CHAPTER XXVII.
The great Amphitheatre of Dionysus was in the Bruchium, the splendidpalatial quarter of the city, close to the large harbor between theChoma and the peninsula of Lochias. Hard by the spacious and loftyrotunda, in which ten thousand spectators could be seated, stood themost fashionable gymnasia and riding-schools. These buildings, which hadbeen founded long since by the Ptolemiac kings, and had been repeatedlyextended and beautified, formed, with the adjoining schools forgladiators and beast-fighters, and the stables for wild beasts fromevery part of the world, a little town by themselves.
At this moment the amphitheatre looked like a beehive, of which everycell seems to be full, but in which a whole swarm expects yet to findroom. The upper places, mere standing-room for the common people, andthe cheaper seats, had been full early in the day. By the afternoon thebetter class of citizens had come in, if their places were not reserved;and now, at sunset, those who were arriving in litters and chariots,just before the beginning of the show, were for the most part inCaesar's train, court officials, senators, or the rich magnates of thecity.
The strains of music were by this time mingling with the shouting andloud talk of the spectators, or of the thousands who were crowding roundthe building without hoping to obtain admission. But even for them therewas plenty to be seen. How delightful to watch the well-dressedwomen, and the men of rank and wealth, crowned with wreaths, as theydismounted; to see the learned men and artists arrive--more or lesseagerly applauded, according to the esteem in which they were heldby the populace! The most splendid sight of all was the procession ofpriests, with Timotheus, the high-priest of Serapis, at their head, andby his side the priest of Alexander, both marching with dignity undera canopy. They were followed by the animals to be slaughtered forsacrifice, and the images of the gods and the deified Caesars, whichwere to be placed in the arena, as the most worshipful of all thespectators. Timotheus wore the splendid insignia of his office; thepriest of Alexander was in purple, as being the idiologos and head ofall the temples of Egypt, and representative of Caesar.
The advent of the images of the Caesars gave rise to a sort of judgmentof the dead: for the mob hailed that of Julius Caesar with enthusiasm,that of Augustus, with murmurs of disapproval; when Caligula appeared,he was hissed; while the statues of Vespasian, Titus, Hadrian, andAntonine, met with loud acclamations. That of Septimius Severus,Caracalla's father, to whom the town owed many benefits, was very wellreceived. The images of the gods, too, had very various fates. Serapis,and Alexander, the divine hero of the town, were enthusiasticallywelcomed, while scarcely a voice was heard on the approach ofZeus-Jupiter and Ares-Mars. They were regarded as the gods of the hatedRomans.
The companies of the imperial body-guard, who were placed about theamphitheatre, found no great difference, so long as it was daylight,between the crowd round the Circus of Alexandria and that by the Tiber.What chiefly struck them was the larger number of dusky faces, and thefanciful garb of the Magians. The almost naked rabble, too, with nothingon but a loin-cloth, who wriggled in and out of the throng, ready forany service or errand, formed a feature unknown at Rome. But, as it grewdarker, the Romans began to perceive that it was not for nothing thatthey had come hither.
At Rome, when some great show was promised, of beast-fighting,gladiators, and the like, there were, no doubt, barbarian princes tobe seen, and envoys from the remotest ends of the earth in strange andgorgeous array; and there, too, small wares of every kind were for sale.By the Tiber, again, night shows were given, with grand illuminations,especially for the feast of Flora; but here, as soon as the sun hadset, and the sports were about to begin, the scene was one never tobe forgotten. Some of the ladies who descended from the litters, woregarments of indescribable splendor; the men even displayed strangeand handsome costumes as they were helped out of their gilt and platedchariots by their servants. What untold wealth must these men haveat their command, to be able to dress their slaves in gold and silverbrocade; and the runners, who kept up with the swiftest horses, musthave lungs of iron! The praetorians, who had not for many a day seenanything to cause them to forget the motto of the greatest philosopheramong their poets--never to be astonished at anything--repeatedly pushedeach other with surprise and admiration; nay, the centurion JuliusMartialis, who had just now had a visit in camp from his wife andchildren, in defiance of orders, while Caesar himself was looking on,struck his fist on his greaves, and, exclaiming loudly, "Look out!"pointed to Seleukus's chariot, for which four runners, in tunics withlong sleeves, made of sea-green bombyx, richly embroidered with silver,were making a way through the crowd.
