Quo Vadis: A Narrative of the Time of Nero
“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, Cæsar, 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 Cæsar--”
“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, Cæsar, what I saw with my own eyes.”
“Where is that pearl? Has he not become king of Nemi?”
“I cannot tell, Cæsar. 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.”
“Cæsar,” 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 æsthetic 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 Cæsardom! 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 Cæsar 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 Cæsar
for the deferred journey to Achæa, 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 Cæsar 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
Cæsar: but to his misfortune he surpassed in conversation Cæsar himself,
hence he roused his jealousy; moreover he could not be an obedient
instrument in everything, and Cæsar 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
Poppæa 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,