled still more.  I would rather be a slave in some rural
+prison than guard these dogs rotting here while alive--"
+
+The overseer of the pits comforted him, saying that his own service was
+no easier.  By this time the sense of reality had returned to Vinicius.
+He began to search the dungeon; but sought in vain for Lygia, fearing
+meanwhile that he would never see her alive.  A number of cellars were
+connected by newly made passages; the corpse-bearers entered only those
+from which corpses were to be carried.  Fear seized Vinicius lest that
+privilege which had cost so much trouble might serve no purpose.
+Luckily his patron aided him.
+
+"Infection spreads most through corpses," said he.  "Ye must carry out
+the bodies at once, or die yourselves, together with the prisoners."
+
+"There are only ten of us for all the cellars," said the guardian, "and
+we must sleep."
+
+"I will leave four men of mine, who will go through the cellars at night
+to see if these are dead."
+
+"We will drink to-morrow if thou do that.  Everybody must be taken to
+the test; for an order has come to pierce the neck of each corpse, and
+then to the 'Putrid Pits' at once with it."
+
+"Very well, but we will drink," said the overseer.
+
+Four men were selected, and among them Vinicius; the others he took to
+put the corpses on the biers.
+
+Vinicius was at rest; he was certain now at least of finding Lygia. The
+young tribune began by examining the first dungeon carefully; he looked
+into all the dark corners hardly reached by the light of his torch; he
+examined figures sleeping at the walls under coarse cloths; he saw that
+the most grievously ill were drawn into a corner apart.  But Lygia he
+found in no place.  In a second and third dungeon his search was equally
+fruitless.
+
+Meanwhile the hour had grown late; all corpses had been carried out.
+The guards, disposing themselves in the corridors between cellars, were
+asleep; the children, wearied with crying, were silent; nothing was
+heard save the breathing of troubled breasts, and here and there the
+murmur of prayer.
+
+Vinicius went with his torch to the fourth dungeon, which was
+considerably smaller.  Raising the light, he began to examine it, and
+trembled all at once, for it seemed to him that he saw, near a latticed
+opening in the wall, the gigantic form of Ursus.  Then, blowing out the
+light, he approached him, and asked,
+
+"Ursus, art thou here?"
+
+"Who art thou?" asked the giant, turning his head.
+
+"Dost not know me?"
+
+"Thou hast quenched the torch; how could I know thee?"
+
+But at that moment Vinicius saw Lygia lying on a cloak near the wall;
+so, without speaking further, he knelt near her.  Ursus recognized him,
+and said,--
+
+"Praise be to Christ! but do not wake her, lord."
+
+Vinicius, kneeling down, gazed at her through his tears.  In spite of
+the darkness he could distinguish her face, which seemed to him as pale
+as alabaster, and her emaciated arms.  At that sight he was seized by a
+love which was like a rending pain, a love which shook his soul to its
+uttermost depth, and which at the same time was so full of pity,
+respect, and homage that he fell on his face, and pressed to his lips
+the hem of the cloak on which rested that head dearer to him than all
+else on earth.
+
+Ursus looked at Vinicius for a long time in silence, but at last he
+pulled his tunic.
+
+"Lord," asked he, "how didst thou come, and hast thou come here to save
+her?"
+
+Vinicius rose, and struggled for a time with his emotion.  "Show me the
+means," replied he.
+
+"I thought that thou wouldst find them, lord.  Only one method came to
+my head--"
+
+Here he turned toward the grating in the wall, as if in answer to
+himself, and said,--
+
+"In that way--but there are soldiers outside--"
+
+"A hundred pretorians."
+
+"Then we cannot pass?"
+
+"No!"
+
+The Lygian rubbed his forehead, and asked again,--
+
+"How didst thou enter?"
+
+"I have a tessera from the overseer of the 'Putrid Pits.'" Then Vinicius
+stopped suddenly, as if some idea had flashed through his head.
+
+"By the Passion of the Redeemer," said he, in a hurried voice, "I will
+stay here.  Let her take my tessera; she can wrap her head in a cloth,
+cover her shoulders with a mantle, and pass out.  Among the slaves who
+carry out corpses there are several youths not full grown; hence the
+pretorians will not notice her, and once at the house of Petronius she
+is safe."
+
+But the Lygian dropped his head on his breast, and said,--"She would not
+consent, for she loves thee; besides, she is sick, and unable to stand
+alone.  If thou and the noble Petronius cannot save her from prison, who
+can?" said he, after a while.
+
+"Christ alone."
+
+Then both were silent.
+
+"Christ could save all Christians," thought the Lygian, in his simple
+heart; "but since He does not save them, it is clear that the hour of
+torture and death has come."
+
+He accepted it for himself, but was grieved to the depth of his soul for
+that child who had grown up in his arms, and whom he loved beyond life.
+
+Vinicius knelt again near Lygia.  Through the grating in the wall
+moonbeams came in, and gave better light than the one candle burning yet
+over the entrance.  Lygia opened her eyes now, and said, placing her
+feverish hand on the arm of Vinicius,
+
+"I see thee; I knew that thou wouldst come."
+
+He seized her hands, pressed them to his forehead and his heart, raised
+her somewhat, and held her to his breast.
+
+"I have come, dearest.  May Christ guard and free thee, beloved Lygia!"
+He could say no more, for the heart began to whine in his breast from
+pain and love, and he would not show pain in her presence.
+
+"I am sick, Marcus," said Lygia, "and I must die either on the arena or
+here in prison--I have prayed to see thee before death; thou hast come,
+--Christ has heard me."--
+
+Unable to utter a word yet, he pressed her to his bosom, and she
+continued,--
+
+"I saw thee through the window in the Tullianum.  I saw that thou hadst
+the wish to come to me.  Now the Redeemer has given me a moment of
+consciousness, so that we may take farewell of each other.  I am going
+to Him, Marcus, but I love thee, and shall love always."
+
+Vinicius conquered himself; he stifled his pain and began to speak in a
+voice which he tried to make calm,--
+
+"No, dear Lygia, thou wilt not die.  The Apostle commanded me to
+believe, and he promised to pray for thee; he knew Christ,--Christ loved
+him and will not refuse him.  Hadst thou to die, Peter would not have
+commanded me to be confident; but he said, 'Have confidence!'--No,
+Lygia!  Christ will have mercy.  He does not wish thy death.  He will
+not permit it.  I Swear to thee by the name of the Redeemer that Peter
+is praying for thee."
+
+Silence followed.  The one candle hanging above the entrance went out,
+but moonlight entered through the whole opening.  In the opposite corner
+of the cellar a child whined and was silent.  From outside came the
+voices of pretorians, who, after watching their turn out, were playing
+under the wall at scriptś duodecim.
+
+"O Marcus," said Lygia, "Christ Himself called to the Father, 'Remove
+this bitter cup from Me'; still He drank it.  Christ Himself died on the
+cross, and thousands are perishing for His sake.  Why, then, should He
+spare me alone?  Who am I, Marcus?  I have heard Peter say that he too
+would die in torture.  Who am I, compared with Peter?  When the
+pretorians came to us, I dreaded death and torture, but I dread them no
+longer.  See what a terrible prison this is, but I am going to heaven.
+Think of it: Cćsar is here, but there the Redeemer, kind and merciful.
+And there is no death there. Thou lovest me; think, then, how happy I
+shall be.  Oh, dear Marcus, think that thou wilt come to me there."
+
+Here she stopped to get breath in her sick breast, and then raised his
+hand to her lips,--
+
+"Marcus?"
+
+"What, dear one?"
+
+"Do not weep for me, and remember this,--thou wilt come to me. I have
+lived a short time, but God gave thy soul to me; hence I shall tell
+Christ that though I died, and thou wert looking at my death, though
+thou wert left in grief, thou didst not blaspheme against His will, and
+that thou lovest Him always.  Thou wilt love Him, and endure my death
+patiently?  For then He will unite us.  I love thee and I wish to be
+with thee."
+
+Breath failed her then, and in a barely audible voice she finished,
+
+"Promise me this, Marcus!"
+
+Vinicius embraced her with trembling arms, and said,
+
+"By thy sacred head!  I promise."
+
+Her pale face became radiant in the sad light of the moon, and once more
+she raised his hand to her lips, and whispered,--
+
+"I am thy wife!"
+
+Beyond the wall the pretorians playing scriptś duodecim raised a louder
+dispute; but Vinicius and Lygia forgot the prison, the guards, the
+world, and, feeling within them the souls of angels, they began to pray.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter LX
+
+
+FOR three days, or rather three nights, nothing disturbed their peace.
+When the usual prison work was finished, which consisted in separating
+the dead from the living and the grievously sick from those in better
+health, when the wearied guards had lain down to sleep in the corridors,
+Vinicius entered Lygia's dungeon and remained there till daylight.  She
+put her head on his breast, and they talked in low voices of love and of
+death.  In thought and speech, in desires and hopes even, both were
+removed unconsciously more and more from life, and they lost the sense
+of it.  Both were like people who, having sailed from land in a ship,
+saw the shore no more, and were sinking gradually into infinity. Both
+changed by degrees into sad souls in love with each other and with
+Christ, and ready to fly away.  Only at times did pain start up in the
+heart of Vinicius like a whirlwind, at times there flashed in him like
+lightning, hope, born of love and faith in the crucified God; but he
+tore himself away more and more each day from the earth, and yielded to
+death.  In the morning, when he went from the prison, he looked on the
+world, on the city, on acquaintances, on vital interests, as through a
+dream.  Everything seemed to him strange, distant, vain, fleeting.  Even
+torture ceased to terrify, since one might pass through it while sunk in
+thought and with eyes fixed on another thing.  It seemed to both that
+eternity had begun to receive them.  They conversed of how they would
+love and live together, but beyond the grave; and if their thoughts
+returned to the earth at intervals, these were thoughts of people who,
+setting out on a long journey, speak of preparations for the road.
+Moreover they were surrounded by such silence as in some desert
+surrounds two columns far away and forgotten.  Their only care was that
+Christ should not separate them; and as each moment strengthened their
+conviction that He would not, they loved Him as a link uniting them in
+endless happiness and peace.  While still on earth, the dust of earth
+fell from them.  The soul of each was as pure as a tear.  Under terror
+of death, amid misery and suffering, in that prison den, heaven had
+begun, for she had taken him by the hand, and, as if saved and a saint,
+had led him to the source of endless life.
+
+Petronius was astonished at seeing in the face of Vinicius increasing
+peace and a certain wonderful serenity which he had not noted before.
+At times even he supposed that Vinicius had found some mode of rescue,
+and he was piqued because his nephew had not confided his hopes to him.
+At last, unable to restrain himself, he said,--
+
+"Now thou hast another look; do not keep from me secrets, for I wish and
+am able to aid thee.  Hast thou arranged anything?"
+
+"I have," said Vinicius; "but thou canst not help me.  After her death I
+will confess that I am a Christian and follow her."
+
+"Then thou hast no hope?"
+
+"On the contrary, I have.  Christ will give her to me, and I shall never
+be separated from her."
+
+Petronius began to walk in the atrium; disillusion and impatience were
+evident on his face.
+
+"Thy Christ is not needed for this,--our Thanatos [death] can render the
+same service."
+
+Vinicius smiled sadly, and said,--"No, my dear, thou art unwilling to
+understand."
+
+"I am unwilling and unable.  It is not the time for discussion, but
+remember what I said when we failed to free her from the Tullianum.  I
+lost all hope, and on the way home thou didst say, 'But I believe that
+Christ can restore her to me.' Let Him restore her.  If I throw a costly
+goblet into the sea, no god of ours can give it back to me; if yours is
+no better, I know not why I should honor Him beyond the old ones."
+
+"But He will restore her to me."
+
+Pettonius shrugged his shoulders.  "Dost know," inquired he, "that
+Christians are to illuminate Cćsar's gardens to-morrow?"
+
+"To-morrow?" repeated Vinicius.
+
+And in view of the near and dreadful reality his heart trembled with
+pain and fear.  "This is the last night, perhaps, which I can pass with
+Lygia," thought he.  So bidding farewell to Petronius, he went hurriedly
+to the overseer of the "Putrid Pits" for his tessera. But disappointment
+was in waiting,--the overseer would not give the tessera.
+
+"Pardon me," said he, "I have done what I could for thee, but I cannot
+risk my life.  To-night they are to conduct the Christians to Cćsar's
+gardens.  The prisons will be full of soldiers and officials. Shouldst
+thou be recognized, I and my children would be lost."
+
+Vinicius understood that it would be vain to insist.  The hope gleamed
+in him, however, that the soldiers who had seen him before would admit
+him even without a tessera; so, with the coming of night, he disguised
+himself as usual in the tunic of a corpse-bearer, and, winding a cloth
+around his head, betook himself to the prison.
+
+But that day the tesserć were verified with greater care than usual; and
+what was more, the centurion Scevinus, a strict soldier, devoted soul
+and body to Cćsar, recognized Vinicius.  But evidently in his iron-clad
+breast there glimmered yet some spark of pity for misfortunes.  Instead
+of striking his spear in token of alarm, he led Vinicius aside and
+said,--
+
+"Return to thy house, lord.  I recognize thee; but not wishing thy ruin,
+I am silent.  I cannot admit thee; go thy way, and may the gods send
+thee solace."
+
+"Thou canst not admit me," said Vinicius, "but let me stand here and
+look at those who are led forth."
+
+"My order does not forbid that," said Scevinus.
+
+Vinicius stood before the gate and waited.  About midnight the prison
+gate was opened widely, and whole ranks of prisoners appeared,--men,
+women, and children, surrounded by armed pretorians.  The night was very
+bright; hence it was possible to distinguish not only the forms, but the
+faces of the unfortunates. They went two abreast, in a long, gloomy
+train, amid stillness broken only by the clatter of weapons.  So many
+were led out that all the dungeons must be empty, as it seemed.  In the
+rear of the line Vinicius saw Glaucus the physician distinctly, but
+Lygia and Ursus were not among the condemned.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter LXI
+
+
+DARKNESS had not come when the first waves of people began to flow into
+Cćsar's gardens.  The crowds, in holiday costume, crowned with flowers,
+joyous, singing, and some of them drunk, were going to look at the new,
+magnificent spectacle.  Shouts of "Semaxii!  Sarmentitii!" were heard on
+the Via Tecta, on the bridge of Ćmilius, and from the other side of the
+Tiber, on the Triumphal Way, around the Circus of Nero, and off towards
+the Vatican Hill. In Rome people had been seen burnt on pillars before,
+but never had any one seen such a number of victims.
+
+Cćsar and Tigellinus, wishing to finish at once with the Christians and
+also to avoid infection, which from the prisons was spreading more and
+more through the city, had given command to empty all dungeons, so that
+there remained in them barely a few tens of people intended for the
+close of the spectacles.  So, when the crowds had passed the gates, they
+were dumb with amazement. All the main and side alleys, which lay
+through dense groves and along lawns, thickets, ponds, fields, and
+squares filled with flowers, were packed with pillars smeared with
+pitch, to which Christians were fastened.  In higher places, where the
+view was not hindered by trees, one could see whole rows of pillars and
+bodies decked with flowers, myrtle, and ivy, extending into the distance
+on high and low places, so far that, though the nearest were like masts
+of ships, the farthest seemed colored darts, or staffs thrust into the
+earth.  The number of them surpassed the expectation of the multitude.
+One might suppose that a whole nation had been lashed to pillars for
+Rome's amusement and for Cćsar's. The throng of spectators stopped
+before single masts when their curiosity was roused by the form or the
+sex of the victim; they looked at the faces, the crowns, the garlands of
+ivy; then they went farther and farther, asking themselves with
+amazement, "Could there have been so many criminals, or how could
+children barely able to walk have set fire to Rome?" and astonishment
+passed by degrees into fear.
+
+Meanwhile darkness came, and the first stars twinkled in the sky. Near
+each condemned person a slave took his place, torch in hand; when the
+sound of trumpets was heard in various parts of the gardens, in sign
+that the spectacle was to begin, each slave put his torch to the foot of
+a pillar.  The straw, hidden under the flowers and steeped in pitch,
+burned at once with a bright flame which, increasing every instant,
+withered the ivy, and rising embraced the feet of the victims.  The
+people were silent; the gardens resounded with one immense groan and
+with cries of pain.  Some victims, however, raising their faces toward
+the starry sky, began to sing, praising Christ.  The people listened.
+But the hardest hearts were filled with terror when, on smaller pillars,
+children cried with shrill voices, "Mamma!  Mamma!"  A shiver ran
+through even spectators who were drunk when they saw little heads and
+innocent faces distorted with pain, or children fainting in the smoke
+which began to stifle them.  But the flames rose, and seized new crowns
+of roses and ivy every instant.  The main and side alleys were
+illuminated; the groups of trees, the lawns, and the flowery squares
+were illuminated; the water in pools and ponds was gleaming, the
+trembling leaves on the trees had grown rose-colored, and all was as
+visible as in daylight.  When the odor of burnt bodies filled the
+gardens, slaves sprinkled between the pillars myrrh and aloes prepared
+purposely.  In the crowds were heard here and there shouts,--whether of
+sympathy or delight and joy, it was unknown; and they increased every
+moment with the fire, which embraced the pillars, climbed to the breasts
+of the victims, shrivelled with burning breath the hair on their heads,
+threw veils over their blackened faces, and then shot up higher, as if
+showing the victory and triumph of that power which had given command to
+rouse it.
+
+At the very beginning of the spectacle Cćsar had appeared among the
+people in a magnificent quadriga of the Circus, drawn by four white
+steeds.  He was dressed as a charioteer in the color of the Greens,--the
+court party and his.  After him followed other chariots filled with
+courtiers in brilliant array, senators, priests, bacchantes, naked and
+crowned, holding pitchers of wine, and partly drunk, uttering wild
+shouts.  At the side of these were musicians dressed as fauns and
+satyrs, who played on citharas, formingas, flutes, and horns.  In other
+chariots advanced matrons and maidens of Rome, drunk also and half
+naked.  Around the quadriga ran men who shook thyrses ornamented with
+ribbons; others beat drums; others scattered flowers.
+
+All that brilliant throng moved forward, shouting, "Evoe!" on the widest
+road of the garden, amidst smoke and processions of people.  Cćsar,
+keeping near him Tigellinus and also Chilo, in whose terror he sought to
+find amusement, drove the steeds himself, and, advancing at a walk,
+looked at the burning bodies, and heard the shouts of the multitude.