The barefooted lads, with their nimble, gazellelike legs, were all welllooking, and might have been cast all in one mold. But what struck thecenturion and his comrades as most remarkable in their appearance werethe flash and sparkle from their slender ankles, as the setting sunsuddenly shot a fleeting ray through a rift in the heavy clouds. Each ofthese fellows wore on his legs gold bands set with precious stones, andthe rubies which glittered on the harness of Seleukus's horse were offar greater value.
He, as master of the festival, had come betimes, and this was the firstof many such displays of wealth which followed each other in quicksuccession, as soon as the brief twilight of Egypt had given way todarkness, and the lighting up of the Circus was begun.
Here came a beautifully dressed woman in a roomy litter, over whichwaved a canopy entirely of white ostrich-plumes, which the eveningbreeze swayed like a thicket of fern-leaves. This throne was borne byten black and ten white slave-girls, and before it two fair childrenrode on tame ostriches. The tall heir of a noble house, who, like Caesarat Rome, belonged to the "Blues," drove his own team of four splendidwhite horses; and he himself was covered with turquoises, while theharness was set with cut sapphires.
The centurion shook his head in silent admiration. His face had beentanned in many wars, both in the East and West, and he had fought evenin distant Caledonia, but the low forehead, loose under lip, and dulleye spoke of small gifts of intellect. Nevertheless, he was not lackingin strength of will, and was regarded by his comrades as a good beastof burden who would submit to a great deal before it became too much forhim. But then he would break out like a mad bull, and he might longago have risen to higher rank, had he not once in such a fit of passionnearly throttled a fellow-soldier. For this crime he had been severelypunished, and condemned to begin again at the bottom of the ladder. Heowed it chiefly to the young tribune Aurelius Apollinaris that he hadvery soon regained the centurion's staff, in spite of his humble birth;he had saved that officer's life in the war with the Armenians--to behere, in Alexandria, cruelly mutilated by the hand of his sovereign.
The centurion had a faithful heart. He was as much attached to the twonoble brothers as to his wife and children, for indeed he owed themmuch; and if the service had allowed it he would long since have madehis way to the house of Seleukus to learn how the wounded tribune wasfaring. But he had not time even to see his own family, for his youngerand richer comrades, who wanted to enjoy the pleasures of the city, hadput upon him no small share of their own duties. Only this morning ayoung soldier of high birth, who had begun his career at the sametime as Martialis, had promised him some tickets of admission to theevening's performance in the Circus if he would take his duty on guardoutside the amphitheatre. And this offer had been very welcome to thecenturion, for he thus found it possible to give those he loved best,his wife and his mother, the greatest treat which could be offeredto any Alexandrian. And now, when anything noteworthy was to be seenoutside, he only regretted that he had already some time since conductedthem to their seats in one of the upper rows. He would have liked thatthey, too, should have seen the horses and the chariots and the "Blue"charioteer's turquoises and sapphires; although a decurion observed, ashe saw them, that a Roman patrician would scorn to dress out his personwith such barbaric splendor, and an Alexandrian of the praetorian guarddeclared that his fellow-citizens of Greek extraction thought more of agraceful
fold than of whole strings of precious stones.
"But why, then, was this 'Blue' so vehemently hailed by the mob!" askeda Pannonian in the guard.
"The mob!" retorted the Alexandrian, scornfully. "Only the Syrians andother Asiatics. Look at the Greeks. The great merchant Seleukus is therichest of them all, but splendid as his horses, his chariots, and hisslaves are, he himself wears only the simple Macedonian mantle. Thoughit is of costly material, who would suspect it? If you see a manswaggering in such a blaze of gems you may wager your house--if you haveone--that his birthplace lies not very far from Syria."
"Now, that one, in a mother-of-pearl shell on two wheels, is the JewPoseidonius," the Pannonian put in. "I am quartered on his father. Buthe is dressed like a Greek."
