Aurelian; or, Rome in the Third Century
'I could observe,' added Probus, 'the same differences of feeling and
judgment all over the surface of that sea of faces. But if I should
express my belief as to the proportion of friends and enemies there
present, I should not hesitate to say--and that I am sure without any
imposition upon my own credulity--that the greater part by far were upon
our side--not in faith as you may suppose--but in that good opinion of
us, and of the tendencies of our doctrine and the value of our services,
that is very near it, and is better than the public profession of Christ
of many others.'
'It will be a long time, I am persuaded,' said Julia, 'before the truths
received then into many minds will cease to operate in our behalf. But
what think you was the feeling of Aurelian? His countenance was hidden
from me--yet that would reveal not much. It is immovable at those times,
when he is deeply stirred, or has any motive to conceal his sentiments.'
'I cannot believe,' replied Probus, 'that any impression, such as we
could wish, was made upon that hard and cruel heart. Not the brazen
statue, against the base of which he leaned, stood in its place more
dead to whatever it was that came from my lips than he. He has not been
moved, we may well believe, to change any of his designs. Whatever
yesterday it was in his intent to do, he will accomplish tomorrow. I do
not believe we have anything to hope at his hands.'
'Alas, Lucius!' said Julia, 'that our faith in Christ, and our interest
and concern for its progress in Rome, should after all come to this. How
happy was I in Syria, with this belief as my bosom companion and friend;
and free, too, to speak of it, to any and to all. How needless is all
the misery which this rude, unlettered tyrant is about to inflict! How
happily for all, would things take their course even here, might they
but be left to run in those natural channels which would reveal
themselves, and which would then conduct to those ends which the Divine
Providence has proposed. But man wickedly interposes; and a misery is
inflicted, which otherwise would have never fallen upon us, and which in
the counsels of God was never designed. What now think you, Probus, will
be the event?'
'I cannot doubt,' he replied, 'that tomorrow will witness all that
report has already spread abroad as the purpose of Aurelian. Urged on by
both Fronto and Varus, he will not pause in his course. Rome, ere the
Ides, will swim in Christian blood. I see not whence deliverance is to
come. Miracle alone could save us; and miracle has long since ceased to
be the order of Providence. Having provided for us this immense
instrument of moral reform in the authority and doctrine of Christ, we
are now left, as doubtless it is on the whole best for our character and
our virtues we should be, to our own unassisted strength, to combat with
all the evils that may assail us, both from without and within. For
myself, I can meet this tempest without a thought of reluctance or
dread. I am a solitary man; having neither child nor relative to mourn
my loss; I have friends indeed, whom I love, and from whom I would not
willingly part; but, if any considerable purpose is to be gained by my
death to that cause for which I have lived, neither I nor they can
lament that it should occur. Under these convictions as to my own
fate--and that of all, must I say and believe? no; I cannot, will not,
believe that humanity has taken its final departure from the bosom of
Aurelian--I turn to one bright spot, and there my thoughts dwell, and
there my hopes gather strength, and that is here where you, Piso, and
you, lady, will still dwell, too high for the aim of the imperial
murderer to reach. Here I shall believe will there he an asylum for many
a wearied spirit, a safe refuge from the sharp pelting of the storm
without. And when a calm shall come again, from beneath this roof, as
once from the ark of God, shall there go forth those who shall again
people the waste-places of the church, and change the wilderness of
death into a fruitful garden full of the plants of Heaven.'
'That it is the present purpose of Aurelian to spare me,' I answered,
'whatever provocation I may give him, I fully believe. He is true; and
his word to that end, with no wish expressed on my part, has been given.
But do not suppose that in that direction at least he may not change his
purpose. Superstitiously mad as he now is, a mere plaything too in the
bloody hands of Fronto--and nothing can well be esteemed as more
insecure than even my life, privileged and secure as it may seem. If it
should occur to him, in his day or his night visions and dreams, that I,
more than others, should be an acceptable offering to his god, my life
would be to him but that of an insect buzzing around his ear; and being
dead by a blow, he would miss me no more. Still, let the mercy that is
vouchsafed, whether great or little, be gratefully confessed.'
You then see, Fausta, the position in which your old friends now stand
here in Rome. Who could have believed, when we talked over our dangers
in Palmyra, that greater and more dreadful still awaited us in our own
home. It has come upon us with such suddenness that we can scarce
believe it ourselves. Yet are we prepared, with an even mind and a
trusting faith, for whatever may betide.