+Standing on the lofty gilded chariot, surrounded by a sea of people who
+bent to his feet, in the glitter of the fire, in the golden crown of a
+circus-victor, he was a head above the courtiers and the crowd.  He
+seemed a giant.  His immense arms, stretched forward to hold the reins,
+seemed to bless the multitude.  There was a smile on his face and in his
+blinking eyes; he shone above the throng as a sun or a deity, terrible
+but commanding and mighty.
+
+At times he stopped to look with more care at some maiden whose bosom
+had begun to shrink in the flames, or at the face of a child distorted
+by convulsions; and again he drove on, leading behind him a wild,
+excited retinue.  At times he bowed to the people, then again he bent
+backward, drew in the golden reins, and spoke to Tigellinus.  At last,
+when he had reached the great fountain in the middle of two crossing
+streets, he stepped from the quadriga, and, nodding to his attendants,
+mingled with the throng.
+
+He was greeted with shouts and plaudits.  The bacchantes, the nymphs,
+the senators and Augustians, the priests, the fauns, satyrs, and
+soldiers surrounded him at once in an excited circle; but he, with
+Tigellinus on one side and Chilo on the other, walked around the
+fountain, about which were burning some tens of torches; stopping before
+each one, he made remarks on the victims, or jeered at the old Greek, on
+whose face boundless despair was depicted.
+
+At last he stood before a lofty mast decked with myrtle and ivy. The red
+tongues of fire had risen only to the knees of the victim; but it was
+impossible to see his face, for the green burning twigs had covered it
+with smoke.  After a while, however, the light breeze of night turned
+away the smoke and uncovered the head of a man with gray beard falling
+on his breast.
+
+At sight of him Chilo was twisted into a lump like a wounded snake, and
+from his mouth came a cry more like cawing than a human voice.
+
+"Glaucus!  Glaucus!"
+
+In fact, Glaucus the physician looked down from the burning pillar at
+him.  Glaucus was alive yet.  His face expressed pain, and was inclined
+forward, as if to look closely for the last time at his executioner, at
+the man who had betrayed him, robbed him of wife and children, set a
+murderer on him, and who, when all this had been forgiven in the name of
+Christ, had delivered him to executioners.  Never had one person
+inflicted more dreadful or bloody wrongs on another.  Now the victim was
+burning on the pitched pillar, and the executioner was standing at his
+feet.  The eyes of Glaucus did nor leave the face of the Greek.  At
+moments they were hidden by smoke; but when the breeze blew this away,
+Chilo saw again those eyes fixed on him.  He rose and tried to flee, but
+had not strength.  All at once his legs seemed of lead; an invisible
+hand seemed to hold him at that pillar with superhuman force.  He was
+petrified.  He felt that something was overflowing in him, something
+giving way; he felt that he had had a surfeit of blood and torture, that
+the end of his life was approaching, that everything was vanishing,
+Cćsar, the court, the multitude, and around him was only a kind of
+bottomless, dreadful black vacuum with no visible thing in it, save
+those eyes of a martyr which were summoning him to judgment.  But
+Glaucus, bending his head lower down, looked at him fixedly.  Those
+present divined that something was taking place between those two men.
+Laughter died on their lips, however, for in Chilo's face there was
+something terrible: such pain and fear had distorted it as if those
+tongues of fire were burning his body.  On a sudden he staggered, and,
+stretching his arms upward, cried in a terrible and piercing voice,--
+
+"Glaucus! in Christ's name! forgive me!"
+
+It grew silent round about, a quiver ran through the spectators, and all
+eyes were raised involuntarily.
+
+The head of the martyr moved slightly, and from the top of the mast was
+heard a voice like a groan,--
+
+"I forgive!"
+
+Chilo threw himself on his face, and howled like a wild beast; grasping
+earth in both hands, he sprinkled it on his head. Meanwhile the flames
+shot up, seizing the breast and face of Glaucus; they unbound the myrtle
+crown on his head, and seized the ribbons on the top of the pillar, the
+whole of which shone with great blazing.
+
+Chilo stood up after a while with face so changed that to the Augustians
+he seemed another man.  His eyes flashed with a light new to him,
+ecstasy issued from his wrinkled forehead; the Greek, incompetent a
+short time before, looked now like some priest visited by a divinity and
+ready to reveal unknown truths.
+
+"What is the matter?  Has he gone mad?" asked a number of voices.
+
+But he turned to the mulitiude, and, raising his right hand, cried, or
+rather shouted, in a voice so piercing that not only the Augustians but
+the multitude heard him,--
+
+"Roman people!  I swear by my death, that innocent persons are perishing
+here.  That is the incendiary!"
+
+And he pointed his finger at Nero.
+
+Then came a moment of silence.  The courtiers were benumbed. Chilo
+continued to stand with outstretched, trembling arm, and with finger
+pointed at Nero.  All at once a tumult arose.  The people, like a wave,
+urged by a sudden whirlwind, rushed toward the old man to look at him
+more closely.  Here and there were heard cries, "Hold!"  In another
+place, "Woe to us!"  In the throng a hissing and uproar began.
+"Ahenobarbus!  Matricide!  Incendiary!" Disorder increased every
+instant.  The bacchantes screamed in heaven-piercing voices, and began
+to hide in the chariots.  Then some pillars which were burned through,
+fell, scattered sparks, and increased the confusion.  A blind dense wave
+of people swept away Chilo, and bore him to the depth of the garden.
+
+The pillars began to burn through in every direction and fall across the
+streets, filling alleys with smoke, sparks, the odor of burnt wood and
+burnt flesh.  The nearer lights died.  The gardens began to grow dark.
+The crowds, alarmed, gloomy, and disturbed, pressed toward the gates.
+News of what had happened passed from mouth to mouth, distorted and
+increased.  Some said that Cćsar had fainted; others that he had
+confessed, saying that he had given command to burn Rome; others that he
+had fallen seriously ill; and still others that he had been borne out,
+as if dead, in the chariot. Here and there were heard voices of sympathy
+for the Christians: "If they had not burned Rome, why so much blood,
+torture, and injustice?  Will not the gods avenge the innocent, and what
+piacula can mollify them now?"  The words innoxia corpora were repeated
+oftener and oftener.  Women expressed aloud their pity for children
+thrown in such numbers to wild beasts, nailed to crosses or burned in
+those cursed gardens!  And finally pity was turned into abuse of Cćsar
+and Tigellinus.  There were persons, too, who, stopping suddenly, asked
+themselves or others the question, "What kind of divinity is that which
+gives such strength to meet torture and death?"  And they returned home
+in meditation.
+
+But Chilo was wandering about in the gardens, not knowing where to go or
+where to turn.  Again he felt himself a weak, helpless, sick old man.
+
+Now he stumbled against partly burnt bodies; now he struck a torch,
+which sent a shower of sparks after him; now he sat down, and looked
+around with vacant stare.  The gardens had become almost dark.  The pale
+moon moving among the trees shone with uncertain light on the alleys,
+the dark pillars lying across them, and the partly burnt victims turned
+into shapeless lumps.  But the old Greek thought that in the moon he saw
+the face of Glaucus, whose eyes were looking at him yet persistently,
+and he hid before the light.  At last he went out of the shadow, in
+spite of himself; as if pushed by some hidden power, he turned toward
+the fountain where Glaucus had yielded up the spirit.
+
+Then some hand touched his shoulder.  He turned, and saw an unknown
+person before him.
+
+"Who art thou?" exclaimed he, with terror.
+
+"Paul of Tarsus."
+
+"I am accursed!--What dost thou wish?"
+
+"I wish to save thee," answered the Apostle.
+
+Chilo supported himself against a tree.  His legs bent under him, and
+his arms hung parallel with his body.
+
+"For me there is no salvation," said he, gloomily.
+
+"Hast thou heard how God forgave the thief on the cross who pitied Him?"
+inquired Paul.
+
+"Dost thou know what I have done?"
+
+"I saw thy suffering, and heard thy testimony to the truth."
+
+"O Lord!"
+
+"And if a servant of Christ forgave thee in the hour of torture and
+death, why should Christ not forgive thee?"
+
+Chilo seized his head with both hands, as if in bewilderment.
+
+"Forgiveness! for me, forgiveness!"
+
+"Our God is a God of mercy," said Paul.
+
+"For me?" repeated Chilo; and he began to groan like a man who lacks
+strength to control his pain and suffering.
+
+"Lean on me," said Paul, "and go with me."
+
+And taking him he went to the crossing of the streets, guided by the
+voice of the fountain, which seemed to weep in the night stillness over
+the bodies of those who had died in torture.
+
+"Our God is a God of mercy," repeated the Apostle.  "Wert thou to stand
+at the sea and cast in pebbles, couldst thou fill its depth with them?
+I tell thee that the mercy of Christ is as the sea, and that the sins
+and faults of men sink in it as pebbles in the abyss; I tell thee that
+it is like the sky which covers mountains, lands, and seas, for it is
+everywhere and has neither end nor limit.  Thou hast suffered at the
+pillar of Glaucus.  Christ saw thy suffering.  Without reference to what
+may meet thee to-morrow, thou didst say, 'That is the incendiary,' and
+Christ remembers thy words.  Thy malice and falsehood are gone; in thy
+heart is left only boundless sorrow. Follow me and listen to what I say.
+I am he who hated Christ and persecuted His chosen ones.  I did not want
+Him, I did not believe in Him till He manifested Himself and called me.
+Since then He is, for me, mercy.  He has visited thee with compunction,
+with alarm, and with pain, to call thee to Himself.  Thou didst hate
+Him, but He loved thee.  Thou didst deliver His confessors to torture,
+but He wishes to forgive and save thee."
+
+Immense sobbing shook the breast of the wretched man, sobbing by which
+the soul in him was rent to its depths; but Paul took possession of him,
+mastered him, led him away, as a soldier leads a captive.
+
+After a while the Apostle began again to speak:--
+
+"Come with me; I will lead thee to Him.  For why else have I come to
+thee?
+
+"Christ commanded me to gather in souls in the name of love; hence I
+perform His service.  Thou thinkest thyself accursed, but I say: Believe
+in Him, and salvation awaits thee.  Thou thinkest that thou art hated,
+but I repeat that He loves thee.  Look at me.  Before I had Him I had
+nothing save malice, which dwelt in my heart, and now His love suffices
+me instead of father and mother, wealth and power.  In Him alone is
+refuge.  He alone will see thy sorrow, believe in thy misery, remove thy
+alarm, and raise thee to Himself."
+
+Thus speaking, he led him to the fountain, the silver stream of which
+gleamed from afar in the moonlight.  Round about was silence; the
+gardens were empty, for slaves had removed the charred pillars and the
+bodies of the martyrs.
+
+Chilo threw himself on his knees with a groan, and hiding his face in
+his hands remained motionless.  Paul raised his face to the stars. "O
+Lord," prayed he, "look on this wretched man, on his sorrow, his tears,
+and his suffering!  O God of mercy, who hast shed Thy blood for our
+sins, forgive him, through Thy torment, Thy death and resurrection!"
+
+Then he was silent; but for a long time he looked toward the stars, and
+prayed.
+
+Meanwhile from under his feet was heard a cry which resembled a groan,--
+
+"O Christ!  O Christ! forgive me!"
+
+Paul approached the fountain then, and, taking water in his hand, turned
+to the kneeling wretch,--
+
+"Chilo!--I baptize thee in the name of the Father, Son, and Spirit.
+Amen!"
+
+Chilo raised his head, opened his arms, and remained in that posture.
+The moon shone with full light on his white hair and on his equally
+white face, which was as motionless as if dead or cut out of stone.  The
+moments passed one after another.  From the great aviaries in the
+gardens of Domitian came the crowing of cocks; but Chilo remained
+kneeling, like a statue on a monument. At last he recovered, spoke to
+the Apostle, and asked,--
+
+"What am I to do before death?"
+
+Paul was roused also from meditation on the measureless power which even
+such spirits as that of this Greek could not resist, and answered,--
+
+"Have faith, and bear witness to the truth."
+
+They went out together.  At the gate the Apostle blessed the old man
+again, and they parted.  Chilo himself insisted on this, for after what
+had happened he knew that Cćsar and Tigellinus would give command to
+pursue him.
+
+Indeed he was not mistaken.  When he returned home, he found the house
+surrounded by pretorians, who led him away, and took him under direction
+of Scevinus to the Palatine.
+
+Cćsar had gone to rest, but Tigellinus was waiting.  When he saw the
+unfortunate Greek, he greeted him with a calm but ominous face.
+
+"Thou hast committed the crime of treason," said he, "and punishment
+will not pass thee; but if to-morrow thou testify in the amphitheatre
+that thou wert drunk and mad, and that the authors of the conflagration
+are Christians, thy punishment will be limited to stripes and exile."
+
+"I cannot do that," answered Chilo, calmly.
+
+Tigellinus approached him with slow step, and with a voice also low but
+terrible,--
+
+"How is that?" asked he.  "Thou canst not, Greek dog?  Wert thou not
+drunk, and dost thou not understand what is waiting for thee? Look
+there!" and he pointed to a corner of the atrium in which, near a long
+wooden bench, stood four Thracian slaves in the shade with ropes, and
+with pincers in their hands.
+
+But Chilo answered,--
+
+"I cannot!"
+
+Rage seized Tigellinus, but he restrained himself yet.
+
+"Hast thou seen," inquired he, "how Christians die?  Dost wish to die in
+that way?"
+
+The old man raised his pale face; for a time his lips moved in silence,
+and he answered,--
+
+"I too believe in Christ."
+
+Tigellinus looked at him with amazement.  "Dog, thou hast gone mad in
+fact!"
+
+And suddenly the rage in his breast broke its bounds.  Springing at
+Chilo, he caught him by the beard with both hands, hurled him to the
+floor, trampled him, repeating, with foam on his lips,--
+
+"Thou wilt retract! thou wilt!"
+
+"I cannot!" answered Chilo from the floor.
+
+"To the tortures with him!"
+
+At this command the Thracians seized the old man, and placed him on the
+bench; then, fastening him with ropes to it, they began to squeeze his
+thin shanks with pincers.  But when they were tying him he kissed their
+hands with humility; then he closed his eyes, and seemed dead.
+
+He was alive, though; for when Tigellinus bent over him and inquired
+once again, "Wilt thou retract?" his white lips moved slightly, and from
+them came the barely audible whisper,--
+
+"I cannot."
+
+Tigellinus gave command to stop the torture, and began to walk up and
+down in the atrium with a face distorted by anger, but helpless. At last
+a new idea came to his head, for he turned to the Thracians and said,--
+
+"Tear out his tongue!"
+
+
+
+
+Chapter LXII
+
+
+THE drama "Aureolus" was given usually in theatres or amphitheatres, so
+arranged that they could open and present as it were two separate
+stages.  But after the spectacle in the gardens of Cćsar the usual
+method was omitted; for in this case the problem was to let the greatest
+number of people look at a slave who, in the drama, is devoured by a
+bear. In the theatres the role of the bear is played by an actor sewed
+up in a skin, but this time the representation was to be real.  This was
+a new idea of Tigellinus. At first Cćsar refused to come, but changed
+his mind at persuasion of the favorite.  Tigellinus explained that after
+what had happened in the gardens it was all the more his duty to appear
+before the people, and he guaranteed that the crucified slave would not
+insult him as had Crispus.  The people were somewhat sated and tired of
+blood-spilling; hence a new distribution of lottery tickets and gifts
+was promised, as well as a feast, for the spectacle was to be in the
+evening, in a brilliantly lighted amphitheatre.
+
+About dusk the whole amphitheatre was packed; the Augustians, with
+Tigellinus at the head of them, came to a man,--not only for the
+spectacle itself, but to show their devotion to Cćsar and their opinion
+of Chilo, of whom all Rome was then talking.
+
+They whispered to one another that Cćsar, when returning from the
+gardens, had fallen into a frenzy and could not sleep, that terrors and
+wonderful visions had attacked him; therefore he had announced on the
+following morning his early journey to Achća. But others denied this,
+declaring that he would be all the more pitiless to the Christians.
+Cowards, however, were not lacking, who foresaw that the accusation
+which Chilo had thrown into Cćsar's face might have the worst result
+possible.  In conclusion, there were those who through humanity begged
+Tigellinus to stop persecution.
+
+"See whither ye are going," said Barcus Soranus.  "Ye wished to allay
+people's anger and convince them that punishment was falling on the
+guilty; the result is just the opposite."
+
+"True!" added Antistius Verus, "all whisper to one another now that the
+Christians were innocent.  If that be cleverness, Chilo was right when
+he said that your brains could be held in a nutshell."
+
+Tigellinus turned to them and said:  "Barcus Soranus, people whisper
+also to one another that thy daughter Servilia secreted her Christian
+slaves from Cćsar's justice; they say the same also of thy wife,
+Antistius."
+
+"That is not true!" exclaimed Barcus, with alarm.
+
+"Your divorced women wished to ruin my wife, whose virtue they envy,"
+said Antistius Verus, with no less alarm.
+
+But others spoke of Chilo.
+
+"What has happened to him?" asked Eprius Marcellus.  "He delivered them
+himself into the hands of Tigellinus; from a beggar he became rich; it
+was possible for him to live out his days in peace, have a splendid
+funeral, and a tomb: but, no!  All at once he preferred to lose
+everything and destroy himself; he must, in truth, be a maniac."
+
+"Not a maniac, but he has become a Christian," said Tigellinus.
+
+"Impossible!" said Vitelius.
+
+"Have I not said," put in Vestinius, "'Kill Christians if ye like; but
+believe me ye cannot war with their divinity.  With it there is no
+jesting'? See what is taking place.  I have not burned Rome; but if
+Cćsar permitted I would give a hecatomb at once to their divinity. And
+all should do the same, for I repeat: With it there is no jesting!
+Remember my words to you."
+
+"And I said something else," added Petronius.  "Tigellinus laughed when
+I said that they were arming, but I say more,--they are conquering."
+
+"How is that? how is that?" inquired a number of voices.
+
+"By Pollux, they are!  For if such a man as Chilo could not resist them,
+who can?  If ye think that after every spectacle the Christians do not
+increase, become coppersmiths, or go to shaving beards, for then ye will
+know better what people think, and what is happening in the city."
+
+"He speaks pure truth, by the sacred peplus of Diana," cried Vestinius.