At this the centurion, in his delight at knowing something, opened hismouth with a broad grin: "I am a native here," said he, "and I can tellyou the Jew would make you answer for it if you took him for anythingbut a Greek."
"And quite right," added another soldier, from Antioch. "The Jews hereare many, but they have little in common with those in Palestine. Theywish to pass for Greeks; they speak Greek, assume Greek names, andeven cease to believe in the great God their father; they study Greekphilosophy, and I know one who worships in the Temple of Serapis."
"Many do the same in Rome," said a man of Ostia. "I know an epigramwhich ridicules them for it."
At this point they were interrupted, for Martialis pointed to a tallman who was coming toward them, and whom his sharp eye had recognizedas Macrinus, the prefect of the praetorians. In an instant the soldierswere erect and rigid, but still many a helmeted head was turned towardthe spot where their chief stood talking in an undertone to the MagianSerapion.
Macrinus had persuaded Caesar to send for the exorciser, to test hisarts. Immediately after the performance, however late it might be, theMagian was to be admitted to his presence.
Serapion thanked the prefect, and then whispered to him, "I have had asecond revelation."
"Not here!" exclaimed Macrinus, uneasily, and, leading away his handsomelittle son, he turned toward the entrance.
Dusk, meanwhile, had given way to darkness, and several slaves stoodready to light the innumerable little lamps which were to illuminate theoutside of the Circus. They edged the high arches which surroundedthe two lower stories, and supported the upper ranks of the enormouscircular structure. Separated only by narrow intervals, the rows oflights formed a glittering series of frames which outlined the noblebuilding and rendered it visible from afar.
The arches on the ground-floor led to the cells from which the men andbeasts were let out into the arena; but some, too, were fitted withshops, where flowers and wreaths, refreshments, drinks, handkerchiefs,fans, and other articles in request, were sold. On the footway betweenthe building and the row of pitch torches which surrounded it, men andwomen in thousands were walking to and fro. Smart, inquisitive girlswere pushing their way singly or in groups, and their laughter drownedthe deep, tragical voices of the soothsayers and Magians who announcedtheir magic powers to the passersby. Some of these even made their wayinto the waiting-rooms of the gladiators and wrestlers, who to-day sogreatly needed their support that, in spite of severe and newly enforcedprohibitions, many a one stole out into the crowd to buy some effectualcharm or protecting amulet.
Where the illuminations were completed, attempts of another kindwere being made to work upon the mood of the people; nimble-tonguedfellows--some in the service of Macrinus and some in that of the anxioussenate--were distributing handkerchiefs to wave on Caesar's approach,or flowers to strew in his path. More than one, who was known for amalcontent, found a gold coin in his hand, with the image of the monarchhe was expected to hail; and on the way by which Caesar was to come manyof those who awaited him wore the caracalla. These were for the mostpart bribed, and their acclamations were to mollify the tyrant's mood.
As soon as the prefect had disappeared within the building, thepraetorian ranks fell out again. It was lucky that among them wereseveral Alexandrians, besides the centurion Martialis, who had not longbeen absent from their native town; for without them much would haveremained incomprehensible. The strangest thing to foreign eyes wasa stately though undecorated harmamaxa, out of which stepped first ahandsome wreathed youth, then a matron of middle age, and at last anelegantly dressed girl, whose rare beauty made even Martialis--whorarely noticed women--exclaim, "Now, she is to my taste thesweetest-thing of all."
But there must have been something very remarkable about these three;for when they appeared the crowd broke out at first in loud shouts andoutcries, which soon turned to acclamations and welcome, though throughit all shrill whistles and hisses were heard.
"Caesar's new mistress, the daughter of a gemcutter!" the Alexandrianmuttered to his comrades. "That handsome boy is her brother, no doubt.He is said to be a mean sycophant, a spy paid by Caesar."
"He?" said an older centurion, shaking his scarred head. "Sooner would Ibelieve that the shouts of the populace were intended for the old womanand not for the young one."
"Then a sycophant he is and will remain," said the Alexandrian witha laugh. "For, as a matter of fact, it is the elder lady they aregreeting, and, by Heracles, she deserves it! She is the wife of thehigh-priest of Serapis. There are few poor in this city to whom she hasnot done a kindness. She is well able, no doubt, for her husband is thebrother of Seleukus, and her father, too, sat over his ears in gold."
