Quo Vadis: A Narrative of the Time of Nero
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 Cæsar, 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 Carinæ 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 Cæsar’s time, it came to war, almost, between Jews and
Christians. Those outbreaks forced Claudius Cæsar 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.”