+
+But Barcus turned to Petronius.
+
+"What is thy conclusion?"
+
+"I conclude where ye began,--there has been enough of bloodshed."
+
+Tigellinus looked at him jeeringly,--"Ei!--a little more!"
+
+"If thy head is not sufficient, thou hast another on thy cane," said
+Petronius.
+
+Further conversation was interrupted by the coming of Cćsar, who
+occupied his place in company with Pythagoras.  Immediately after began
+the representation of "Aureolus," to which not much attention was paid,
+for the minds of the audience were fixed on Chilo.  The spectators,
+familiar with blood and torture, were bored; they hissed, gave out
+shouts uncomplimentary to the court, and demanded the bear scene, which
+for them was the only thing of interest.  Had it not been for gifts and
+the hope of seeing Chilo, the spectacle would not have held the
+audience.
+
+At last the looked-for moment came.  Servants of the Circus brought in
+first a wooden cross, so low that a bear standing on his hind feet might
+reach the martyr's breast; then two men brought, or rather dragged in,
+Chilo, for as the bones in his legs were broken, he was unable to walk
+alone.  They laid him down and nailed him to the wood so quickly that
+the curious Augustians had not even a good look at him, and only after
+the cross had been fixed in the place prepared for it did all eyes turn
+to the victim.  But it was a rare person who could recognize in that
+naked man the former Chilo.  After the tortures which Tigellinus had
+commanded, there was not one drop of blood in his face, and only on his
+white beard was evident a red trace left by blood after they had torn
+his tongue out.  Through the transparent skin it was quite possible to
+see his bones.  He seemed far older also, almost decrepit.  Formerly his
+eyes cast glances ever filled with disquiet and ill-will, his watchful
+face reflected constant alarm and uncertainty; now his face had an
+expression of pain, but it was as mild and calm as faces of the sleeping
+or the dead.  Perhaps remembrance of that thief on the cross whom Christ
+had forgiven lent him confidence; perhaps, also, he said in his soul to
+the merciful God,
+
+"O Lord, I bit like a venomous worm; but all my life I was unfortunate.
+I was famishing from hunger, people trampled on me, beat me, jeered at
+me.  I was poor and very unhappy, and now they put me to torture and
+nail me to a cross; but Thou, O Merciful, wilt not reject me in this
+hour!"  Peace descended evidently into his crushed heart.  No one
+laughed, for there was in that crucified man something so calm, he
+seemed so old, so defenceless, so weak, calling so much for pity with
+his lowliness, that each one asked himself unconsciously how it was
+possible to torture and nail to crosses men who would die soon in any
+case.  The crowd was silent.  Among the Augustians Vestinius, bending to
+right and left, whispered in a terrified voice, "See how they die!"
+Others were looking for the bear, wishing the spectacle to end at the
+earliest.
+
+The bear came into the arena at last, and, swaying from side to side a
+head which hung low, he looked around from beneath his forehead, as if
+thinking of something or seeking something.  At last he saw the cross
+and the naked body.  He approached it, and stood on his hind legs; but
+after a moment he dropped again on his fore-paws, and sitting under the
+cross began to growl, as if in his heart of a beast pity for that
+remnant of a man had made itself heard.
+
+Cries were heard from Circus slaves urging on the bear, but the people
+were silent.
+
+Meanwhile Chilo raised his head with slow motion, and for a time moved
+his eyes over the audience.  At last his glance rested somewhere on the
+highest rows of the amphitheatre; his breast moved with more life, and
+something happened which caused wonder and astonishment.  That face
+became bright with a smile; a ray of light, as it were, encircled that
+forehead; his eyes were uplifted before death, and after a while two
+great tears which had risen between the lids flowed slowly down his
+face.
+
+And he died.
+
+At that same moment a resonant manly voice high up under the velarium
+exclaimed,--
+
+"Peace to the martyrs!"
+
+Deep silence reigned in the amphitheatre.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter LXIII
+
+
+AFTER the spectacle in Cćsar's gardens the prisons were emptied
+considerably.  It is true that victims suspected of the Oriental
+superstition were seized yet and imprisoned, but pursuit brought in
+fewer and fewer persons,--barely enough for coming exhibitions, which
+were to follow quickly.  People were sated with blood; they showed
+growing weariness, and increasing alarm because of the unparalleled
+conduct of the condemned.  Fears like those of the superstitious
+Vestinius seized thousands of people.  Among the crowds tales more and
+more wonderful were related of the vengefulness of the Christian God.
+Prison typhus, which had spread through the city, increased the general
+dread.  The number of funerals was evident, and it was repeated from ear
+to ear that fresh piacula were needed to mollify the unknown god.
+Offerings were made in the temples to Jove and Libitina.  At last, in
+spite of every effort of Tigellinus and his assistants, the opinion kept
+spreading that the city had been burned at command of Cćsar, and that
+the Christians were suffering innocently.
+
+But for this very reason Nero and Tigellinus were untiring in
+persecution.  To calm the multitude, fresh orders were issued to
+distribute wheat, wine, and olives.  To relieve owners, new rules were
+published to facilitate the building of houses; and others touching
+width of streets and materials to be used in building so as to avoid
+fires in future.  Cćsar himself attended sessions of the Senate, and
+counselled with the "fathers" on the good of the people and the city;
+but not a shadow of favor fell on the doomed.  The ruler of the world
+was anxious, above all, to fix in people's minds a conviction that such
+merciless punishments could strike only the guilty.  In the Senate no
+voice was heard on behalf of the Christians, for no one wished to offend
+Cćsar; and besides, those who looked farther into the future insisted
+that the foundations of Roman rule could not stand against the new
+faith.
+
+The dead and the dying were given to their relatives, as Roman law took
+no vengeance on the dead.  Vinicius received a certain solace from the
+thought that if Lygia died he would bury her in his family tomb, and
+rest near her.  At that time he had no hope of rescuing her; half
+separated from life, he was himself wholly absorbed in Christ, and
+dreamed no longer of any union except an eternal one.  His faith had
+become simply boundless; for it eternity seemed something incomparably
+truer and more real than the fleeting life which he had lived up to that
+time.  His heart was overflowing with concentrated enthusiasm.  Though
+yet alive, he had changed into a being almost immaterial, which desiring
+complete liberation for itself desired it also for another.  He imagined
+that when free he and Lygia would each take the other's hand and go to
+heaven, where Christ would bless them, and let them live in light as
+peaceful and boundless as the light of dawn. He merely implored Christ
+to spare Lygia the torments of the Circus, and let her fall asleep
+calmly in prison; he felt with perfect certainty that he himself would
+die at the same time.  In view of the sea of blood which had been shed,
+he did not even think it permitted to hope that she alone would be
+spared.  He had heard from Peter and Paul that they, too, must die as
+martyrs.  The sight of Chilo on the cross had convinced him that even a
+martyr's death could be sweet; hence he wished it for Lygia and himself
+as the change of an evil, sad, and oppressive fate for a better.
+
+At times he had a foretaste of life beyond the grave.  That sadness
+which hung over the souls of both was losing its former burning
+bitterness, and changing gradually into a kind of trans-terrestrial,
+calm abandon to the will of God.  Vinicius, who formerly had toiled
+against the current, had struggled and tortured himself, yielded now to
+the stream, believing that it would bear him to eternal calm.  He
+divined, too, that Lygia, as well as he, was preparing for death,--that,
+in spite of the prison walls separating them, they were advancing
+together; and he smiled at that thought as at happiness.
+
+In fact, they were advancing with as much agreement as if they had
+exchanged thoughts every day for a long time.  Neither had Lygia any
+desire, any hope, save the hope of a life beyond the grave. Death was
+presented to her not only as a liberation from the terrible walls of the
+prison, from the hands of Cćsar and Tigellinus,--not only as liberation,
+but as the hour of her marriage to Vinicius.  In view of this unshaken
+certainty, all else lost importance.  After death would come her
+happiness, which was even earthly, so that she waited for it also as a
+betrothed waits for the wedding-day.
+
+And that immense current of faith, which swept away from life and bore
+beyond the grave thousands of those first confessors, bore away Ursus
+also.  Neither had he in his heart been resigned to Lygia's death; but
+when day after day through the prison walls came news of what was
+happening in the amphitheatres and the gardens, when death seemed the
+common, inevitable lot of all Christians and also their good, higher
+than all mortal conceptions of happiness, he did not dare to pray to
+Christ to deprive Lygia of that happiness or to delay it for long years.
+In his simple barbarian soul he thought, besides, that more of those
+heavenly delights would belong to the daughter of the Lygian chief, that
+she would have more of them than would a whole crowd of simple ones to
+whom he himself belonged, and that in eternal glory she would sit nearer
+to the "Lamb" than would others.  He had heard, it is true, that before
+God men are equal; but a conviction was lingering at the bottom of his
+soul that the daughter of a leader, and besides of a leader of all the
+Lygians, was not the same as the first slave one might meet.  He hoped
+also that Christ would let him continue to serve her.  His one secret
+wish was to die on a cross as the "Lamb" died.  But this seemed a
+happiness so great that he hardly dared to pray for it, though he knew
+that in Rome even the worst criminals were crucified.  He thought that
+surely he would be condemned to die under the teeth of wild beasts; and
+this was his one sorrow. From childhood he had lived in impassable
+forests, amid continual hunts, in which, thanks to his superhuman
+strength, he was famous among the Lygians even before he had grown to
+manhood.  This occupation had become for him so agreeable that later,
+when in Rome, and forced to live without hunting, he went to vivaria and
+amphitheatres just to look at beasts known and unknown to him. The sight
+of these always roused in the man an irresistible desire for struggle
+and killing; so now he feared in his soul that on meeting them in the
+amphitheatre he would be attacked by thoughts unworthy of a Christian,
+whose duty it was to die piously and patiently.  But in this he
+committed himself to Christ, and found other and more agreeable thoughts
+to comfort him.  Hearing that the "Lamb" had declared war against the
+powers of hell and evil spirits with which the Christian faith connected
+all pagan divinities, he thought that in this war he might serve the
+"Lamb" greatly, and serve better than others, for he could not help
+believing that his soul was stronger than the souls of other martyrs.
+Finally, he prayed whole days, rendered service to prisoners, helped
+overseers, and comforted his queen, who complained at times that in her
+short life she had not been able to do so many good deeds as the
+renowned Tabitha of whom Peter the Apostle had told her.  Even the
+prison guards, who feared the terrible strength of this giant, since
+neither bars nor chains could restrain it, came to love him at last for
+his mildness.  Amazed at his good temper, they asked more than once what
+its cause was.  He spoke with such firm certainty of the life waiting
+after death for him, that they listened with surprise, seeing for the
+first time that happiness might penetrate a dungeon which sunlight could
+not reach.  And when he urged them to believe in the "Lamb," it occurred
+to more than one of those people that his own service was the service of
+a slave, his own life the life of an unfortunate; and he fell to
+thinking over his evil fate, the only end to which was death.
+
+But death brought new fear, and promised nothing beyond; while that
+giant and that maiden, who was like a flower cast on the straw of the
+prison, went toward it with delight, as toward the gates of happiness.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter LXIV
+
+
+ONE evening Scevinus, a Senator, visited Petronius and began a long
+conversation, touching the grievous times in which they were living, and
+also touching Cćsar.  He spoke so openly that Petronius, though his
+friend, began to be cautious.  Scevinus complained that the world was
+living madly and unjustly, that all must end in some catastrophe more
+dreadful still than the burning of Rome.  He said that even Augustians
+were dissatisfied; that Fenius Rufus, second prefect of the pretorians,
+endured with the greatest effort the vile orders of Tigellinus; and that
+all Seneca's relatives were driven to extremes by Cćsar's conduct as
+well toward his old master as toward Lucan.  Finally, he began to hint
+of the dissatisfaction of the people, and even of the pretorians, the
+greater part of whom had been won by Fenius Rufus.
+
+"Why dost thou say this?" inquired Petronius.
+
+"Out of care for Cćsar," said Scevinus.  "I have a distant relative
+among the pretorians, also Scevinus; through him I know what takes place
+in the camp.  Disaffection is growing there also; Caligula, knowest
+thou, was mad too, and see what happened. Cassius Chćrea appeared.  That
+was a dreadful deed, and surely there is no one among us to praise it;
+still Chćrea freed the world of a monster."
+
+"Is thy meaning as follows:  'I do not praise Chćrea, but he was a
+perfect man, and would that the gods had given us as many such as
+possible'?" inquired Petronius.
+
+But Scevinus changed the conversation, and began all at once to praise
+Piso, exalting his family, his nobility of mind, his attachment to his
+wife, and, finally, his intellect, his calmness, and his wonderful gift
+of winning people.
+
+"Cćsar is childless," said he, "and all see his successor in Piso.
+Doubtless, too, every man would help him with whole soul to gain power.
+Fenius Rufus loves him; the relatives of Annćus are devoted to him
+altogether.  Plautius Lateranus and Tullius Senecio would spring into
+fire for him; as would Natalis, and Subrius Flavius, and Sulpicius
+Asper, and Afranius Quinetianus, and even Vestinius."
+
+"From this last man not much will result to Piso," replied Petronius.
+"Vestinius is afraid of his own shadow."
+
+"Vestinius fears dreams and spirits," answered Scevinus, "but he is a
+practical man, whom people wish wisely to make consul.  That in his soul
+he is opposed to persecuting Christians, thou shouldst not take ill of
+him, for it concerns thee too that this madness should cease."
+
+"Not me, but Vinicius," answered Petronius.  "Out of concern for
+Vinicius, I should like to save a certain maiden; but I cannot, for I
+have fallen out of favor with Ahenobarbus."
+
+"How is that?  Dost thou not notice that Cćsar is approaching thee
+again, and beginning to talk with thee?  And I will tell thee why.  He
+is preparing again for Achća, where he is to sing songs in Greek of his
+own composition.  He is burning for that journey; but also he trembles
+at thought of the cynical genius of the Greeks.  He imagines that either
+the greatest triumph may meet him or the greatest failure.  He needs
+good counsel, and he knows that no one can give it better than thou.
+This is why thou art returning to favor."
+
+"Lucan might take my place."
+
+"Bronzebeard hates Lucan, and in his soul has written down death for the
+poet.  He is merely seeking a pretext, for he seeks pretexts always."
+
+"By Castor!" said Petronius, "that may be.  But I might have still
+another way for a quick return to favor."
+
+"What?"
+
+"To repeat to Bronzebeard what thou hast told me just now."
+
+"I have said nothing!" cried Scevinus, with alarm.
+
+Petronius placed his hand upon the Senator's shoulder.  "Thou hast
+called Cćsar a madman, thou hast foreseen the heirship of Piso, and hast
+said, 'Lucan understands that there is need to hasten.' What wouldst
+thou hasten, carissime?"
+
+Scevinus grew pale, and for a moment each looked into the eyes of the
+other.
+
+"Thou wilt not repeat!"
+
+"By the hips of Kypris, I will not!  How well thou knowest me!  No; I
+will not repeat.  I have heard nothing, and, moreover, I wish to hear
+nothing.  Dost understand?  Life is too short to make any undertaking
+worth the while.  I beg thee only to visit Tigellinus to-day, and talk
+with him as long as thou hast with me of whatever may please thee."
+
+"Why?"
+
+"So that should Tigellinus ever say to me, 'Scevinus was with thee,' I
+might answer, 'He was with thee, too, that very day.'"
+
+Scevinus, when he heard this, broke the ivory cane which he had in his
+hand, and said,--"May the evil fall on this stick!  I shall be with
+Tigellinus to-day, and later at Nerva's feast.  Thou, too, wilt be
+there?  In every case till we meet in the amphitheatre, where the last
+of the Christians will appear the day after tomorrow.  Till we meet!"
+
+"After to-morrow!" repeated Petronius, when alone.  "There is no time to
+lose.  Ahenobarbus will need me really in Achća; hence he may count with
+me."
+
+And he determined to try the last means.
+
+In fact, at Nerva's feast Cćsar himself asked that Petronius recline
+opposite, for he wished to speak with the arbiter about Achća and the
+cities in which he might appear with hopes of the greatest success.  He
+cared most for the Athenians, whom he feared.  Other Augustians listened
+to this conversation with attention, so as to seize crumbs of the
+arbiter's opinions, and give them out later on as their own.
+
+"It seems to me that I have not lived up to this time," said Nero, "and
+that my birth will come only in Greece."
+
+"Thou wilt be born to new glory and immortality," answered Petronius.
+
+"I trust that this is true, and that Apollo will not seem jealous.  If I
+return in triumph, I will offer him such a hecatomb as no god has had so
+far."
+
+Scevinus fell to repeating the lines of Horace:--
+
+"Sic te diva potens Cypri, Sic fratres Helenć, lucida sidera,
+Ventorumque regat Pater-"
+
+"The vessel is ready at Naples," said Cćsar.  "I should like to go even
+tomorrow."
+
+At this Petronius rose, and, looking straight into Nero's eyes, said,
+
+"Permit me, O divinity, to celebrate a wedding-feast, to which I shall
+invite thee before others."
+
+"A wedding-feast!  What wedding-feast?" inquired Nero.
+
+"That of Vinicius with thy hostage the daughter of the Lygian king. She
+is in prison at present, it is true; but as a hostage she is not subject
+to imprisonment, and, secondly, thou thyself hast permitted Vinicius to
+marry her; and as thy sentences, like those of Zeus, are unchangeable,
+thou wilt give command to free her from prison, and I will give her to
+thy favorite."
+
+The cool blood and calm self-possession with which Petronius spoke
+disturbed Nero, who was disturbed whenever any one spoke in that fashion
+to him.
+
+"I know," said he, dropping his eyes.  "I have thought of her and of
+that giant who killed Croton."
+
+"In that case both are saved," answered Petronius, calmly.
+
+But Tigellinus came to the aid of his master: "She is in prison by the
+will of Cćsar; thou thyself hast said, O Petronius, that his sentences
+are unchangeable."
+
+All present, knowing the history of Vinicius and Lygia, understood
+perfectly what the question was; hence they were silent, curious as to
+the end of the conversation.
+
+"She is in prison against the will of Cćsar and through thy error,
+through thy ignorance of the law of nations," said Petronius, with
+emphasis.  "Thou art a naive man, Tigellinus; but even thou wilt not
+assert that she burnt Rome, and if thou wert to do so, Cćsar would not
+believe thee."
