Quo Vadis: A Narrative of the Time of Nero Read online

  Chapter XLIX

  PETRONIUS went home. Nero and Tigellinus went to Poppaea's atrium, wherethey were expected by people with whom the prefect had spoken already.

  There were two Trans-Tiber rabbis in long solemn robes and mitred, ayoung copyist, their assistant, together with Chilo. At sight of Caesarthe priests grew pale from emotion, and, raising their hands an arm'slength, bent their heads to his hands.

  "Be greeted, O ruler of the earth, guardian of the chosen people, andCaesar, lion among men, whose reign is like sunlight, like the cedar ofLebanon, 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 ripefig,--for Jehovah filled thy heart with goodness! Thy father'spredecessor, Caesar Caius, was stern; still our envoys did not call himgod, preferring death itself to violation of the law."

  "And did not Caligula give command to throw them to the lions?"

  "No, lord; Caesar Caius feared Jehovah's anger."

  And they raised their heads, for the name of the powerful Jehovah gavethem courage; confident in his might, they looked into Nero's eyes withmore boldness.

  "Do ye accuse the Christians of burning Rome?" inquired Caesar. "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 havethreatened the city and the world with fire! The rest will be told theeby this man, whose lips are unstained by a lie, for in his mother'sveins 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 andCornutus. Their speech is repulsive to me; their contempt for art, theirvoluntary squalor and filth."

  "O lord, thy master Seneca has one thousand tables of citrus wood. Atthy wish I will have twice as many. I am a Stoic from necessity. Dressmy stoicism, O Radiant One, in a garland of roses, put a pitcher ofwine before it; it will sing Anacreon in such strains as to deafen everyEpicurean."

  Nero, who was pleased by the title "Radiant," smiled and said,-"Thoudost please me."

  "This man is worth his weight in gold!" cried Tigellinus.

  "Put thy liberality with my weight," answered Chilo, "or the wind willblow my reward away."

  "He would not outweigh Vitelius," put in Caesar.

  "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 thatfaith, 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 oftears forever. O lord, defend me against my enemies."

  "Speak of the Christians," said Poppaea, with a shade of impatience.

  "It will be at thy command, O Isis," answered Chilo. "From youth Idevoted myself to philosophy, and sought truth. I sought it among theancient divine sages, in the Academy at Athens, and in the Serapeum atAlexandria. When I heard of the Christians, I judged that they formedsome new school in which I could find certain kernels of truth; and tomy misfortune I made their acquaintance. The first Christian whom evilfate brought near me was one Glaucus, a physician of Naples. From himI learned in time that they worship a certain Chrestos, who promisedto exterminate all people and destroy every city on earth, but to sparethem if they helped him to exterminate the children of Deucalion. Forthis reason, O lady, they hate men, and poison fountains; for thisreason in their assemblies they shower curses on Rome, and on alltemples in which our gods are honored. Chrestos was crucified; but hepromised that when Rome was destroyed by fire, he would come again andgive Christians dominion over the world."

  "People will understand now why Rome was destroyed," interruptedTigellinus.

  "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, yewill know my reasons for vengeance. Glaucus the physician did not revealto me at first that their religion taught hatred. On the contrary,he told me that Chrestos was a good divinity, that the basis of theirreligion was love. My sensitive heart could not resist such a truth;hence I took to loving Glaucus, I trusted him, I shared every morselof bread with him, every copper coin, and dost thou know, lady, how herepaid me? On the road from Naples to Rome he thrust a knife into mybody, and my wife, the beautiful and youthful Berenice, he sold to aslave-merchant. If Sophocles knew my history--but what do I say? Onebetter than Sophocles is listening."

  "Poor man!" said Poppaea.

  "Whoso has seen the face of Aphrodite is not poor, lady; and I see it atthis moment. But then I sought consolation in philosophy. When I cameto Rome, I tried to meet Christian elders to obtain justice againstGlaucus. I thought that they would force him to yield up my wife. Ibecame acquainted with their chief priest; I became acquainted withanother, named Paul, who was in prison in this city, but was liberatedafterward; I became acquainted with the son of Zebedee, with Linus andClitus and many others. I know where they lived before the fire, I knowwhere they meet. I can point out one excavation in the Vatican Hilland a cemetery beyond the Nomentan Gate, where they celebrate theirshameless ceremonies. I saw the Apostle Peter. I saw how Glaucus killedchildren, so that the Apostle might have something to sprinkle on theheads of those present; and I saw Lygia, the foster-child of PomponiaGraecina, who boasted that though unable to bring the blood of aninfant, she brought the death of an infant, for she bewitched the littleAugusta, thy daughter, O Cyrus, and thine, O Isis!"

  "Dost hear, Caesar?" asked Poppaea.

  "Can that be!" exclaimed Nero.

  "I could forgive wrongs done myself," continued Chilo, "but when I heardof yours, I wanted to stab her. Unfortunately I was stopped by the nobleVinicius, 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 pointedout to him the house in which she lived among the Christians in theTrans-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 canbreak a bull's neck as easily as another might a poppy stalk. Aulus andPomponia loved him because of that."

  "By Hercules," said Nero, "the mortal who crushed Croton deserves astatue 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'sribs breaking in the arms of Ursus, who rushed then on Vinicius andwould have killed him but for Lygia. Vinicius was ill for a long timeafter that but they nursed him in the hope that through love he wouldbecome 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 verywell have become one."

  "Now I understand why he defended the Christians."

  Nero laughed: "Petronius a Christian! Petronius an enemy of life andluxury! Be not foolish; do not ask me to believe that, since I am readynot to believe anything."

  "But the noble Vinicius became a Christian, lord. I swear by thatradiance which comes from thee that I speak the truth, and that nothingpierces me with such disgust as lying. Pomponia Graecina 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 thephysician, he gave command to flog me
, though I am old and was sick andhungry. 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 theApostle and Linus and Clitus and Glaucus and Crispus, the highestones, and Lygia and Ursus. I will point out hundreds of them to you,thousands; I will indicate their houses of prayer, the cemeteries, allthy prisons will not hold them! Without me ye could not find them. Inmisfortunes I have sought consolation; hitherto in philosophy alone, nowI will find it in favors that will descend on me. I am old, and have notknown 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 Poppaea did not forget her enemies. Her fancy for Vinicius was,indeed, rather a momentary whim, which had risen under the influenceof jealousy, anger, and wounded vanity. Still the coolness of the youngpatrician touched her deeply, and filled her heart with a stubbornfeeling of offence. This alone, that he had dared to prefer another,seemed to her a crime calling for vengeance. As to Lygia, she hated herfrom the first moment, when the beauty of that northern lily alarmedher. Petronius, who spoke of the too narrow hips of the girl, might talkwhat he pleased into Caesar, but not into the Augusta. Poppaea the criticunderstood at one cast of the eye that in all Rome Lygia alone couldrival 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 willpoint 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 wiltgive fifty men, I will only show the house from a distance. But if yewill not imprison Vinicius, I am lost."

  Tigellinus looked at Nero. "Would it not be well, O divinity, to finishat 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 themthat Petronius, Vinicius, or Pomponia Graecina had fired Rome. Theirhouses were too beautiful. Their turn will come later; to-day othervictims 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 hoarsevoice.