"Yes, she is able," interrupted Martialis, with a tone of pride, asthough it were some credit to himself. "But how many have even more, andkeep their purse-strings tight! I have known her since she was a child,and she is the best of all that is good. What does not the town owe toher! She risked her life to move Caesar's father to mercy toward thecitizens, after they had openly declared against him and in favor of hisrival Pescennius Niger. And she succeeded, too."
"Why, then, are they whistling?" asked the older centurion.
"Because her companion is a spy," repeated the Alexandrian. "And thegirl--In Caesar's favor! But, after all, which of you all would notgladly see his sister or his niece Caesar's light of love?"
"Not I!" cried Martialis. "But the man who speaks ill of that girl onlydoes so because he likes blue eyes best. The maiden who comes in thelady Euryale's chariot is spotless, you may swear."
"Nay, nay," said the younger Alexandrian soothingly. "That black-hairedfellow and his companions would whistle another tune if they knew anyevil of her, and she would not be in the lady Euryale's company--thatis the chief point--. But, look there! The shameless dogs are stoppingtheir way! 'Green' to a man.--But here come the lictors."
"Attention!" shouted Martialis, firmly resolved to uphold the guardiansof the peace, and not to suffer any harm to the matron and her faircompanion; for Euryale's husband was the brother of Seleukus, whom hisfather and father-in-law had served years ago, while in the villa atKanopus his mother and wife were left in charge to keep it in order. Hefelt that he was bound in duty to the merchant, and that all who wereof that household had a right to count on his protection. But no activemeasures were needed; a number of "Blues" had driven off the "Greens"who had tried to bar Alexander's way, and the lictors came to theirassistance.
A young man in festal array, who had pushed into the front rank of thebystanders, had looked on with panting breath. He was very pale, and thethick wreath he wore was scarcely sufficient to hide the bandage underit. This was Diodoros, Melissa's lover. After resting awhile at hisfriend's house he had been carried in a litter to the amphitheatre, forhe could yet hardly walk. His father being one of the senators of thetown, his family had a row of seats in the lowest and best tier; butthis, on this occasion, was entirely given up to Caesar and his court.Consequently the different members of the senate could have only halfthe usual number of seats. Still, the son of Polybius might in anycase claim two in his father's name; and his friend Timon--who had alsoprovided him with suitable clothing--had gone to procure the ticketsfrom the curia. They w
ere to meet at the entrance leading to theirplaces, and it would be some little time yet before Timon could return.
Diodoros had thought he would behold his imperial rival; however,instead of Caracalla he had seen the contemptuous reception whichawaited Alexander and Melissa, from some at least of the populace.Still, how fair and desirable had she seemed in his eyes, whom, onlythat morning, he had been blessed in calling his! As he now moved awayfrom the main entrance, he asked himself why it was such torture to himto witness the humiliation of a being who had done him such a wrong, andwhom he thought he hated and scorned so utterly. Hardly an hour since hehad declared to Timon that he had rooted his love for Melissa out of hisheart. He himself would feel the better for using the whistle he wore,in derision of her, and for seeing her faithlessness punished by thecrowd. But now? When the insolent uproar went up from the "Greens,"whose color he himself wore, he had found it difficult to refrain fromrushing on the cowardly crew and knocking some of them down.
He now made his way with feeble steps to the entrance where he wasto meet his friend. The blood throbbed in his temples, his mouthwas parched, and, as a fruit-seller cried her wares from one of thearchways, he took a few apples from her basket to refresh himself withtheir juice. His hand trembled, and the experienced old woman, observingthe bandage under his wreath, supposed him to be one of the excitedmalcontents who had perhaps already fallen into the hands of thelictors. So, with a significant grin, she pointed under the table onwhich her fruit-baskets stood, and said "I have plenty of rotten ones.Six in a wrapper, quite easy to hide under your cloak. For whom youwill. Caesar has given the golden apple of Paris to a goddess ofthis town. I should best like to see these flung at her brother, thesycophant."