+
+But Nero had recovered and begun to half close his near-sighted eyes
+with an expression of indescribable malice.
+
+"Petronius is right," said he, after a while.
+
+Tigellinus looked at him with amazement.
+
+"Petronius is right," repeated Nero; "to-morrow the gates of the prison
+will be open to her, and of the marriage feast we will speak the day
+after at the amphitheatre."
+
+"I have lost again," thought Petronius.
+
+When he had returned home, he was so certain that the end of Lygia's
+life had come that he sent a trusty freedman to the amphitheatre to
+bargain with the chief of the spoliarium for the delivery of her body,
+since he wished to give it to Vinicius.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter LXV
+
+
+Evening exhibitions, rare up to that period and given only
+exceptionally, became common in Nero's time, both in the Circus and
+amphitheatre.  The Augustians liked them, frequently because they were
+followed by feasts and drinking-bouts which lasted till daylight.
+Though the people were sated already with blood-spilling, still, when
+the news went forth that the end of the games was approaching, and that
+the last of the Christians were to die at an evening spectacle, a
+countless audience assembled in the amphitheatre.  The Augustians came
+to a man, for they understood that it would not be a common spectacle;
+they knew that Cćsar had determined to make for himself a tragedy out of
+the suffering of Vinicius.  Tigellinus had kept secret the kind of
+punishment intended for the betrothed of the young tribune; but that
+merely roused general curiosity.  Those who had seen Lygia at the house
+of Plautius told wonders of her beauty.  Others were occupied above all
+with the question, would they see her really on the arena that day; for
+many of those who had heard the answer given Petronius and Nerva by
+Cćsar explained it in two ways: some supposed simply that Nero would
+give or perhaps had given the maiden to Vinicius; they remembered that
+she was a hostage, hence free to worship whatever divinities she liked,
+and that the law of nations did not permit her punishment.
+
+Uncertainty, waiting, and curiosity had mastered all spectators. Cćsar
+arrived earlier than usual; and immediately at his coming people
+whispered that something uncommon would happen, for besides Tigellinus
+and Vatinius, Cćsar had with him Cassius, a centurion of enormous size
+and gigantic strength, whom he summoned only when he wished to have a
+defender at his side,--for example, when he desired night expeditions to
+the Subura, where he arranged the amusement called "sagatio," which
+consisted in tossing on a soldier's mantle maidens met on the way. It
+was noted also that certain precautions had been taken in the
+amphitheatre itself.  The pretorian guards were increased; command over
+them was held, not by a centurion, but by the tribune Subrius Flavius,
+known hitherto for blind attachment to Nero.  It was understood, then,
+that Cćsar wished in every case to guard himself against an outburst of
+despair from Vinicius, and curiosity rose all the more.
+
+Every eye was turned with strained gaze to the place where the
+unfortunate lover was sitting.  He was exceedingly pale, and his
+forehead was covered with drops of sweat; he was in as much doubt as
+were other spectators, but alarmed to the lowest depth of his soul.
+Petronius knew not what would happen; he was silent, except that, while
+turning from Nerva, he asked Vinicius whether he was ready for
+everything, and next, whether he would remain at the spectacle.  To both
+questions Vinicius answered "Yes," but a shudder passed through his
+whole body; he divined that Petronius did not ask without reason.  For
+some time he had lived with only half his life,--he had sunk in death,
+and reconciled himself to Lygia's death, since for both it was to be
+liberation and marriage; but he learned now that it was one thing to
+think of the last moment when it was distant as of a quiet dropping
+asleep, and another to look at the torment of a person dearer to one
+than life. All sufferings endured formerly rose in him anew.  Despair,
+which had been set at rest, began again to cry in his soul; the former
+desire to save Lygia at any price seized him anew.  Beginning with the
+morning, he had tried to go to the cunicula to be sure that she was
+there; but the pretorians watched every entrance, and orders were so
+strict that the soldiers, even those whom he knew, would not be softened
+by prayers or gold.  It seemed to the tribune that uncertainty would
+kill him before he should see the spectacle. Somewhere at the bottom of
+his heart the hope was still throbbing, that perhaps Lygia was not in
+the amphitheatre, that his fears were groundless.  At times he seized on
+this hope with all his strength. He said in his soul that Christ might
+take her to Himself out of the prison, but could not permit her torture
+in the Circus.  Formerly he was resigned to the divine will in
+everything; now, when repulsed from the doors of the cunicula, he
+returned to his place in the amphitheatre, and when he learned, from the
+curious glances turned on him, that the most dreadful suppositions might
+be true, he began to implore in his soul with passionateness almost
+approaching a threat.  "Thou canst!" repeated he, clenching his fists
+convulsively, "Thou canst!"  Hitherto he had not supposed that that
+moment when present would be so terrible.  Now, without clear
+consciousness of what was happening in his mind, he had the feeling that
+if he should see Lygia tortured, his love for God would be turned to
+hatred, and his faith to despair.  But he was amazed at the feeling, for
+he feared to offend Christ, whom he was imploring for mercy and
+miracles.  He implored no longer for her life; he wished merely that she
+should die before they brought her to the arena, and from the abyss of
+his pain he repeated in spirt:  "Do not refuse even this, and I will
+love Thee still more than hitherto."  And then his thoughts raged as a
+sea torn by a whirlwind.  A desire for blood and vengeance was roused in
+him.  He was seized by a mad wish to rush at Nero and stifle him there
+in presence of all the spectators; but he felt that desire to be a new
+offence against Christ, and a breach of His command.  To his head flew
+at times flashes of hope that everything before which his soul was
+trembling would be turned aside by an almighty and merciful hand; but
+they were quenched at once, as if in measureless sorrow that He who
+could destroy that Circus with one word and save Lygia had abandoned
+her, though she trusted in Him and loved Him with all the strength of
+her pure heart.  And he thought, moreover, that she was lying there in
+that dark place, weak, defenceless, deserted, abandoned to the whim or
+disfavor of brutal guards, drawing her last breath, perhaps, while he
+had to wait, helpless, in that dreadful amphitheatre, without knowing
+what torture was prepared for her, or what he would witness in a moment.
+Finally, as a man falling over a precipice grasps at everything which
+grows on the edge of it, so did he grasp with both hands at the thought
+that faith of itself could save her.  That one method remained!  Peter
+had said that faith could move the earth to its foundations.
+
+Hence he rallied; he crushed doubt in himself, he compressed his whole
+being into the sentence, "I believe," and he looked for a miracle.
+
+But as an overdrawn cord may break, so exertion broke him.  The pallor
+of death covered his face, and his body relaxed.  He thought then that
+his prayer had been heard, for he was dying.  It seemed to him that
+Lygia must surely die too, and that Christ would take them to Himself in
+that way.  The arena, the white togas, the countless spectators, the
+light of thousands of lamps and torches, all vanished from his vision.
+
+But his weakness did not last long.  After a while he roused himself, or
+rather the stamping of the impatient multitude roused him.
+
+"Thou art ill," said Petronius; "give command to bear thee home."
+
+And without regard to what Cćsar would say, he rose to support Vinicius
+and go out with him.  His heart was filled with pity, and, moreover, he
+was irritated beyond endurance because Cćsar was looking through the
+emerald at Vinicius, studying his pain with satisfaction, to describe it
+afterwards, perhaps, in pathetic strophes, and win the applause of
+hearers.
+
+Vinicius shook his head.  He might die in that amphitheatre, but he
+could not go out of it.  Moreover the spectacle might begin any moment.
+
+In fact, at that very instant almost, the prefect of the city waved a
+red handkerchief, the hinges opposite Cćsar's podium creaked, and out of
+the dark gully came Ursus into the brightly lighted arena.
+
+The giant blinked, dazed evidently by the glitter of the arena; then he
+pushed into the centre, gazing around as if to see what he had to meet.
+It was known to all the Augustians and to most of the spectators that he
+was the man who had stifled Croton; hence at sight of him a murmur
+passed along every bench.  In Rome there was no lack of gladiators
+larger by far than the common measure of man, but Roman eyes had never
+seen the like of Ursus.  Cassius, standing in Cćsar's podium, seemed
+puny compared with that Lygian.  Senators, vestals, Cćsar, the
+Augustians, and the people gazed with the delight of experts at his
+mighty limbs as large as tree-trunks, at his breast as large as two
+shields joined together, and his arms of a Hercules.  The murmur rose
+every instant.  For those multitudes there could be no higher pleasure
+than to look at those muscles in play in the exertion of a struggle.
+The murmur rose to shouts, and eager questions were put: "Where do the
+people live who can produce such a giant?"  He stood there, in the
+middle of the amphitheatre, naked, more like a stone colossus than a
+man, with a collected expression, and at the same time the sad look of a
+barbarian; and while surveying the empty arena, he gazed wonderingly
+with his blue childlike eyes, now at the spectators, now at Cćsar, now
+at the grating of the cunicula, whence, as he thought, his executioners
+would come.
+
+At the moment when he stepped into the arena his simple heart was
+beating for the last time with the hope that perhaps a cross was waiting
+for him; but when he saw neither the cross nor the hole in which it
+might be put, he thought that he was unworthy of such favor,--that he
+would find death in another way, and surely from wild beasts.  He was
+unarmed, and had determined to die as became a confessor of the "Lamb,"
+peacefully and patiently. Meanwhile he wished to pray once more to the
+Saviour; so he knelt on the arena, joined his hands, and raised his eyes
+toward the stars which were glittering in the lofty opening of the
+amphitheatre.
+
+That act displeased the crowds.  They had had enough of those Christians
+who died like sheep.  They understood that if the giant would not defend
+himself the spectacle would be a failure.  Here and there hisses were
+heard.  Some began to cry for scourgers, whose office it was to lash
+combatants unwilling to fight.  But soon all had grown silent, for no
+one knew what was waiting for the giant, nor whether he would not be
+ready to struggle when he met death eye to eye.
+
+In fact, they had not long to wait.  Suddenly the shrill sound of brazen
+trumpets was heard, and at that signal a grating opposite Cćsar's podium
+was opened, and into the arena rushed, amid shouts of beast-keepers, an
+enormous German aurochs, bearing on his head the naked body of a woman.
+
+"Lygia! Lygia!" cried Vinicius.
+
+Then he seized his hair near the temples, squirmed like a man who feels
+a sharp dart in his body, and began to repeat in hoarse accents,--
+
+"I believe! I believe!  O Christ, a miracle!"
+
+And he did not even feel that Petronius covered his head that moment
+with the toga.  It seemed to him that death or pain had closed his eyes.
+He did not look, he did not see.  The feeling of some awful emptiness
+possessed him.  In his head there remained not a thought; his lips
+merely repeated, as if in madness,--
+
+"I believe! I believe! I believe!"
+
+This time the amphitheatre was silent.  The Augustians rose in their
+places, as one man, for in the arena something uncommon had happened.
+That Lygian, obedient and ready to die, when he saw his queen on the
+horns of the wild beast, sprang up, as if touched by living fire, and
+bending forward he ran at the raging animal.
+
+From all breasts a sudden cry of amazement was heard, after which came
+deep silence.
+
+The Lygian fell on the raging bull in a twinkle, and seized him by the
+horns.
+
+"Look!" cried Petronius, snatching the toga from the head of Vinicius.
+The latter rose and bent back his head; his face was as pale as linen,
+and he looked into the arena with a glassy, vacant stare.
+
+All breasts ceased to breathe.  In the amphitheatre a fly might be heard
+on the wing.  People could not believe their own eyes.  Since Rome was
+Rome, no one had seen such a spectacle.
+
+The Lygian held the wild beast by the horns.  The man's feet sank in the
+sand to his ankles, his back was bent like a drawn bow, his head was
+hidden between his shoulders, on his arms the muscles came out so that
+the skin almost burst from their pressure; but he had stopped the bull
+in his tracks.  And the man and the beast remained so still that the
+spectators thought themselves looking at a picture showing a deed of
+Hercules or Theseus, or a group hewn from stone.  But in that apparent
+repose there was a tremendous exertion of two struggling forces.  The
+bull sank his feet as well as did the man in the sand, and his dark,
+shaggy body was curved so that it seemed a gigantic ball.  Which of the
+two would fail first, which would fall first,--that was the question for
+those spectators enamoured of such struggles; a question which at that
+moment meant more for them than their own fate, than all Rome and its
+lordship over the world.  That Lygian was in their eyes then a demigod
+worthy of honor and statues.  Cćsar himself stood up as well as others.
+He and Tigellinus, hearing of the man's strength, had arranged this
+spectacle purposely, and said to each other with a jeer, "Let that
+slayer of Croton kill the bull which we choose for him"; so they looked
+now with amazement at that picture, as if not believing that it could be
+real.
+
+In the amphitheatre were men who had raised their arms and remained in
+that posture.  Sweat covered the faces of others, as if they themselves
+were struggling with the beast.  In the Circus nothing was heard save
+the sound of flame in the lamps, and the crackle of bits of coal as they
+dropped from the torches.  Their voices died on the lips of the
+spectators, but their hearts were beating in their breasts as if to
+split them.  It seemed to all that the struggle was lasting for ages.
+But the man and the beast continued on in their monstrous exertion; one
+might have said that they were planted in the earth.
+
+Meanwhile a dull roar resembling a groan was heard from the arena, after
+which a brief shout was wrested from every breast, and again there was
+silence.  People thought themselves dreaming till the enormous head of
+the bull began to turn in the iron hands of the barbarian.  The face,
+neck, and arms of the Lygian grew purple; his back bent still more.  It
+was clear that he was rallying the remnant of his superhuman strength,
+but that he could not last long.
+
+Duller and duller, hoarser and hoarser, more and more painful grew the
+groan of the bull as it mingled with the whistling breath from the
+breast of the giant.  The head of the beast turned more and more, and
+from his jaws crept forth a long, foaming tongue.
+
+A moment more, and to the ears of spectators sitting nearer came as it
+were the crack of breaking bones; then the beast rolled on the earth
+with his neck twisted in death.
+
+The giant removed in a twinkle the ropes from the horns of the bull and,
+raising the maiden, began to breathe hurriedly.  His face became pale,
+his hair stuck together from sweat, his shoulders and arms seemed
+flooded with water.  For a moment he stood as if only half conscious;
+then he raised his eyes and looked at the spectators.
+
+The amphitheatre had gone wild.
+
+The walls of the building were trembling from the roar of tens of
+thousands of people.  Since the beginning of spectacles there was no
+memory of such excitement.  Those who were sitting on the highest rows
+came down, crowding in the passages between benches to look more nearly
+at the strong man.  Everywhere were heard cries for mercy, passionate
+and persistent, which soon turned into one unbroken thunder.  That giant
+had become dear to those people enamoured of physical strength; he was
+the first personage in Rome.
+
+He understood that the multitude were striving to grant him his life and
+restore him his freedom, but clearly his thought was not on himself
+alone.  He looked around a while; then approached Cćsar's podium, and,
+holding the body of the maiden on his outstretched arms, raised his eyes
+with entreaty, as if to say,--
+
+"Have mercy on her!  Save the maiden.  I did that for her sake!"
+
+The spectators understood perfectly what he wanted.  At sight of the
+unconscious maiden, who near the enormous Lygian seemed a child, emotion
+seized the multitude of knights and senators.  Her slender form, as
+white as if chiselled from alabaster, her fainting, the dreadful danger
+from which the giant had freed her, and finally her beauty and
+attachment had moved every heart.  Some thought the man a father begging
+mercy for his child.  Pity burst forth suddenly, like a flame.  They had
+had blood, death, and torture in sufficiency.  Voices choked with tears
+began to entreat mercy for both.
+
+Meanwhile Ursus, holding the girl in his arms, moved around the arena,
+and with his eyes and with motions begged her life for her. Now Vinicius
+started up from his seat, sprang over the barrier which separated the
+front places from the arena, and, running to Lygia, covered her naked
+body with his toga.
+
+Then he tore apart the tunic on his breast, laid bare the scars left by
+wounds received in the Armenian war, and stretched out his hands to the
+audience.
+
+At this the enthusiasm of the multitude passed everything seen in a
+circus before.  The crowd stamped and howled.  Voices calling for mercy
+grew simply terrible.  People not only took the part of the athlete, but
+rose in defense of the soldier, the maiden, their love. Thousands of
+spectators turned to Cćsar with flashes of anger in their eyes and with
+clinched fists.
+
+But Cćsar halted and hesitated.  Against Vinicius he had no hatred
+indeed, and the death of Lygia did not concern him; but he preferred to
+see the body of the maiden rent by the horns of the bull or torn by the
+claws of beasts.  His cruelty, his deformed imagination, and deformed
+desires found a kind of delight in such spectacles.  And now the people
+wanted to rob him.  Hence anger appeared on his bloated face.  Self-love
+also would not let him yield to the wish of the multitude, and still he
+did not dare to oppose it, through his inborn cowardice.
+
+So he gazed around to see if among the Augustians at least, he could not
+find fingers turned down in sign of death.  But Petronius held up his
+hand, and looked into Nero's face almost challengingly. Vestinius,
+superstitious but inclined to enthusiasm, a man who feared ghosts but
+not the living, gave a sign for mercy also.  So did Scevinus, the
+Senator; so did Nerva, so did Tullius Senecio, so did the famous leader
+Ostorius Scapula, and Antistius, and Piso, and Vetus, and Crispinus, and
+Minucius Thermus, and Pontius Telesinus, and the most important of all,
+one honored by the people, Thrasea.
+
+In view of this, Cćsar took the emerald from his eye with an expression
+of contempt and offence; when Tigellinus, whose desire was to spite
+Petronius, turned to him and said,--
+
+"Yield not, divinity; we have the pretorians."
+
+Then Nero turned to the place where command over the pretorians was held
+by the stern Subrius Flavius, hitherto devoted with whole soul to him,
+and saw something unusual.  The face of the old tribune was stern, but
+covered with tears, and he was holding his hand up in sign of mercy.
+
+Now rage began to possess the multitude.  Dust rose from beneath the
+stamping feet, and filled the amphitheatre.  In the midst of shouts were
+heard cries: "Ahenobarbus! matricide! incendiary!"