It is happy for me, and for Julia, that our religion has fixed within us
so firm a belief in a superintending Providence--who orders not only the
greatest but the least events of life, who is as much concerned for the
happiness and the moral welfare of the humblest individual, as he is for
the orderly movement of a world--that we sit down under the shadows that
overhang us, perfectly convinced that some end of good to the church or
the world is to be achieved through these convulsions, greater than
could have been achieved in any other way. The Supreme Ruler, we
believe, is infinitely wise and infinitely good. But he would be
neither, if unnecessary suffering were meted out to his creatures. This
suffering then is not unnecessary. But through it, in ways which our
sight now is not piercing enough to discern--but may hereafter be--shall
a blessing redound both to the individuals concerned, to the present
generation, and a remote posterity, which could not otherwise have been
secured. This we must believe; or we must renounce all belief.
Forget not to remember us with affection to Gracchus and Calpurnius.
* * * * *
I also was present at the hearing of Probus. But of that I need say
nothing; Piso having so fully written concerning it to the daughter of
Gracchus.
Early on the following day I was at the Gardens of Sallust, where I was
present both with the Emperor and Livia, and with the Emperor and
Fronto, and heard conversations which I here record.
When I entered the apartment, in which it was customary for the Empress
to sit at this time of the day, I found her there engaged upon her
embroidery, while the Emperor paced back and forth, his arms crossed
behind him, and care and anxiety marked upon his countenance. Livia,
though she sat quietly at her work, seemed ill at ease, and as if some
thought were busy within, to which she would gladly give utterance. She
was evidently relieved by my entrance, and immediately made her usual
inquiries after the health of the Queen, in which Aurelian joined her.
Aurelian then turned to me and said,
'I saw you yesterday at the Palatine, Nicomachus; what thought you of
the Christian's defence?'
'It did not convert me to his faith--'
'Neither, by the gods! did it me,' quickly interrupted Aurelian.
'But,' I went on, 'it seemed to show good cause why they should not be
harshly or cruelly dealt with. He proved them to be a harmless people,
if not positively profitable to the state.'
'I do not see that,' replied the Emperor. 'It is impossible they should
be harmless who sap the foundations of religion; it is impossible they
should be profitable who seduce from their allegiance the good subjects
of the empire; and this religion of the Christians does both.'
'I agree that it is so,' I rejoined, 'if it is to be assumed in the
controversy that the prevailing religion of the Romans is a perfect one,
and that any addition or alteration is necessarily an evil. That seems
to be the position of Porphyrius and others. But to that I can by no
means assent. It seems to me that the religions of mankind are
susceptible of improvement as governments are, and other like
institutions; that what may be perfectly well suited to a nation in one
stage of its growth, may be very ill adapted to another; that the gods
in their providence accordingly design that one form of religious
worship and belief should in successive ages be superseded by others,
which shall be more exactly suited to their larger growth, and more
urgent and very different necessities. The religion of the early days of
Rome was perhaps all that so rude a people were capable of
comprehending--all that they wanted. It worked well for them, and you
have reason for gratitude that it was bestowed upon them, and has
conferred so great benefits upon the preceding centuries. But the light
of the sun is not clearer than it is that, for this present passing age,
that religion is stark naught.'
The Emperor frowned, and stood still in his walk, looking sternly upon
me; but I heeded him not.
'Most, of any intelligence and reflection,' I continued, 'spurn it away
from them as fit but for children and slaves. Must they then be without
any principle of this kind? Is it safe for a community to grow up
without faith in a superintending power, from whom they come, to whom
they are responsible? I think not. In any such community--and Rome is
becoming such a one--the elements of disruption, anarchy, and ruin, are
there at work, and will overthrow it. A society of atheists is a
contradiction in terms. Atheists may live alone, but not together. Will
you compel your subjects to become such? If a part remain true to the
ancient faith, and find it to be sufficient, will you deny to the other
part the faith which they crave, and which would be sufficient for them?
I doubt if that were according to the dictates of wisdom and philosophy.
And how know you, Aurelian, that this religion of Christ may not be the
very principle which, and which alone, may save your people from
atheism, and your empire from the ruin that would bring along in its
train?'
'I cannot deny,' said the Emperor in reply, 'that there is some sense
and apparent truth in what you have said. But to me it is shadowy and
intangible. It is the speculation of that curious class among men, who,
never satisfied with what exists, are always desiring some new forms of
truth, in religion, in government, and all subjects of that nature. I
could feel no more certain of going or doing right by conforming to
their theories, than I feel now in adhering to what is already
established. Nay, I can see safety nowhere but in what already is. There
is the only certainty. Suppose some enthusiast in matters of government
were to propose his system, by which the present established
institutions were all to be abandoned and new ones set up, should I
permit him to go freely among the people, puzzling their heads with what
it is impossible they should understand, and by his sophistries
alienating them from their venerable parent? Not so, by Hercules! I
should ill deserve my office of supreme guardian of the honor and
liberties of Rome, did I not mew him up in the Fabrician dungeons, or
send him lower still to the Stygian shades.'
'But,' said Livia, who had seemed anxious to speak, 'though it may be
right, and best for the interests of Rome, to suppress this new worship,