"Do you know them?" asked Diodoros, hoarsely.
"No," replied the old woman. "No need for that. I have plenty ofcustomers and good ears. The slut broke her word with a handsome youthof the town for the sake of the Roman, and they who do such things arerepaid by the avenging gods." Diodoros felt his knees failing underhim, and a wrathful answer was on his lips, when the huckster suddenlyshouted like mad: "Caesar, Caesar! He is coming."
The shouts of the crowd hailing their emperor had already become audiblethrough the heavy evening air, at first low and distant, and louder bydegrees. They now suddenly rose to a deafening uproar, and while thesound rolled on like approaching thunder, broken by shrill whistlessuggesting lightning, the sturdy old apple-seller clambered unaided onto her table, and shouted with all her might:
"Caesar! Here he is!--Hail, hail, hail to great Caesar!"
At the imminent risk of tumbling off her platform, she bent low downto reach under the table for the blue cloth which covered her store ofrotten apples, snatched it off, and waved it with frantic enthusiasm,as though her elderly heart had suddenly gone forth to the very man forwhom a moment ago she had been ready to sell her disgusting missiles.And still she shouted in ringing tones, "Hail, hail, Caesar!" againand again, with all her might, till there was no breath left in heroverbuxom, panting breast, and her round face was purple with theeffort. Nay, her emotion was so vehement that the bright tears streameddown her fat cheeks.
And every one near was shrieking like the applewoman, "Hail, Caesar!"and it was only where the crowd was densest that a sharp whistle now andthen rent the roar of acclamations.
Diodoros, meanwhile, had turned to look at the main entrance, and,carried away by the universal desire to see, had perched himself on anunopened case of dried figs. His tall figure now towered far abovethe throng, and he set his teeth as he heard the old woman, almostspeechless with delight, gasp out:
"Lovely! wonderful! He would never have found the like in Rome. Here,among us--"
But the cheers of the multitude now drowned every other sound. Fathersor mothers who had children with them lifted them up as high as theycould; where a small man stood behind a tall one, way was willinglymade, for it would have been a shame to hinder his view of such aspectacle. Many had already seen the great monarch in his shining,golden chariot, drawn by four splendid horses; but such an array oftorch-bearers as now preceded Caracalla was a thing never seen withinthe memory of the oldest or most traveled man. Three elephants marchedbefore him and three came behind, and all six carried in their trunksblazing torches, which they held now low and now aloft to light hisroad. To think that beasts could be trained to such a service! And thathere, in Alexandria, such a display could be made before the haughty andpampered Romans!
The chariot stood still, and the black Ethiopians who guided the hugefour-footed torch-bearers took the three leaders to join their fellowsbehind the chariot. This really was a fine sight; this could not butfill the heart of every one who loved his native town with pride anddelight. For what should a man ever shout himself hoarse, if not forsuch a splendid and unique show? Diodoros himself could not takehis eyes off the elephants. At first he was delighted with them, butpresently the sight annoyed him even more than it had pleased him;for he reflected that the tyrant, the villain, his deadly enemy, wouldcertainly take to himself the applause bestowed on the clever beasts.With this, he grasped the reed pipe in the breast of his tunic. He hadbeen on the point of using it before now, to retaliate on Melissa forsome portion of the pain she had inflicted on him. At this thought,however, the paltriness of such revenge struck him with horror, and witha hasty impulse he snapped the pipe in two, and flung the pieces onthe ground in front of the apple-stall. The old woman observed it andexclaimed:
"Ay, ay, such a sight makes one forgive a great deal"; but he turned hisback on her in silence, and joined his friend at the appointed spot.
They made their way without difficulty to the seats reserved for thesenators' families, and when they had taken their places, the young manreplied but briefly to the sympathetic inquiries as to his health whichwere addressed to him by his acquaintances. His friend Timon gazedanxiously into his handsome but pale, sad face, as Diodoros sat crushedand absorbed in thought. He would have liked to urge him to quit thescene at once, for the seats just opposite were those destined to Caesarand his court-among them, no doubt, Melissa. In the dim light whichstill prevailed in the vast amphitheatre it was impossible to recognizefaces. But there would soon be a blaze of light, and what misery mustawait the hapless victim of her faithlessness, still so far from perfecthealth! After the glare of light outside, which was almost blinding, thetwilight within was for the moment a relief to Diodoros. His weary limbswere resting, a pleasant smell came up from the perfumed fountainsin the arena, and his eyes, which could not here rest on anything togratify him, were fixed on vacancy.