+
+Nero was alarmed.  Romans were absolute lords in the Circus. Former
+Cćsars, and especially Caligula, had permitted themselves sometimes to
+act against the will of the people; this, however, called forth
+disturbance always, going sometimes to bloodshed. But Nero was in a
+different position.  First, as a comedian and a singer he needed the
+people's favor; second, he wanted it on his side against the Senate and
+the patricians, and especially after the burning of Rome he strove by
+all means to win it, and turn their anger against the Christians.  He
+understood, besides, that to oppose longer was simply dangerous.  A
+disturbance begun in the Circus might seize the whole city, and have
+results incalculable.
+
+He looked once more at Subrius Flavius, at Scevinus the centurion, a
+relative of the senator, at the soldiers; and seeing everywhere frowning
+brows, excited faces, and eyes fixed on him, he gave the sign for mercy.
+
+Then a thunder of applause was heard from the highest seats to the
+lowest.  The people were sure of the lives of the condemned, for from
+that moment they went under their protection, and even Cćsar would not
+have dared to pursue them any longer with his vengeance.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter LXVI
+
+
+FOUR Bithynians carried Lygia carefully to the house of Petronius.
+Vinicius and Ursus walked at her side, hurrying so as to give her into
+the hands of the Greek physician as quickly as possible.  They walked in
+silence, for after the events of the day they had not power to speak.
+Vinicius so far was as if half conscious.  He kept repeating to himself
+that Lygia was saved; that she was threatened no longer by imprisonment,
+or death in the Circus; that their misfortunes had ended once and
+forever; that he would take her home and not separate again from her.
+This appeared to him the beginning of some other life rather than
+reality.  From moment to moment he bent over the open litter to look on
+the beloved face, which in the moonlight seemed sleeping, and he
+repeated mentally, "This is she!  Christ has saved her!"  He remembered
+also that while he and Ursus were carrying her from the spoliarium an
+unknown physician had assured him that she was living and would recover.
+At this thought delight so filled his breast that at moments he grew
+weak, and being unable to walk with his own strength leaned on the arm
+of Ursus.  Ursus meanwhile was looking into the sky filled with stars,
+and was praying.
+
+They advanced hurriedly along streets where newly erected white
+buildings shone brightly in the moonlight.  The city was empty, save
+here and there where crowds of people crowned with ivy, sang and danced
+before porticos to the sound of flutes, thus taking advantage of the
+wonderful night and the festive season, unbroken from the beginning of
+the games.  Only when they were near the house did Ursus stop praying,
+and say in a low voice, as if he feared to waken Lygia,--
+
+"Lord, it was the Saviour who rescued her from death.  When I saw her on
+the horns of the aurochs, I heard a voice in my soul saying, 'Defend
+her!' and that was the voice of the Lamb.  The prison took strength from
+me, but He gave it back in that moment, and inspired that cruel people
+to take her part.  Let His will be done!"
+
+And Vinicius answered,--
+
+"Magnified be His name!"
+
+He had not power to continue, for all at once he felt that a mighty
+weeping was swelling his breast.  He was seized by an overpowering wish
+to throw himself on the earth and thank the Saviour for His miracles and
+His mercy.
+
+Meanwhile they had come to the house; the servants, informed by a slave
+despatched in advance, crowded out to meet them.  Paul of Tarsus had
+sent back from Antium the greater part of those people. The misfortune
+of Vinicius was known to them perfectly; therefore their delight at
+seeing those victims which had been snatched from the malice of Nero was
+immense, and increased still more when the physician Theocles declared
+that Lygia had not suffered serious injury, and that when the weakness
+caused by prison fever had passed, she would regain health.
+
+Consciousness returned to her that night.  Waking in the splendid
+chamber lighted by Corinthian lamps, amidst the odor of verbena and
+nard, she knew not where she was, or what was taking place with her.
+She remembered the moment in which she had been lashed to the horns of
+the chained bull; and now, seeing above her the face of Vinicius,
+lighted by the mild rays of the lamp, she supposed herself no longer on
+earth.  The thoughts were confused in her weakened head; it seemed to
+her natural to be detained somewhere on the way to heaven, because of
+her tortures and weakness.  Feeling no pain, however, she smiled at
+Vinicius, and wanted to ask where they were; but from her lips came
+merely a low whisper in which he could barely detect his own name.
+
+Then he knelt near her, and, placing his hand on her forehead lightly,
+he said,--
+
+"Christ saved thee, and returned thee to me!"
+
+Her lips moved again with a meaningless whisper; her lids closed after a
+moment, her breast rose with a light sigh, and she fell into a deep
+sleep, for which the physician had been waiting, and after which she
+would return to health, he said.
+
+Vinicius remained kneeling near her, however, sunk in prayer.  His soul
+was melting with a love so immense that he forgot himself utterly.
+Theocles returned often to the chamber, and the golden-haired Eunice
+appeared behind the raised curtain a number of times; finally cranes,
+reared in the gardens, began to call, heralding the coming day, but
+Vinicius was still embracing in his mind the feet of Christ, neither
+seeing nor hearing what was passing around him, with a heart turned into
+a thanksgiving, sacrificial flame, sunk in ecstasy, and though alive,
+half seized into heaven.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter LXVII
+
+
+PETRONIUS, after the liberation of Lygia, not wishing to irritate Cćsar,
+went to the Palatine with other Augustians.  He wanted to hear what they
+were saying, and especially to learn if Tigellinus was devising
+something new to destroy Lygia.  Both she and Ursus had passed under the
+protection of the people, it is true, and no one could place a hand on
+them without raising a riot; still Petronius, knowing the hatred toward
+him of the all-powerful pretorian prefect, considered that very likely
+Tigellinus, while unable to strike him directly, would strive to find
+some means of revenge against his nephew.
+
+Nero was angry and irritated, since the spectacle had ended quite
+differently from what he had planned.  At first he did not wish even to
+look at Petronius; but the latter, without losing cool blood, approached
+him, with all the freedom of the "arbiter elegantiarum," and said,--
+
+"Dost thou know, divinity, what occurs to me?  Write a poem on the
+maiden who, at command of the lord of the world, was freed from the
+horns of the wild bull and given to her lover.  The Greeks are
+sensitive, and I am sure that the poem will enchant them."
+
+This thought pleased Nero in spite of all his irritation, and it pleased
+him doubly, first, as a subject for a poem, and second, because in it he
+could glorify himself as the magnanimous lord of the earth; hence he
+looked for a time at Petronius, and then said,--
+
+"Yes! perhaps thou art right.  But does it become me to celebrate my own
+goodness?"
+
+"There is no need to give names.  In Rome all will know who is meant,
+and from Rome reports go through the whole world."
+
+"But art thou sure that this will please the people in Achća?"
+
+"By Poilux, it will!" said Petronius.
+
+And he went away satisfied, for he felt certain that Nero, whose whole
+life was an arrangement of reality to literary plans, would not spoil
+the subject, and by this alone he would tie the hands of Tigellinus.
+This, however, did not change his plan of sending Vinicius out of Rome
+as soon as Lygia's health should permit.  So when he saw him next day,
+he said,--
+
+"Take her to Sicily.  As things have happened, on Cćsar's part thou art
+threatened by nothing; but Tigellinus is ready to use even poison,--if
+not out of hatred to you both, out of hatred to me."
+
+Vinicius smiled at him, and said:  "She was on the horns of the wild
+bull; still Christ saved her."
+
+"Then honor Him with a hecatomb," replied Petronius, with an accent of
+impatience, "but do not beg Him to save her a second time.  Dost
+remember how Eolus received Ulysses when he returned to ask a second
+time for favoring winds?  Deities do not like to repeat themselves."
+
+"When her health returns, I will take her to Pomponia Grćcina," said
+Vinicius.
+
+"And thou wilt do that all the better since Pomponia is ill; Antistius,
+a relative of Aulus, told me so.  Meanwhile things will happen here to
+make people forget thee, and in these times the forgotten are the
+happiest.  May Fortune be thy sun in winter, and thy shade in summer."
+
+Then he left Vinicius to his happiness, but went himself to inquire of
+Theocles touching the life and health of Lygia.
+
+Danger threatened her no longer.  Emaciated as she was in the dungeon
+after prison fever, foul air and discomfort would have killed her; but
+now she had the most tender care, and not only plenty, but luxury.  At
+command of Theocles they took her to the gardens of the villa after two
+days; in these gardens she remained for hours.  Vinicius decked her
+litter with anemones, and especially with irises, to remind her of the
+atrium of the house of Aulus. More than once, hidden in the shade of
+spreading trees, they spoke of past sufferings and fears, each holding
+the other's hand.  Lygia said that Christ had conducted him through
+suffering purposely to change his soul and raise it to Himself.
+Vinicius felt that this was true, and that there was in him nothing of
+the former patrician, who knew no law but his own desire.  In those
+memories there was nothing bitter, however.  It seemed to both that
+whole years had gone over their heads, and that the dreadful past lay
+far behind.  At the same time such a calmness possessed them as they had
+never known before.  A new life of immense happiness had come and taken
+them into itself.  In Rome Cćsar might rage and fill the world with
+terror--they felt above them a guardianship a hundred times mightier
+than his power, and had no further fear of his rage or his malice, just
+as if for them he had ceased to be the lord of life or death.  Once,
+about sunset, the roar of lions and other beasts reached them from
+distant vivaria.  Formerly those sounds filled Vinicius with fear
+because they were ominous; now he and Lygia merely looked at each other
+and raised their eyes to the evening twilight.  At times Lygia, still
+very weak and unable to walk alone, fell asleep in the quiet of the
+garden; he watched over her, and, looking at her sleeping face, thought
+involuntarily that she was not that Lygia whom he had met at the house
+of Aulus.  In fact, imprisonment and disease had to some extent quenched
+her beauty.  When he saw her at the house of Aulus, and later, when he
+went to Miriam's house to seize her, she was as wonderful as a statue
+and also as a flower; now her face had become almost transparent, her
+hands thin, her body reduced by disease, her lips pale, and even her
+eyes seemed less blue than formerly.  The golden-haired Eunice who
+brought her flowers and rich stuffs to cover her feet was a divinity of
+Cyprus in comparison.  Petronius tried in vain to find the former charms
+in her, and, shrugging his shoulders, thought that that shadow from
+Elysian fields was not worth those struggles, those pains, and those
+tortures which had almost sucked the life out of Vinicius.  But
+Vinicius, in love now with her spirit, loved it all the more; and when
+he was watching over her while asleep, it seemed to him that he was
+watching over the whole world.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter LXVIII
+
+
+NEWS of the miraculous rescue of Lygia was circulated quickly among
+those scattered Christians who had escaped destruction. Confessors came
+to look at her to whom Christ's favor had been shown clearly.  First
+came Nazarius and Miriam, with whom Peter the Apostle was hiding thus
+far; after them came others.  All, as well as Vinicius, Lygia, and the
+Christian slaves of Petronius, listened with attention to the narrative
+of Ursus about the voice which he had heard in his soul, and which
+commanded him to struggle with the wild bull.  All went away consoled,
+hoping that Christ would not let His followers be exterminated on earth
+before His coming at the day of judgment.  And hope sustained their
+hearts, for persecution had not ceased yet.  Whoever was declared a
+Christian by public report was thrown into prison at once by the city
+watches.  It is true that the victims were fewer, for the majority of
+confessors had been seized and tortured to death.  The Christians who
+remained had either left Rome to wait out the storm in distant
+provinces, or had hidden most carefully, not daring to assemble in
+common prayer, unless in sand-pits outside the city.  They were
+persecuted yet, however, and though the games were at an end, the newly
+arrested were reserved for future games or punished specially.  Though
+it was believed in Rome no longer that Christians had caused the
+conflagration, they were declared enemies of humanity and the State, and
+the edict against them remained in former force.
+
+The Apostle Peter did not venture for a long time to appear in the house
+of Petronius, but at last on a certain evening Nazarius announced his
+arrival.  Lygia, who was able to walk alone now, and Vinicius ran out to
+meet him, and fell to embracing his feet.  He greeted them with emotion
+all the greater that not many sheep in that flock over which Christ had
+given him authority, and over the fate of which his great heart was
+weeping, remained to him.  So when Vinicius said, "Lord, because of thee
+the Redeemer returned her to me," he answered: "He returned her because
+of thy faith, and so that not all the lips which profess His name should
+grow silent." And evidently he was thinking then of those thousands of
+his children torn by wild beasts, of those crosses with which the arena
+had been filled, and those fiery pillars in the gardens of the "Beast";
+for he spoke with great sadness.  Vinicius and Lygia noticed also that
+his hair had grown entirely white, that his whole form was bent, and
+that in his face there was as much sadness and suffering as if he had
+passed through all those pains and torments which the victims of Nero's
+rage and madness had endured.  But both understood that since Christ had
+given Himself to torture and to death, no one was permitted to avoid it.
+Still their hearts were cut at sight of the Apostle, bent by years,
+toil, and pain.  So Vinicius, who intended to take Lygia soon to Naples,
+where they would meet Pomponia and go to Sicily, implored him to leave
+Rome in their company.
+
+But the Apostle placed his hand on the tribune's head and answered,--
+
+"In my soul I hear these words of the Lord, which He spoke to me on the
+Lake of Tiberias: 'When thou wert young, thou didst gird thyself, and
+walk whither thou wouldst; but when thou shalt be old, thou shalt
+stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee
+whither thou wouldst not.' Therefore it is proper that I follow my
+flock."
+
+And when they were silent, not knowing the sense of his speech, he
+added,
+
+"My toil is nearing its end; I shall find entertainment and rest only in
+the house of the Lord."
+
+Then he turned to them saying: "Remember me, for I have loved you as a
+father loves his children; and whatever ye do in life, do it for the
+glory of God."
+
+Thus speaking, he raised his aged, trembling hands and blessed them;
+they nestled up to him, feeling that to be the last blessing, perhaps,
+which they should receive from him.
+
+It was destined them, however, to see him once more.  A few days later
+Petronius brought terrible news from the Palatine.  It had been
+discovered there that one of Cćsar's freedmen was a Christian; and on
+this man were found letters of the Apostles Peter and Paul, with letters
+of James, John, and Judas.  Peter's presence in Rome was known formerly
+to Tigellinus, but he thought that the Apostle had perished with
+thousands of other confessors.  Now it transpired that the two leaders
+of the new faith were alive and in the capital. It was determined,
+therefore, to seize them at all costs, for it was hoped that with their
+death the last root of the hated sect would be plucked out.  Petronius
+heard from Vestinius that Cćsar himself had issued an order to put Peter
+and Paul in the Mamertine prison within three days, and that whole
+detachments of pretorians had been sent to search every house in the
+Trans-Tiber.
+
+When he heard this, Vinicius resolved to warn the Apostle.  In the
+evening he and Ursus put on Gallic mantles and went to the house of
+Miriam, where Peter was living.  The house was at the very edge of the
+Trans-Tiber division of the city, at the foot of the Janiculum. On the
+road they saw houses surrounded by soldiers, who were guided by certain
+unknown persons.  This division of the city was alarmed, and in places
+crowds of curious people had assembled. Here and there centurions
+interrogated prisoners touching Simon Peter and Paul of Tarsus.
+
+Ursus and Vinicius were in advance of the soldiers, and went safely to
+Miriam's house, in which they found Peter surrounded by a handful of the
+faithful.  Timothy, Paul's assistant, and Linus were at the side of the
+Apostle.
+
+At news of the approaching danger, Nazarius led all by a hidden passage
+to the garden gate, and then to deserted stone quarries, a few hundred
+yards distant from the Janiculum Gate.  Ursus had to carry Linus, whose
+bones, broken by torture, had not grown together yet.  But once in the
+quarry, they felt safe; and by the light of a torch ignited by Nazarius
+they began to consult, in a low voice, how to save the life of the
+Apostle who was so dear to them.
+
+"Lord," said Vinicius, "let Nazarius guide thee at daybreak to the Alban
+Hills.  There I will find thee, and we will take thee to Antium, where a
+ship is ready to take us to Naples and Sicily. Blessed will the day and
+the hour be in which thou shalt enter my house, and thou wilt bless my
+hearth."
+
+The others heard this with delight, and pressed the Apostle, saying,
+
+"Hide thyself, sacred leader; remain not in Rome.  Preserve the living
+truth, so that it perish not with us and thee.  Hear us, who entreat
+thee as a father."
+
+"Do this in Christ's name!" cried others, grasping at his robes.
+
+"My children," answered Peter, "who knows the time when the Lord will
+mark the end of his life?"
+
+But he did not say that he would not leave Rome, and he hesitated what
+to do; for uncertainty, and even fear, had been creeping into his soul
+for some time.  His flock was scattered; the work was wrecked; that
+church, which before the burning of the city had been flourishing like a
+splendid tree, was turned into dust by the power of the "Beast."
+Nothing remained save tears, nothing save memories of torture and death.
+The sowing had yielded rich fruit, but Satan had trampled it into the
+earth.  Legions of angels had not come to aid the perishing,--and Nero
+was extending in glory over the earth, terrible, mightier than ever, the
+lord of all seas and all lands.  More than once had that fisherman of
+the Lord stretched his hands heavenward in loneliness and asked: "Lord,
+what must I do? How must I act?  And how am I, a feeble old man, to
+fight with this invincible power of Evil, which Thou hart permitted to
+rule, and have victory?"
+
+And he called out thus in the depth of his immense pain, repeating in
+spirit:  "Those sheep which Thou didst command me to feed are no more,
+Thy church is no more; loneliness and mourning are in Thy capital; what
+dost Thou command me to do now?  Am I to stay here, or lead forth the
+remnant of the flock to glorify Thy name in secret somewhere beyond the
+sea?"
+
+And he hesitated, He believed that the living truth would not perish,
+that it must conquer; but at moments he thought that the hour had not
+come yet, that it would come only when the Lord should descend to the
+earth in the day of judgment in glory and power a hundred times greater
+than the might of Nero.
+
+Frequently it seemed to him that if he left Rome, the faithful would
+follow; that he would lead them then far away to the shady groves of
+Galilee, to the quiet surface of the Lake of Tiberias, to shepherds as
+peaceful as doves, or as sheep, who feed there among thyme and
+pepperwort.  And an increasing desire for peace and rest, an increasing
+yearning for the lake and Galilee, seized the heart of the fisherman;
+tears came more frequently to the old man's eyes.
+
+But at the moment when he made the choice, sudden alarm and fear came on
+him.  How was he to leave that city, in which so much martyrs' blood had
+sunk into the earth, and where so many lips had given the true testimony
+of the dying?  Was he alone to yield?  And what would he answer the Lord
+on hearing the words, "These have died for the faith, but thou didst
+flee"?
