Quo Vadis: A Narrative of the Time of Nero
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 Carinæ,” 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 Carinæ.”
In fact, they were turning toward the Carinæ. 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 Cæsar 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 Carinæ!”
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 Cæsar, 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 Græcina, 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,
Cæsar 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 Cæsar 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