And yet it was a comfort to him to think that he had broken his pipe.It would have disgraced him to whistle it; and, moreover, the tone wouldhave reached the ear of the noble lady who had accompanied Melissa, andwhom he himself had, only yesterday, revered as a second mother.
Loud music now struck up, he heard shouts and cheers, and just abovehim--for it could only proceed from the uppermost tiers--there was anextraordinary tumult. Still he paid no heed, and as he thought of thatmatron the question suddenly arose in his mind, whether she would haveconsented to be seen with Melissa if she thought that the girl wasindeed capable of ruthless falsehood or any other unworthy act. He, whonever missed a show in the arena, had never seen the lady Euryale here.She could hardly have come to-day for her own pleasure; she had come,then, for Melissa's sake; and yet she knew that the girl was betrothedto him. Unless Caesar had commanded the matron's presence, Melissa muststill be worthy of the esteem and affection of this best of women; andat this reflection Hope once more raised her head in his tortured soul.
He now suddenly wished that brighter light might dispel the gloom whichjust now he had found so restful; for the lady Euryale's demeanor wouldshow him whether Melissa were still a virtuous maiden. If the matronwere as friendly with her as ever, her heart was perhaps still his;it was not the splendor of the purple that had led her astray, but thecoercion of the tyrant.
His silent reflections were her
e interrupted by the loud sounding oftrumpets, battle-cries, and, immediately after, the fall of someheavy body, followed by repeated acclamations, noisy outcries, and theapplause of those about him. Not till then had he been aware that theperformances had begun. Below him, indeed, on the arena from which hehad not once raised his eyes, nothing was to be seen on the yellow sandbut the scented fountain and a shapeless body, by which a second and athird were soon lying; but overhead something was astir, and, from theright-hand side, bright rays flashed across the wide space. Above thevast circle of seats, arranged on seven tiers, suns and huge, strangelyshaped stars were seen, which shed a subdued, many-tinted radiance;and what the youth saw over his head was not the vault of heaven, whichto-night bent over his native city darkened by clouds, but a velarium ofimmense size on which the nocturnal firmament was depicted. This coveredin the whole of the open space. Every constellation which rose overAlexandria was plainly recognizable. Jupiter and Mars, Caesar'sfavorites, outdid the other planets in size and brightness; and in thecenter of this picture of the sky, which slowly revolved round it,stars were set to form the letters of Caracalla's names, Bassianus andAntoninus. But their light, too, was dim, and veiled as it were withclouds. Soft music was heard from these artificial heavens, and inthe stratum of air immediately beneath, the blare of war-trumpetsand battle-cries were heard. Thus all eyes were directed upward, andDiodoros's with the rest.
He perceived, with amazement, that the givers of the entertainment,in their anxiety to set something absolutely new before their imperialguest, had arranged that the first games should take place in the air. Abattle was being fought overhead, on a level with the highest places, ina way that must surely be a surprise even to the pampered Romans. Blackand gold barks were jostling each other in mid-air, and their crews werefighting with the energy of despair. The Egyptian myth of the gods ofthe great lights who sail the celestial ocean in golden barks, andof the sun-god who each morning conquers the demons of darkness, hadsuggested the subject of this performance.
The battle between the Spirits of Darkness and of Light was to be foughtout high above the best rows of seats occupied by Caesar and his court;and the combatants were living men, for the most part such as had beencondemned to death or to the hardest forced labor. The black vesselswere manned by negroes, the golden by fair-haired criminals, and theyhad embarked readily enough; for some of them would escape from the fraywith only a few wounds and some quite unhurt, and each one was resolvedto use his weapons so as to bring the frightful combat to a speedy end.