+
+Nights and days passed for him in anxiety and suffering.  Others, who
+had been torn by lions, who had been fastened to crosses, who had been
+burnt in the gardens of Cćsar, had fallen asleep in the Lord after
+moments of torture; but he could not sleep, and he felt greater tortures
+than any of those invented by executioners for victims.  Often was the
+dawn whitening the roofs of houses while he was still crying from the
+depth of his mourning heart: "Lord, why didst Thou command me to come
+hither and found Thy capital in the den of the 'Beast'?"
+
+For thirty-three years after the death of his Master he knew no rest.
+Staff in hand, he had gone through the world and declared the "good
+tidings."  His strength had been exhausted in journeys and toil, till at
+last, when in that city, which was the head of the world, he had
+established the work of his Master, one bloody breath of wrath had
+burned it, and he saw that there was need to take up the struggle anew.
+And what a struggle!  On one side Caecsar, the Senate, the people, the
+legions holding the world with a circle of iron, countless cities,
+countless lands,--power such as the eye of man had not seen; on the
+other side he, so bent with age and toil that his trembling hand was
+hardly able to carry his staff.
+
+At times, therefore, he said to himself that it was not for him to
+measure with the Cćsar of Rome,--that Christ alone could do that.
+
+All these thoughts were passing through his care-filled head, when he
+heard the prayers of the last handful of the faithful.  They,
+surrounding him in an ever narrowing circle, repeated with voices of
+entreaty,--
+
+"Hide thyself, Rabbi, and lead us away from the power of the 'Beast.'"
+
+Finally Linus also bowed his tortured head before him.
+
+"O lord," said he, "the Redeemer commanded thee to feed His sheep, but
+they are here no longer or to-morrow they will not be here; go,
+therefore, where thou mayst find them yet.  The word of God is living
+still in Jerusalem, in Antioch, in Ephesus, and in other cities.  What
+wilt thou do by remaining in Rome?  If thou fall, thou wilt merely swell
+the triumph of the 'Beast.' The Lord has not designated the limit of
+John's life; Paul is a Roman citizen, they cannot condemn him without
+trial; but if the power of hell rise up against thee, O teacher, those
+whose hearts are dejected will ask, 'Who is above Nero?' Thou art the
+rock on which the church of God is founded.  Let us die, but permit not
+the victory of Antichrist over the viceregent of God, and return not
+hither till the Lord has crushed him who shed innocent blood."
+
+"Look at our tears!" repeated all who were present.
+
+Tears flowed over Peter's face too.  After a while he rose, and,
+stretching his hands over the kneeling figures, said,--
+
+"May the name of the Lord be magnified, and may His will be done!"
+
+
+
+
+Chapter LXIX
+
+
+About dawn of the following day two dark figures were moving along the
+Appian Way toward the Campania.
+
+One of them was Nazarius; the other the Apostle Peter, who was leaving
+Rome and his martyred co-religionists.
+
+The sky in the east was assuming a light tinge of green, bordered
+gradually and more distinctly on the lower edge with saffron color.
+Silver-leafed trees, the white marble of villas, and the arches of
+aqueducts, stretching through the plain toward the city, were emerging
+from shade.  The greenness of the sky was clearing gradually, and
+becoming permeated with gold.  Then the east began to grow rosy and
+illuminate the Alban Hills, which seemed marvellously beautiful, lily-
+colored, as if formed of rays of light alone.
+
+The light was reflected in trembling leaves of trees, in the dew-drops.
+The haze grew thinner, opening wider and wider views on the plain, on
+the houses dotting it, on the cemeteries, on the towns, and on groups of
+trees, among which stood white columns of temples.
+
+The road was empty.  The villagers who took vegetables to the city had
+not succeeded yet, evidently, in harnessing beasts to their vehicles.
+From the stone blocks with which the road was paved as far as the
+mountains, there came a low sound from the bark shoes on the feet of the
+two travellers.
+
+Then the sun appeared over the line of hills; but at once a wonderful
+vision struck the Apostle's eyes.  It seemed to him that the golden
+circle, instead of rising in the sky, moved down from the heights and
+was advancing on the road.  Peter stopped, and asked,--
+
+"Seest thou that brightness approaching us?"
+
+"I see nothing," replied Nazarius.
+
+But Peter shaded his eyes with his hand, and said after a while,
+
+"Some figure is coming in the gleam of the sun."  But not the slightest
+sound of steps reached their ears.  It was perfectly still all around.
+Nazarius saw only that the trees were quivering in the distance, as if
+some one were shaking them, and the light was spreading more broadly
+over the plain.  He looked with wonder at the Apostle.
+
+"Rabbi! what ails thee?" cried he, with alarm.
+
+The pilgrim's staff fell from Peter's hands to the earth; his eyes were
+looking forward, motionless; his mouth was open; on his face were
+depicted astonishment, delight, rapture.
+
+Then he threw himself on his knees, his arms stretched forward; and this
+cry left his lips,--
+
+"O Christ!  O Christ!"
+
+He fell with his face to the earth, as if kissing some one's feet.
+
+The silence continued long; then were heard the words of the aged man,
+broken by sobs,--
+
+"Quo vadis, Domine?"
+
+Nazarius did not hear the answer; but to Peter's ears came a sad and
+sweet voice, which said,--
+
+"If thou desert my people, I am going to Rome to be crucified a second
+time."
+
+The Apostle lay on the ground, his face in the dust, without motion or
+speech.  It seemed to Nazarius that he had fainted or was dead; but he
+rose at last, seized the staff with trembling hands, and turned without
+a word toward the seven hills of the city.
+
+The boy, seeing this, repeated as an echo,--
+
+"Quo vadis, Domine?"
+
+"To Rome," said the Apostle, in a low voice.
+
+And he returned.
+
+
+Paul, John, Linus, and all the faithful received him with amazement; and
+the alarm was the greater, since at daybreak, just after his departure,
+pretorians had surrounded Miriam's house and searched it for the
+Apostle.  But to every question he answered only with delight and
+peace,--
+
+"I have seen the Lord!"
+
+And that same evening he went to the Ostian cemetery to teach and
+baptize those who wished to bathe in the water of life.
+
+And thenceforward he went there daily, and after him went increasing
+numbers.  It seemed that out of every tear of a martyr new confessors
+were born, and that every groan on the arena found an echo in thousands
+of breasts.  Cćsar was swimming in blood, Rome and the whole pagan world
+was mad.  But those who had had enough of transgression and madness,
+those who were trampled upon, those whose lives were misery and
+oppression, all the weighed down, all the sad, all the unfortunate, came
+to hear the wonderful tidings of God, who out of love for men had given
+Himself to be crucified and redeem their sins.
+
+When they found a God whom they could love, they had found that which
+the society of the time could not give any one,--happiness and love.
+
+And Peter understood that neither Cćsar nor all his legions could
+overcome the living truth,--that they could not overwhelm it with tears
+or blood, and that now its victory was beginning.  He understood with
+equal force why the Lord had turned him back on the road.  That city of
+pride, crime, wickedness, and power was beginning to be His city, and
+the double capital, from which would flow out upon the world government
+of souls and bodies.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter LXX
+
+
+AT last the hour was accomplished for both Apostles.  But, as if to
+complete his service, it was given to the fisherman of the Lord to win
+two souls even in confinement.  The soldiers, Processus and Martinianus,
+who guarded him in the Mamertine prison, received baptism.  Then came
+the hour of torture.  Nero was not in Rome at that time.  Sentence was
+passed by Helius and Polythetes, two freedmen to whom Cćsar had confided
+the government of Rome during his absence.
+
+On the aged Apostle had been inflicted the stripes prescribed by law;
+and next day he was led forth beyond the walls of the city, toward the
+Vatican Hill, where he was to suffer the punishment of the cross
+assigned to him.  Soldiers were astonished by the crowd which had
+gathered before the prison, for in their minds the death of a common
+man, and besides a foreigner, should not rouse such interest; they did
+not understand that that retinue was composed not of sightseers, but
+confessors, anxious to escort the great Apostle to the place of
+execution.  In the afternoon the gates of the prison were thrown open at
+last, and Peter appeared in the midst of a detachment of pretorians.
+The sun had inclined somewhat toward Ostia already; the day was clear
+and calm.  Because of his advanced age, Peter was not required to carry
+the cross; it was supposed that he could not carry it; they had not put
+the fork on his neck, either, so as not to retard his pace.  He walked
+without hindrance, and the faithful could see him perfectly.
+
+At moments when his white head showed itself among the iron helmets of
+the soldiers, weeping was heard in the crowd; but it was restrained
+immediately, for the face of the old man had in it so much calmness, and
+was so bright with joy, that all understood him to be not a victim going
+to destruction, but a victor celebrating his triumph.
+
+And thus it was really.  The fisherman, usually humble and stooping,
+walked now erect, taller than the soldiers, full of dignity. Never had
+men seen such majesty in his bearing.  It might have seemed that he was
+a monarch attended by people and military. From every side voices were
+raised,--
+
+"There is Peter going to the Lord!"
+
+All forgot, as it were, that torture and death were waiting for him. He
+walked with solemn attention, but with calmness, feeling that since the
+death on Golgotha nothing equally important had happened, and that as
+the first death had redeemed the whole world, this was to redeem the
+city.
+
+Along the road people halted from wonder at sight of that old man; but
+believers, laying hands on their shoulders, said with calm voices,--
+
+"See how a just man goes to death,--one who knew Christ and proclaimed
+love to the world."
+
+These became thoughtful, and walked away, saying to themselves, "He
+cannot, indeed, be unjust!"
+
+Along the road noise was hushed, and the cries of the street.  The
+retinue moved on before houses newly reared, before white columns of
+temples, over whose summits hung the deep sky, calm and blue.  They went
+in quiet; only at times the weapons of the soldiers clattered, or the
+murmur of prayer rose.  Peter heard the last, and his face grew bright
+with increasing joy, for his glance could hardly take in those thousands
+of confessors.  He felt that he had done his work, and he knew now that
+that truth which he had been declaring all his life would overwhelm
+everything, like a sea, and that nothing would have power to restrain
+it.  And thus thinking, he raised his eyes, and said:  "O Lord, Thou
+didst command me to conquer this world-ruling city; hence I have
+conquered it.  Thou hast commanded me to found here Thy capital; hence I
+have founded it.  This is Thy city now, O Lord, and I go to Thee, for I
+have toiled greatly."
+
+As he passed before temples, he said to them, "Ye will be temples of
+Christ."  Looking at throngs of people moving before his eyes, he said
+to them, "Your children will be servants of Christ"; and he advanced
+with the feeling that he had conquered, conscious of his service,
+conscious of his strength, solaced,--great.  The soldiers conducted him
+over the Pons Triumphalis, as if giving involuntary testimony to his
+triumph, and they led him farther toward the Naumachia and the Circus.
+The faithful from beyond the Tiber joined the procession; and such a
+throng of people was formed that the centurion commanding the pretonians
+understood at last that he was leading a high-priest surrounded by
+believers, and grew alarmed because of the small number of soldiers.
+But no cry of indignation or rage was given out in the throng.  Men's
+faces were penetrated with the greatness of the moment, solemn and full
+of expectation.  Some believers, remembering that when the Lord died the
+earth opened from fright and the dead rose from their graves, thought
+that now some evident signs would appear, after which the death of the
+Apostle would not be forgotten for ages.  Others said to themselves,
+"Perhaps the Lord will select the hour of Peter's death to come from
+heaven as He promised, and judge the world." With this idea they
+recommended themselves to the mercy of the Redeemer.
+
+But round about there was calm.  The hills seemed to be warming
+themselves, and resting in the sun.  The procession stopped at last
+between the Circus and the Vatican Hill.  Soldiers began now to dig a
+hole; others placed on the ground the cross, hammers, and nails, waiting
+till all preparations were finished.  The crowd, continuing quiet and
+attentive, knelt round about.
+
+The Apostle, with his head in the sun-rays and golden light, turned for
+the last time toward the city.  At a distance lower down was seen the
+gleaming Tiber; beyond was the Campus Martius; higher up, the Mausoleum
+of Augustus; below that, the gigantic baths just begun by Nero; still
+lower, Pompey's theatre; and beyond them were visible in places, and in
+places hidden by other buildings, the Septa Julia, a multitude of
+porticos, temples, columns, great edifices; and, finally, far in the
+distance, hills covered with houses, a gigantic resort of people, the
+borders of which vanished in the blue haze,--an abode of crime, but of
+power; of madness, but of order,--which had become the head of the
+world, its oppressor, but its law and its peace, almighty, invincible,
+eternal.
+
+But Peter, surrounded by soldiers, looked at the city as a ruler and
+king looks at his inheritance.  And he said to it, "Thou art redeemed
+and mine!"  And no one, not merely among the soldiers digging the hole
+in which to plant the cross, but even among believers, could divine that
+standing there among them was the true ruler of that moving life; that
+Cćsars would pass away, waves of barbarians go by, and ages vanish, but
+that old man would be lord there unbrokenly.
+
+The sun had sunk still more toward Ostia, and had become large and red.
+The whole western side of the sky had begun to glow with immense
+brightness.  The soldiers approached Peter to strip him.
+
+But he, while praying, straightened himself all at once, and stretched
+his right hand high.  The executioners stopped, as if made timid by his
+posture; the faithful held the breath in their breasts, thinking that he
+wished to say something, and silence unbroken followed.
+
+But he, standing on the height, with his extended right hand made the
+sign of the cross, blessing in the hour of death,--
+
+Urbi et orbi!  (the city and the world).
+
+
+In that same wonderful evening another detachment of soldiers conducted
+along the Ostian Way Paul of Tarsus toward a place called Aquć Salvić.
+And behind him also advanced a crowd of the faithful whom he had
+converted; but when he recognized near acquaintances, he halted and
+conversed with them, for, being a Roman citizen, the guard showed more
+respect to him.  Beyond the gate called Tergemina he met Plautilla, the
+daughter of the prefect Flavius Sabinus, and, seeing her youthful face
+covered with tears, he said: "Plautilla, daughter of Eternal Salvation,
+depart in peace. Only give me a veil with which to bind my eyes when I
+am going to the Lord."  And taking it, he advanced with a face as full
+of delight as that of a laborer who when he has toiled the whole day
+successfully is returning home.  His thoughts, like those of Peter, were
+as calm and quiet as that evening sky.  His eyes gazed with
+thoughtfulness upon the plain which stretched out before him, and to the
+Alban Hills, immersed in light.  He remembered his journeys, his toils,
+his labor, the struggles in which he had conquered, the churches which
+he had founded in all lands and beyond all seas; and he thought that he
+had earned his rest honestly, that he had finished his work.  He felt
+now that the seed which he had planted would not be blown away by the
+wind of malice.  He was leaving this life with the certainty that in the
+battle which his truth had declared against the world it would conquer;
+and a mighty peace settled down on his soul.
+
+The road to the place of execution was long, and evening was coming.
+The mountains became purple, and the bases of them went gradually into
+the shade.  Flocks were returning home.  Here and there groups of slaves
+were walking with the tools of labor on their shoulders.  Children,
+playing on the road before houses, looked with curiosity at the passing
+soldiers.  But in that evening, in that transparent golden air, there
+were not only peace and lovingness, but a certain harmony, which seemed
+to lift from earth to heaven.  Paul felt this; and his heart was filled
+with delight at the thought that to that harmony of the world he had
+added one note which had not been in it hitherto, but without which the
+whole earth was like sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal.
+
+He remembered how he had taught people love,--how he had told them that
+though they were to give their property to the poor, though they knew
+all languages, all secrets, and all sciences, they would be nothing
+without love, which is kind, enduring, which does not return evil, which
+does not desire honor, suffers all things, believes all things, hopes
+all things, is patient of all things.
+
+And so his life had passed in teaching people this truth.  And now he
+said in spirit: What power can equal it, what can conquer it? Could
+Cćsar stop it, though he had twice as many legions and twice as many
+cities, seas, lands, and nations?
+
+And he went to his reward like a conqueror.
+
+The detachment left the main road at last, and turned toward the east on
+a narrow path leading to the Aquć Salvić.  The red sun was lying now on
+the heather.  The centurion stopped the soldiers at the fountain, for
+the moment had come.
+
+Paul placed Plautilla's veil on his arm, intending to bind his eyes with
+it; for the last time he raised those eyes, full of unspeakable peace,
+toward the eternal light of the evening, and prayed.  Yes, the moment
+had come; but he saw before him a great road in the light, leading to
+heaven; and in his soul he repeated the same words which formerly he had
+written in the feeling of his own finished service and his near end,--
+
+"I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the
+faith.  Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness."
+
+
+
+
+Chapter LXXI
+
+
+ROME had gone mad for a long time, so that the world-conquering city
+seemed ready at last to tear itself to pieces for want of leadership.
+Even before the last hour of the Apostles had struck, Piso's conspiracy
+appeared; and then such merciless reaping of Rome's highest heads, that
+even to those who saw divinity in Nero, he seemed at last a divinity of
+death.  Mourning fell on the city, terror took its lodgment in houses
+and in hearts, but porticos were crowned with ivy and flowers, for it
+was not permitted to show sorrow for the dead.  People waking in the
+morning asked themselves whose turn would come next.  The retinue of
+ghosts following Cćsar increased every day.
+
+Piso paid for the conspiracy with his head; after him followed Seneca,
+and Lucan, Fenius Rufus, and Plautius Lateranus, and Flavius Scevinus,
+and Afranius Quinetianus, and the dissolute companion of Cćsar's
+madnesses, Tullius Senecio, and Proculus, and Araricus, and Tugurinus,
+and Gratus, and Silanus, and Proximus,--once devoted with his whole soul
+to Nero,--and Sulpicius Asper.  Some were destroyed by their own
+insignificance, some by fear, some by wealth, others by bravery.  Cćsar,
+astonished at the very number of the conspirators, covered the walls
+with soldiery and held the city as if by siege, sending out daily
+centurions with sentences of death to suspected houses.  The condemned
+humiliated themselves in letters filled with flattery, thanking Cćsar
+for his sentences, and leaving him a part of their property, so as to
+save the rest for their children.  It seemed, at last, that Nero was
+exceeding every measure on purpose to convince himself of the degree in
+which men had grown abject, and how long they would endure bloody rule.
+After the conspirators, their relatives were executed; then their
+friends, and even simple acquaintances.  Dwellers in lordly mansions
+built after the fire, when they went out on the street, felt sure of
+seeing a whole row of funerals.  Pompeius, Cornelius, Martialis, Flavius
+Nepos, and Statius Domitius died because accused of lack of love for
+Cćsar; Novius Priscus, as a friend of Seneca.  Rufius Crispus was
+deprived of the right of fire and water because on a time he had been
+the husband of Poppća.  The great Thrasea was ruined by his virtue; many
+paid with their lives for noble origin; even Poppća fell a victim to the
+momentary rage of Nero.
+
+The Senate crouched before the dreadful ruler; it raised a temple in his
+honor, made an offering in favor of his voice, crowned his statues,
+appointed priests to him as to a divinity.  Senators, trembling in their
+souls, went to the Palatine to magnify the song of the "Periodonices,"
+and go wild with him amid orgies of naked bodies, wine, and flowers.
+
+But meanwhile from below, in the field soaked in blood and tears, rose
+the sowing of Peter, stronger and stronger every moment.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter LXXII
+
+VINICIUS to PETRONIUS:
+
+
+"We know, carissime, most of what is happening in Rome, and what we do
+not know is told us in thy letters.  When one casts a stone in the
+water, the wave goes farther and farther in a circle; so the wave of
+madness and malice has come from the Palatine to us. On the road to
+Greece, Carinas was sent hither by Cćsar, who plundered cities and
+temples to fill the empty treasury.  At the price of the sweat and tears
+of people, he is building the 'golden house' in Rome.  It is possible
+that the world has not seen such a house, but it has not seen such
+injustice.  Thou knowest Carinas.  Chilo was like him till he redeemed
+his life with death.  But to the towns lying nearer us his men have not
+come yet, perhaps because there are no temples or treasures in them.
+Thou askest if we are out of danger.  I answer that we are out of mind,
+and let that suffice for an answer.  At this moment, from the portico
+under which I write, I see our calm bay, and on it Ursus in a boat,
+letting down a net in the clear water.  My wife is spinning red wool
+near me, and in the gardens, under the shade of almond-trees, our slaves
+are singing. Oh, what calm carissime, and what a forgetfulness of former
+fear and suffering!  But it is not the Parcć as thou writest, who spin
+out our lives so agreeably; it is Christ who is blessing us, our beloved
+God and Saviour.  We know tears and sorrow, for our religion teaches us
+to weep over the misfortunes of others; but in these tears is a
+consolation unknown to thee; for whenever the time of our life is ended,
+we shall find all those dear ones who perished and who are perishing yet
+for God's truth.  For us Peter and Paul are not dead; they are merely
+born into glory.  Our souls see them, and when our eyes weep our hearts
+are glad with their joy.  Oh, yes, my dear friend, we are happy with a
+happiness which nothing can destroy, since death, which for thee is the
+end of everything, is for us only a passage into superior rest.
+
+"And so days and months pass here in calmness of heart.  Our servants
+and slaves believe, as we do, in Christ, and that He enjoins love; hence
+we love one another.  Frequently, when the sun has gone down, or when
+the moon is shining in the water, Lygia and I talk of past times, which
+seem a dream to us; but when I think how that dear head was near torture
+and death, I magnify my Lord with my whole soul, for out of those hands
+He alone could wrest her, save her from the arena, and return her to me
+forever.  O Petronius, thou hast seen what endurance and comfort that
+religion gives in misfortune, how much patience and courage before
+death; so come and see how much happiness it gives in ordinary, common
+days of life.  People thus far did not know a God whom man could love,
+hence they did not love one another; and from that came their
+misfortune, for as light comes from the sun, so does happiness come from
+love.  Neither lawgivers nor philosophers taught this truth, and it did
+not exist in Greece or Rome; and when I say, not in Rome, that means the
+whole world. The dry and cold teaching of the Stoics, to which virtuous
+people rally, tempers the heart as a sword is tempered, but it makes it
+indifferent rather than better.  Though why do I write this to thee, who
+hast learned more, and hast more understanding than I have? Thou wert
+acquainted with Paul of Tarsus, and more than once didst converse long
+with him; hence thou knowest better if in comparison with the truth
+which he taught all the teachings of philosophers and rhetors are not a
+vain and empty jingle of words without meaning.  Thou rememberest the
+question which he put thee: 'But if Cćsar were a Christian, would ye not
+all feel safer, surer of possessing that which ye possess, free of
+alarm, and sure of to-morrow?' Thou didst say to me that our teaching
+was an enemy of life; and I answer thee now, that, if from the beginning
+of this letter I had been repeating only the three words, 'I am happy!'
+I could not have expressed my happiness to thee.  To this thou wilt
+answer, that my happiness is Lygia.  True, my friend. Because I love her
+immortal soul, and because we both love each other in Christ; for such
+love there is no separation, no deceit, no change, no old age, no death.
+For, when youth and beauty pass, when our bodies wither and death comes,
+love will remain, for the spirit remains.  Before my eyes were open to
+the light I was ready to burn my own house even, for Lygia's sake; but
+now I tell thee that I did not love her, for it was Christ who first
+taught me to love. In Him is the source of peace and happiness.  It is
+not I who say this, but reality itself.  Compare thy own luxury, my
+friend, lined with alarm, thy delights, not sure of a morrow, thy
+orgies, with the lives of Christians, and thou wilt find a ready answer.
+But, to compare better, come to our mountains with the odor of thyme, to
+our shady olive groves on our shores lined with ivy.  A peace is waiting
+for thee, such as thou hast not known for a long time, and hearts that
+love thee sincerely.  Thou, having a noble soul and a good one, shouldst
+be happy.  Thy quick mind can recognize the truth, and knowing it thou
+wilt love it.  To be its enemy, like Cćsar and Tigellinus, is possible,
+but indifferent to it no one can be.  O my Petronius, Lygia and I are
+comforting ourselves with the hope of seeing thee soon.  Be well, be
+happy, and come to us."
+
+
+Petronius received this letter in Cumć, whither he had gone with other
+Augustians who were following Cćsar.  His struggle of long years with
+Tigellinus was nearing its end.  Petronius knew already that he must
+fall in that struggle, and he understood why.  As Cćsar fell lower daily
+to the role of a comedian, a buffoon, and a charioteer; as he sank
+deeper in a sickly, foul, and coarse dissipation,--the exquisite arbiter
+became a mere burden to him. Even when Petronius was silent, Nero saw
+blame in his silence; when the arbiter praised, he saw ridicule.  The
+brilliant patrician annoyed his self-love and roused his envy.  His
+wealth and splendid works of art had become an object of desire both to
+the ruler and the all-powerful minister.  Petronius was spared so far in
+view of the journey to Achća, in which his taste, his knowledge of
+everything Greek, might be useful.  But gradually Tigellinus explained
+to Cćsar that Carinas surpassed him in taste and knowledge, and would be
+better able to arrange in Achća games, receptions, and triumphs.  From
+that moment Petronius was lost. There was not courage to send him his
+sentence in Rome.  Cćsar and Tigellinus remembered that that apparently
+effeminate and ćsthetic person, who made "day out of night," and was
+occupied only in luxury, art, and feasts, had shown amazing industry and
+energy, when proconsul in Bithynia and later when consul in the capital.
+They considered him capable of anything, and it was known that in Rome
+he possessed not only the love of the people, but even of the
+pretorians.  None of Cćsar's confidants could foresee how Petronius
+might act in a given case; it seemed wiser, therefore, to entice him out
+of the city, and reach him in a province.
+
+With this object he received an invitation to go to Cumć with other
+Augustians.  He went, though suspecting the ambush, perhaps so as not to
+appear in open opposition, perhaps to show once more a joyful face
+devoid of every care to Cćsar and the Augustians, and to gain a last
+victory before death over Tigellinus.
+
+Meanwhile the latter accused him of friendship with the Senator
+Scevinus, who was the soul of Piso's conspiracy.  The people of
+Petronius, left in Rome, were imprisoned; his house was surrounded by
+pretorian guards.  When he learned this, he showed neither alarm nor
+concern, and with a smile said to Augustians whom he received in his own
+splendid villa in Cumć,--
+
+"Ahenobarbus does not like direct questions; hence ye will see his
+confusion when I ask him if it was he who gave command to imprison my
+'familia' in the capital."
+
+Then he invited them to a feast "before the longer journey," and he had
+just made preparations for it when the letter from Vinicius came.
+
+When he received this letter, Petronius grew somewhat thoughtful, but
+after a time his face regained its usual composure, and that same
+evening he answered as follows:--
+
+"I rejoice at your happiness and admire your hearts, for I had not
+thought that two lovers could remember a third person who was far away.
+Ye have not only not forgotten me, but ye wish to persuade me to go to
+Sicily, so that ye may share with me your bread and your Christ, who, as
+thou writest, has given you happiness so bountifully.
+
+"If that be true, honor Him.  To my thinking, however, Ursus had
+something to do with saving Lygia, and the Roman people also had a
+little to do with it.  But since thy belief is that Christ did the work,
+I will not contradict.  Spare no offerings to Him.  Prometheus also
+sacrificed himself for man; but, alas!  Prometheus is an invention of
+the poets apparently, while people worthy of credit have told me that
+they saw Christ with their own eyes.  I agree with thee that He is the
+most worthy of the gods.
+
+"I remember the question by Paul of Tarsus, and I think that if
+Ahenobarbus lived according to Christ's teaching I might have time to
+visit you in Sicily.  In that case we could converse, in the shade of
+trees and near fountains, of all the gods and all the truths discussed
+by Greek philosophers at any time.  To-day I must give thee a brief
+answer.
+
+"I care for two philosophers only: Pyrrho and Anacreon.  I am ready to
+sell the rest to thee cheaply, with all the Greek and Roman Stoics.
+Truth, Vinicius, dwells somewhere so high that the gods themselves
+cannot see it from the top of Olympus.  To thee, carissime, thy Olympus
+seems higher still, and, standing there, thou callest to me, 'Come, thou
+wilt see such sights as thou hast not seen yet!'  I might.  But I
+answer, 'I have not feet for the journey.' And if thou read this letter
+to the end, thou wilt acknowledge, I think, that I am right.
+
+"No, happy husband of the Aurora princess! thy religion is not for me.
+Am I to love the Bithynians who carry my litter, the Egyptians who heat
+my bath?  Am I to love Ahenobarbus and Tigellinus?  I swear by the white
+knees of the Graces, that even if I wished to love them I could not.  In
+Rome there are a hundred thousand persons at least who have either
+crooked shoulders, or big knees, or thin thighs, or staring eyes, or
+heads that are too large.  Dost thou command me to love these too?
+Where am I to find the love, since it is not in my heart?  And if thy
+God desires me to love such persons, why in His all might did He not
+give them the forms of Niobe's children, for example, which thou hast
+seen on the Palatine?  Whoso loves beauty is unable for that very reason
+to love deformity.  One may not believe in our gods, but it is possible
+to love them, as Phidias, Praxiteles, Miron, Skopas, and Lysias loved.
+
+"Should I wish to go whither thou wouldst lead me, I could not. But
+since I do not wish, I am doubly unable.  Thou believest, like Paul of
+Tarsus, that on the other side of the Styx thou wilt see thy Christ in
+certain Elysian fields.  Let Him tell thee then Himself whether He would
+receive me with my gems, my Myrrhene vase, my books published by Sozius,
+and my golden-haired Eunice.  I laugh at this thought; for Paul of
+Tarsus told me that for Christ's sake one must give up wreaths of roses,
+feasts, and luxury.  It is true that he promised me other happiness, but
+I answered that I was too old for new happiness, that my eyes would be
+delighted always with roses, and that the odor of violets is dearer to
+me than stench from my foul neighbor of the Subura.
+
+"These are reasons why thy happiness is not for me.  But there is one
+reason more, which I have reserved for the last: Thanatos summons me.
+For thee the light of life is beginning; but my sun has set, and
+twilight is embracing my head.  In other words, I must die, carissime.
+
+"It is not worth while to talk long of this.  It had to end thus.  Thou,
+who knowest Ahenobarbus, wilt understand the position easily. Tigellinus
+has conquered, or rather my victories have touched their end.  I have
+lived as I wished, and I will die as pleases me.
+
+"Do not take this to heart.  No God has promised me immortality; hence
+no surprise meets me.  At the same time thou art mistaken, Vinicius, in
+asserting that only thy God teaches man to die calmly. No.  Our world
+knew, before thou wert born, that when the last cup was drained, it was
+time to go,--time to rest,--and it knows yet how to do that with
+calmness.  Plato declares that virtue is music, that the life of a sage
+is harmony.  If that be true, I shall die as I have lived,--virtuously.
+
+"I should like to take farewell of thy godlike wife in the words with
+which on a time I greeted her in the house of Aulus, 'Very many persons
+have I seen, but thy equal I know not.'
+
+"If the soul is more than what Pyrrho thinks, mine will fly to thee and
+Lygia, on its way to the edge of the ocean, and will alight at your
+house in the form of a butterfly or, as the Egyptians believe, in the
+form of a sparrowhawk.  Otherwise I cannot come.
+
+"Meanwhile let Sicily replace for you the gardens of Hesperides; may the
+goddesses of the fields, woods, and fountains scatter flowers on your
+path, and may white doves build their nests on every acanthus of the
+columns of your house."
+
+
+
+
+Chapter LXXIII
+
+
+PETRONIUS was not mistaken.  Two days later young Nerva, who had always
+been friendly and devoted, sent his freedman to Cumć with news of what
+was happening at the court of Cćsar.
+
+The death of Petronius had been determined.  On the morning of the
+following day they intended to send him a centurion, with the order to
+stop at Cumć, and wait there for further instructions; the next
+messenger, to follow a few days later, was to bring the death sentence.
+
+Petronius heard the news with unruffled calmness.
+
+"Thou wilt take to thy lord," said he, "one of my vases; say from me
+that I thank him with my whole soul, for now I am able to anticipate the
+sentence."
+
+And all at once he began to laugh, like a man who has came upon a
+perfect thought, and rejoices in advance at its fulfilment.
+
+That same afternoon his slaves rushed about, inviting the Augustians,
+who were staying in Cumć, and all the ladies, to a magnificent banquet
+at the villa of the arbiter.
+
+He wrote that afternoon in the library; next he took a bath, after which
+he commanded the vestiplicć to arrange his dress.  Brilliant and stately
+as one of the gods, he went to the triclinium, to cast the eye of a
+critic on the preparations, and then to the gardens, where youths and
+Grecian maidens from the islands were weaving wreaths of roses for the
+evening.
+
+Not the least care was visible on his face.  The servants only knew that
+the feast would be something uncommon, for he had issued a command to
+give unusual rewards to those with whom he was satisfied, and some
+slight blows to all whose work should not please him, or who had
+deserved blame or punishment earlier.  To the cithara players and the
+singers he had ordered beforehand liberal pay.  At last, sitting in the
+garden under a beech, through whose leaves the sun-rays marked the earth
+with bright spots, he called Eunice.
+
+She came, dressed in white, with a sprig of myrtle in her hair,
+beautiful as one of the Graces.  He seated her at his side, and,
+touching her temple gently with his fingers, he gazed at her with that
+admiration with which a critic gazes at a statue from the chisel of a
+master.
+
+"Eunice," asked he, "dost thou know that thou art not a slave this long
+time?"
+
+She raised to him her calm eyes, as blue as the sky, and denied with a
+motion of her head.
+
+"I am thine always," said she.
+
+"But perhaps thou knowest not," continued Petronius, "that the villa,
+and those slaves twining wreaths here, and all which is in the villa,
+with the fields and the herds, are thine henceforward."
+
+Eunice, when she heard this, drew away from him quickly, and asked in a
+voice filled with sudden fear,--
+
+"Why dost thou tell me this?"
+
+Then she approached again, and looked at him, blinking with amazement.
+After a while her face became as pale as linen.  He smiled, and said
+only one word,--
+
+"So!"
+
+A moment of silence followed; merely a slight breeze moved the leaves of
+the beech.
+
+Petronius might have thought that before him was a statue cut from white
+marble.
+
+"Eunice," said he, "I wish to die calmly."
+
+And the maiden, looking at him with a heart-rending smile, whispered,--
+
+"I hear thee."
+
+In the evening the guests, who had been at feasts given by Petronius
+previously, and knew that in comparison with them even Cćsar's banquets
+seemed tiresome and barbarous, began to arrive in numbers.  To no one
+did it occur, even, that that was to be the last "symposium."  Many
+knew, it is true, that the clouds of Cćsar's anger were hanging over the
+exquisite arbiter; but that had happened so often, and Petronius had
+been able so often to scatter them by some dexterous act or by a single
+bold word, that no one thought really that serious danger threatened
+him.  His glad face and usual smile, free of care, confirmed all, to the
+last man, in that opinion.  The beautiful Eunice, to whom he had
+declared his wish to die calmly, and for whom every word of his was like
+an utterance of fate, had in her features a perfect calmness, and in her
+eyes a kind of wonderful radiance, which might have been considered
+delight.  At the door of the triclinium, youths with hair in golden nets
+put wreaths of roses on the heads of the guests, warning them, as the
+custom was, to pass the threshold right foot foremost.  In the hall
+there was a slight odor of violets; the lamps burned in Alexandrian
+glass of various colors.  At the couches stood Grecian maidens, whose
+office it was to moisten the feet of guests with perfumes.  At the walls
+cithara players and Athenian choristers were waiting for the signal of
+their leader.
+
+The table service gleamed with splendor, but that splendor did not
+offend or oppress; it seemed a natural development.  Joyousness and
+freedom spread through the hall with the odor of violets.  The guests as
+they entered felt that neither threat nor constraint was hanging over
+them, as in Cćsar's house, where a man might forfeit his life for
+praises not sufficiently great or sufficiently apposite.  At sight of
+the lamps, the goblets entwined with ivy, the wine cooling on banks of
+snow, and the exquisite dishes, the hearts of the guests became joyous.
+Conversation of various kinds began to buzz, as bees buzz on an apple
+tree in blossom.  At moments it was interrupted by an outburst of glad
+laughter, at moments by murmurs of applause, at moments by a kiss placed
+too loudly on some white shoulder.
+
+The guests, while drinking wine, spilled from their goblets a few drops
+to the immortal gods, to gain their protection, and their favor for the
+host.  It mattered not that many of them had no belief in the gods.