The woolly-haired blacks did not indeed know that they had been providedwith loosely made swords which would go to pieces at the first shock,and with shields which could not resist a serious blow; while thefair-haired representatives of the light were supplied with sharpand strong weapons of offense and defense. At any cost the spirits ofdarkness must not be allowed to triumph over those of light. Of whatvalue was a negro's life, especially when it was already forfeited?
While Euryale and Melissa sat with eyes averted from the horrible scenegoing on above them, and the matron, holding her young companion's hand,whispered to her:
"O child, child! to think that I should be compelled to bring you here!"loud applause and uproarious clapping surrounded them on every side.
The gem-cutter Heron, occupying one of the foremost cushioned seats,radiant with pride and delight in the red-bordered toga of his newdignity, clapped his big hands with such vehemence that his immediateneighbors were almost deafened. He, too, had been badly received, onhis arrival, with shrill whistling, but he had been far from troublinghimself about that. But when a troop of "Greens" had met him, just infront of the imperial dais, shouting brutal abuse in his face, he hadpaused, chucked the nearest man under the chin with his powerfulfist, and fired a storm of violent epithets at the rest. Thanks tothe lictors, he had got off without any harm, and as soon as he foundhimself among friends and men of rank, on whom he looked in speechlessrespect, he had recovered his spirits. He was looking forward withintense satisfaction to the moment when he might ask Caesar what he nowthought of Alexandria.
Like his father, Alexander was intent on the bloody struggle--gazingupward with breathless interest as the combatants tried to fling eachother into the yawning depth below them. But at the same time he neverfor an instant forgot the insults he had endured outside. How deeply hefelt them was legible in his clouded face. Only once did a smile passover it--when, toward the end of this first fight, the place was madelighter, he perceived in the row of seats next above him the daughter ofhis neighbor Skopas, pretty Ino, whom but a few days since he had vowedto love. He was conscious of having treated her badly, and given her theright to call him faithless. Toward her, indeed, he had been guilty oftreachery, and it had really weighed on his soul. Their eyes met, andshe gave him to understand in the plainest way that she had heard himstigmatized as Caesar's spy, and had believed the calumny. The meresight of him seemed to fill her with anger, and she did her utmost toshow him that she had quickly found a substitute for him; and it was toAlexander, no doubt, that Ktesias, her young kinsman, who had long paidher his addresses, owed the kindliness with which Ino now gazed intohis eyes. This was some comfort to the luckless, banished lover. On heraccount, at any rate, he need reproach himself no longer. Diodoroswas sitting opposite to him, and his attention, too, was frequentlyinterrupted.
The flashing swords and torches in the hands of the Spirits of Light,and the dimly gleaming stars above their heads, had not so far dispelledthe darkness as that the two young people could identify each other.Diodoros, indeed, even throughout this absorbing fight, had frequentlyglanced at the imperial seats, but had failed to distinguish his belovedfrom the other women in Caracalla's immediate vicinity. But it now grewlighter, for, while the battle was as yet undecided, a fresh bark,full of Spirits of Light, flourishing their torches, was unexpectedlylaunched to support their comrades, and Heaven seemed to have sent themforth to win the fight, which had already lasted longer than the mastersof the ceremonies had thought possible.
The wild shouts of the combatants and the yells of the wounded had longsince drowned the soft music of the spheres above their heads. The callof tubas and bugles rang without ceasing through the great building,to the frequent accompaniment of the most horrible sound of all in thishideous spectacle--the heavy fall of a dead man dropping from above intothe gulf.
But this dreadful thud was what gave rise to the loudest applause amongthe spectators, falling on their satiated ears as a new sound. Thisfrenzied fight in the air, such as had never before been seen, gave riseto the wildest delight, for it led the eye, which was wont in thisplace to gaze downward, in a direction in which it had never yet beenattracted. And what a glorious spectacle it was when black and whitewrestled together! How well the contrast of color distinguished theindividual combatants, even when they clung together in close embrace!And when, toward the end of the struggle, a bark was overturned bodily,and some of the antagonists would not be parted, even as they fell,trying to kill each other in their rage and hatred, the very walls ofthe great structure shook with the wild clamor and applause of thousandsof every degree.