+Custom and superstition prescribed it.  Petronius, inclining near
+Eunice, talked of Rome, of the latest divorces, of love affairs, of the
+races, of Spiculus, who had become famous recently in the arena, and of
+the latest books in the shops of Atractus and the Sozii.  When he
+spilled wine, he said that he spilled it only in honor of the Lady of
+Cyprus, the most ancient divinity and the greatest, the only immortal,
+enduring, and ruling one.
+
+His conversation was like sunlight which lights up some new object every
+instant, or like the summer breeze which stirs flowers in a garden.  At
+last he gave a signal to the leader of the music, and at that signal the
+citharć began to sound lightly, and youthful voices accompanied.  Then
+maidens from Kos, the birthplace of Eunice, danced, and showed their
+rosy forms through robes of gauze.  Finally, an Egyptian soothsayer told
+the guests their future from the movement of rainbow colors in a vessel
+of crystal.
+
+When they had enough of these amusements, Petronius rose somewhat on his
+Syrian cushion, and said with hesitation,--
+
+"Pardon me, friends, for asking a favor at a feast.  Will each man
+accept as a gift that goblet from which he first shook wine in honor of
+the gods and to my prosperity?"
+
+The goblets of Petronius were gleaming in gold, precious stones, and
+the carving of artists; hence, though gift giving was common in Rome,
+delight filled every heart.  Some thanked him loudly: others said that
+Jove had never honored gods with such gifts in Olympus; finally, there
+were some who refused to accept, since the gifts surpassed common
+estimate.
+
+But he raised aloft the Myrrhene vase, which resembled a rainbow in
+brilliancy, and was simply beyond price.
+
+"This," said he, "is the one out of which I poured in honor of the Lady
+of Cyprus.  The lips of no man may touch it henceforth, and no hand may
+ever pour from it in honor of another divinity."
+
+He cast the precious vessel to the pavement, which was covered with
+lily-colored saffron flowers; and when it was broken into small pieces,
+he said, seeing around him astonished faces,--
+
+"My dear friends, be glad and not astonished.  Old age and weakness are
+sad attendants in the last years of life.  But I will give you a good
+example and good advice: Ye have the power, as ye see, not to wait for
+old age; ye can depart before it comes, as I do."
+
+"What dost thou wish?" asked a number of voices, with alarm.
+
+"I wish to rejoice, to drink wine, to hear music, to look on those
+divine forms which ye see around me, and fall asleep with a garlanded
+head.  I have taken farewell of Cćsar, and do ye wish to hear what I
+wrote him at parting?"
+
+He took from beneath the purple cushion a paper, and read as follows:--
+
+"I know, O Cćsar, that thou art awaiting my arrival with impatience,
+that thy true heart of a friend is yearning day and night for me.  I
+know that thou art ready to cover me with gifts, make me prefect of the
+pretorian guards, and command Tigellinus to be that which the gods made
+him, a mule-driver in those lands which thou didst inherit after
+poisoning Domitius.  Pardon me, however, for I swear to thee by Hades,
+and by the shades of thy mother, thy wife, thy brother, and Seneca, that
+I cannot go to thee.  Life is a great treasure.  I have taken the most
+precious jewels from that treasure, but in life there are many things
+which I cannot endure any longer.  Do not suppose, I pray, that I am
+offended because thou didst kill thy mother, thy wife, and thy brother;
+that thou didst burn Rome and send to Erebus all the honest men in thy
+dominions.  No, grandson of Chronos.  Death is the inheritance of man;
+from thee other deeds could not have been expected.  But to destroy
+one's ear for whole years with thy poetry, to see thy belly of a
+Domitius on slim legs whirled about in Pyrrhic dance; to hear thy music,
+thy declamation, thy doggerel verses, wretched poet of the suburbs,--is
+a thing surpassing my power, and it has roused in me the wish to die.
+Rome stuffs its ears when it hears thee; the world reviles thee.  I can
+blush for thee no longer, and I have no wish to do so.  The howls of
+Cerberus, though resembling thy music, will be less offensive to me, for
+I have never been the friend of Cerberus, and I need not be ashamed of
+his howling. Farewell, but make no music; commit murder, but write no
+verses; poison people, but dance not; be an incendiary, but play not on
+a cithara.  This is the wish and the last friendly counsel sent thee by
+the--Arbiter Elegantić."
+
+The guests were terrified, for they knew that the loss of dominion would
+have been less cruel to Nero than this blow.  They understood, too, that
+the man who had written that paper must die; and at the same time pale
+fear flew over them because they had heard such a paper.
+
+But Petronius laughed with sincere and gladsome joy, as if it were a
+question of the most innocent joke; then he cast his eyes on all
+present, and said,--
+
+"Be joyous, and drive away fear.  No one need boast that he heard this
+letter.  I will boast of it only to Charon when I am crossing in the
+boat with him."
+
+He beckoned then to the Greek physician, and stretched out his arm.  The
+skilled Greek in the twinkle of an eye opened the vein at the bend of
+the arm.  Blood spurted on the cushion, and covered Eunice, who,
+supporting the head of Petronius, bent over him and said,--
+
+"Didst thou think that I would leave thee?  If the gods gave me
+immortality, and Cćsar gave me power over the earth, I would follow thee
+still."
+
+Petronius smiled, raised himself a little, touched her lips with his,
+and said,--
+
+"Come with me."
+
+She stretched her rosy arm to the physician, and after a while her blood
+began to mingle and be lost in his blood.
+
+Then he gave a signal to the leader of the music, and again the voices
+and citharić were heard.  They sang "Harmodius"; next the song of
+Anacreon resounded,--that song in which he complained that on a time he
+had found Aphrodite's boy chilled and weeping under trees; that he
+brought him in, warmed him, dried his wings, and the ungrateful child
+pierced his heart with an arrow,--from that moment peace had deserted
+the poet.
+
+Petronius and Eunice, resting against each other, beautiful as two
+divinities, listened, smiling and growing pale.  At the end of the song
+Petronius gave directions to serve more wine and food; then he conversed
+with the guests sitting near him of trifling but pleasant things, such
+as are mentioned usually at feasts.  Finally, he called to the Greek to
+bind his arm for a moment; for he said that sleep was tormenting him,
+and he wanted to yield himself to Hypnos before Thanatos put him to
+sleep forever.
+
+In fact, he fell asleep.  When he woke, the head of Eunice was lying on
+his breast like a white flower.  He placed it on the pillow to look at
+it once more.  After that his veins were opened again.
+
+At his signal the singers raised the song of Anacreon anew, and the
+citharć accompanied them so softly as not to drown a word. Petronius
+grew paler and paler; but when the last sound had ceased, he turned to
+his guests again and said,
+
+"Friends, confess that with us perishes--"
+
+But he had not power to finish; his arm with its last movement embraced
+Eunice, his head fell on the pillow, and he died.
+
+The guests looking at those two white forms, which resembled two
+wonderful statues, understood well that with them perished all that was
+left to their world at that time,--poetry and beauty.
+
+
+
+
+EPILOGUE
+
+
+AT first the revolt of the Gallic legions under Vindex did not seem very
+serious.  Cćsar was only in his thirty-first year, and no one was bold
+enough to hope that the world could be freed so soon from the nightmare
+which was stifling it.  Men remembered that revolts had occurred more
+than once among the legions,--they had occurred in previous reigns,--
+revolts, however, which passed without involving a change of government;
+as during the reign of Tiberius, Drusus put down the revolt of the
+Pannonian legions. "Who," said the people, "can take the government
+after Nero, since all the descendants of the divine Augustus have
+perished?"  Others, looking at the Colossus, imagined him a Hercules,
+and thought that no force could break such power.  There were those even
+who since he went to Achća were sorry for him, because Helius and
+Polythetes, to whom he left the government of Rome and Italy, governed
+more murderously than he had.
+
+No one was sure of life or property.  Law ceased to protect.  Human
+dignity and virtue had perished, family bonds existed no longer, and
+degraded hearts did not even dare to admit hope.  From Greece came
+accounts of the incomparable triumphs of Cćsar, of the thousands of
+crowns which he had won, the thousands of competitors whom he had
+vanquished.  The world seemed to be one orgy of buffoonery and blood;
+but at the same time the opinion was fixed that virtue and deeds of
+dignity had ceased, that the time of dancing and music, of profligacy,
+of blood, had come, and that life must flow on for the future in that
+way.  Cćsar himself, to whom rebellion opened the road to new robberies,
+was not concerned much about the revolt of the legions and Vindex; he
+even expressed his delight on that subject frequently.  He did not wish
+to leave Achća even; and only when Helius informed him that further
+delay might cause the loss of dominion did he move to Naples.
+
+There he played and sang, neglecting news of events of growing danger.
+In vain did Tigellinus explain to him that former rebellions of legions
+had no leaders, while at the head of affairs this time was a man
+descended from the ancient kings of Gaul and Aquitania, a famous and
+tried soldier.  "Here," answered Nero, "the Greeks listen to me,--the
+Greeks, who alone know how to listen, and who alone are worthy of my
+song."  He said that his first duty was art and glory.  But when at last
+the news came that Vindex had proclaimed him a wretched artist, he
+sprang up and moved toward Rome.  The wounds inflicted by Petronius, and
+healed by his stay in Greece, opened in his heart anew, and he wished to
+seek retribution from the Senate for such unheard-of injustice.
+
+On the road he saw a group cast in bronze, representing a Gallic warrior
+as overcome by a Roman knight; he considered that a good omen, and
+thenceforward, if he mentioned the rebellious legions and Vindex, it was
+only to ridicule them.  His entrance to the city surpassed all that had
+been witnessed earlier.  He entered in the chariot used by Augustus in
+his triumph.  One arch of the Circus was destroyed to give a road to the
+procession.  The Senate, knights, and innumerable throngs of people went
+forth to meet him.  The walls trembled from shouts of "Hail, Augustus!
+Hail, Hercules!  Hail, divinity, the incomparable, the Olympian, the
+Pythian, the immortal!"  Behind him were borne the crowns, the names of
+cities in which he had triumphed; and on tablets were inscribed the
+names of the masters whom he had vanquished.  Nero himself was
+intoxicated with delight, and with emotion he asked the Augustians who
+stood around him, "What was the triumph of Julius compared with this?"
+The idea that any mortal should dare to raise a hand on such a demigod
+did not enter his head.  He felt himself really Olympian, and therefore
+safe.  The excitement and the madness of the crowd roused his own
+madness.  In fact, it might seem in the day of that triumph that not
+merely Cćsar and the city, but the world, had lost its senses.
+
+Through the flowers and the piles of wreaths no one could see the
+precipice.  Still that same evening columns and walls of temples were
+covered with inscriptions, describing Nero's crimes, threatening him
+with coming vengeance, and ridiculing him as an artist.  From mouth to
+mouth went the phrase, "He sang till he roused the Gauls."  Alarming
+news made the rounds of the city, and reached enormous measures.  Alarm
+seized the Augustians.  People, uncertain of the future, dazed not
+express hopes or wishes; they hardly dared to feel or think.
+
+But he went on living only in the theatre and music.  Instruments newly
+invented occupied him, and a new water-organ, of which trials were made
+on the Palatine.  With childish mind, incapable of plan or action, he
+imagined that he could ward off danger by promises of spectacles and
+theatrical exhibitions reaching far into the future, Persons nearest
+him, seeing that instead of providing means and an army, he was merely
+searching for expressions to depict the danger graphically, began to
+lose their heads.  Others thought that he was simply deafening himself
+and others with quotations, while in his soul he was alarmed and
+terrified.  In fact, his acts became feverish.  Every day a thousand new
+plans flew through his head.  At times he sprang up to rush out against
+danger; gave command to pack up his lutes and citharć, to arm the young
+slave women as Amazons, and lead the legions to the East.  Again he
+thought to finish the rebellion of the Gallic legions, not with war, but
+with song; and his soul laughed at the spectacle which was to follow his
+conquest of the soldiers by song.  The legionaries would surround him
+with tears in their eyes; he would sing to them an epinicium, after
+which the golden epoch would begin for him and for Rome.  At one time he
+called for blood; at another he declared that he would be satisfied with
+governing in Egypt.  He recalled the prediction which promised him
+lordship in Jerusalem, and he was moved by the thought that as a
+wandering minstrel he would earn his daily bread,--that cities and
+countries would honor in him, not Cćsar, the lord of the earth, but a
+poet whose like the world had not produced before.  And so he struggled,
+raged, played, sang, changed his plan, changed his quotations, changed
+his life and the world into a dream absurd, fantastic, dreadful, into an
+uproarious hunt composed of unnatural expressions, bad verses, groans,
+tears, and blood; but meanwhile the cloud in the west was increasing and
+thickening every day.  The measure was exceeded; the insane comedy was
+nearing its end.
+
+When news that Galba and Spain had joined the uprising came to his ears,
+he fell into rage and madness.  He broke goblets, overturned the table
+at a feast, and issued orders which neither Helius nor Tigeliinus
+himself dared to execute.  To kill Gauls resident in Rome, fire the city
+a second time, let out the wild beasts, and transfer the capital to
+Alexandria seemed to him great, astonishing, and easy.  But the days of
+his dominion had passed, and even those who shared in his former crimes
+began to look on him as a madman.
+
+The death of Vindex, and disagreement in the revolting legions seemed,
+however, to turn the scale to his side.  Again new feasts, new triumphs,
+and new sentences were issued in Rome, till a certain night when a
+messenger rushed up on a foaming horse, with the news that in the city
+itself the soldiers had raised the standard of revolt, and proclaimed
+Galba Cćsar.
+
+Nero was asleep when the messenger came; but when he woke he called in
+vain for the night-guard, which watched at the entrance to his chambers.
+The palace was empty.  Slaves were plundering in the most distant
+corners that which could be taken most quickly. But the sight of Nero
+frightened them; he wandered alone through the palace, filling it with
+cries of despair and fear.
+
+At last his freedmen, Phaon, Sporus, and Epaphroditus, came to his
+rescue.  They wished him to flee, and said that there was no time to be
+lost; but he deceived himself still.  If he should dress in mourning and
+speak to the Senate, would it resist his prayers and eloquence?  If he
+should use all his eloquence, his rhetoric and skill of an actor, would
+any one on earth have power to resist him? Would they not give him even
+the prefecture of Egypt?
+
+The freedmen, accustomed to flatter, had not the boldness yet to refuse
+him directly; they only warned him that before he could reach the Forum
+the people would tear him to pieces, and declared that if he did not
+mount his horse immediately, they too would desert him.
+
+Phaon offered refuge in his villa outside the Nomentan Gate.  After a
+while they mounted horses, and, covering Nero's head with a mantle, they
+galloped off toward the edge of the city.  The night was growing pale.
+But on the streets there was a movement which showed the exceptional
+nature of the time.  Soldiers, now singly and now in small groups, were
+scattered through the city.  Not far from the camp Cćsar's horse sprang
+aside suddenly at sight of a corpse.  The mantle slipped from his head;
+a soldier recognized Nero, and, confused by the unexpected meeting, gave
+the military salute.  While passing the pretorian camp, they heard
+thundering shouts in honor of Galba.  Nero understood at last that the
+hour of death was near.  Terror and reproaches of conscience seized him.
+He declared that he saw darkness in front of him in the form of a black
+cloud.  From that cloud came forth faces in which he saw his mother, his
+wife, and his brother.  His teeth were chattering from fright; still his
+soul of a comedian found a kind of charm in the horror of the moment.
+To be absolute lord of the earth and lose all things, seemed to him the
+height of tragedy; and faithful to himself, he played the first role to
+the end.  A fever for quotations took possession of him, and a
+passionate wish that those present should preserve them for posterity.
+At moments he said that he wished to die, and called for Spiculus, the
+most skilled of all gladiators in killing.  At moments he declaimed,
+"Mother, wife, father, call me to death!"  Flashes of hope rose in him,
+however, from time to time,--hope vain and childish.  He knew that he
+was going to death, and still he did not believe it.
+
+They found the Nomentan Gate open.  Going farther, they passed near
+Ostrianum, where Peter had taught and baptized.  At daybreak they
+reached Phaon's villa.
+
+There the freedmen hid from him no longer the fact that it was time to
+die.  He gave command then to dig a grave, and lay on the ground so that
+they might take accurate measurement.  At sight of the earth thrown up,
+however, terror seized him.  His fat face became pale, and on his
+forehead sweat stood like drops of dew in the morning.  He delayed.  In
+a voice at once abject and theatrical, he declared that the hour had not
+come yet; then he began again to quote.  At last he begged them to burn
+his body.  "What an artist is perishing!" repeated he, as if in
+amazement.
+
+Meanwhile Phaon's messenger arrived with the announcement that the
+Senate had issued the sentence that the "parricide" was to be punished
+according to ancient custom.
+
+"What is the ancient custom?" asked Nero, with whitened lips.
+
+"They will fix thy neck in a fork, flog thee to death, and hurl thy body
+into the Tiber," answered Epaphroditus, abruptly.
+
+Nero drew aside the robe from his breast.
+
+"It is time, then!" said he, looking into the sky.  And he repeated once
+more, "What an artist is perishing!"
+
+At that moment the tramp of a horse was heard.  That was the centurion
+coming with soldiers for the head of Ahenobarbus.
+
+"Hurry!" cried the freedmen.
+
+Nero placed the knife to his neck, but pushed it only timidly.  It was
+clear that he would never have courage to thrust it in. Epaphroditus
+pushed his hand suddenly,--the knife sank to the handle.  Nero's eyes
+turned in his head, terrible, immense, frightened.
+
+"I bring thee life!" cried the centurion, entering.
+
+"Too late!" said Nero, with a hoarse voice; then he added,--
+
+"Here is faithfulness!"
+
+In a twinkle death seized his head.  Blood from his heavy neck gushed in
+a dark stream on the flowers of the garden.  His legs kicked the ground,
+and he died.
+
+On the morrow the faithful Acte wrapped his body in costly stuffs, and
+burned him on a pile filled with perfumes.
+
+And so Nero passed, as a whirlwind, as a storm, as a fire, as war or
+death passes; but the basilica of Peter rules till now, from the Vatican
+heights, the city, and the world.
+
+Near the ancient Porta Capena stands to this day a little chapel with
+the inscription, somewhat worn: Quo Vadis, Domine?
+
+
+
+
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, QUO VADIS ***
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+* This file should be named quvds11.txt or quvds11.zip *
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