Only once did the roar of approval reach a higher pitch, and that wasafter the battle was ended, at what succeeded. Hardly had the victoriousSpirits of Light been seen to stand up in their barks, waving theirtorches, to receive from fluttering genii wreaths of laurel which theyflung down to where Caesar sat, than a perfumed vapor, emanating fromthe place where the painted sky met the wall of the circular building,hid the whole of the upper part of it from the sight of the spectators.The music stopped, and from above there came a strange and ominousgrowling, hissing, rustling, and crackling. A dull light, dimmer eventhan before, filled the place, and anxious suspicions took possession ofthe ten thousand spectators.
What was happening? Was the velarium on fire; had the machinery forlighting up refused to work; and must they remain in this uncomfortabletwilight?
Here and there a shout of indignation
was heard, or a shrill whistlefrom the capricious mob. But the mist had already gradually vanished,and those who gazed upward could see that the velarium with the sun andstars had made way for a black surface. No one knew whether this was thereal cloudy sky, or whether another, colorless awning closed them in.But suddenly the woven roof parted; invisible hands drew away the twohalves. Quick, soft music began as if at a signal from a magician, andat the same time such a flood of light burst down into the theatre thatevery one covered his eyes with his hand to avoid being blinded. Thefull glory of sunshine followed on the footsteps of night, like atriumphant chorus on a dismal mourning chant.
The machinists of Alexandria had done wonders. The Romans, who, evenat the night performances of the festival of Flora, had never seen thelike, hailed the effect with a storm of applause which showed no signsof ceasing, for, when they had sufficiently admired the source of thelight which flooded the theatre, reflected from numberless mirrors, andglanced round the auditorium, they began again to applaud with hands andvoices. At a given signal thousands of lights appeared round the tiersof seats, and, if the splendor of the entertainment answered at allto that of the Alexandrian spectators, something fine indeed was to beexpected.
It was now possible to see the beauty of the women and the costliness oftheir attire; not till now had the precious stones shown their flashingand changeful radiance. How many gardens and lotus-pools must have beenplundered, how many laurel-groves stripped to supply the wreaths whichgraced every head in the upper rows! And to look round those ranks andnote the handsome raiment in which men and women alike were arrayed,suggested a belief that all the inhabitants of Alexandria must be rich.Wherever the eye turned, something beautiful or magnificent was to beseen; and the numerous delightful pictures which crowded on the sightwere framed with massive garlands of lotos and mallow, lilies and roses,olive and laurel, tall papyrus and waving palm, branches of pine andwillow-here hanging in thick festoons, there twining round the columnsor wreathing the pilasters and backs of seats.
Of all the couples in this incomparable amphitheatre one alone neithersaw nor heard all that was going on. Scarcely had the darkness given wayto light, when Melissa's eyes met those of her lover, and recognitionwas immediately followed by a swift inquiry and reply which filled theunhappy pair with revived hopes. Melissa's eyes told Diodoros that sheloved him and him alone, and she read in his that he could never giveher up. Still, his also expressed the doubt and anxiety of his torturedsoul, and sent question after question across to Melissa.
And she understood the mute appeal as well as though looks were words.Without heeding the curious crowd about her, or considering the dangerof such audacity, she took up her nosegay and waved it toward him asthough to refresh him with its fragrance, and then pressed a hasty kisson the finest of the half-opened buds. His responsive gesture showedthat she had been understood, for her lover's expressive eyes beamedwith unqualified love and gratitude. Never, she thought, had he gazedmore fervently in her face, and again she bent over the bunch of roses.
But even in the midst of her newly found happiness her cheeks tingledwith maidenly modesty at her own boldness. Too happy to regret what shehad done, but still anxious lest the friend whose opinion was all inall to her should disapprove, she forgot time and place, and, laying herhead on Euryale's shoulder, looked up at her in inquiry with her largeeyes as though imploring forgiveness. The matron understood, for she hadfollowed the girl's glance and felt what it was that stirred her heart;and, little thinking of the joy she was giving to a third person, sheclasped her closely and kissed her on the temple, regardless of thepeople about them.
At this Diodoros felt as though he had won the prize in a race; and hisfriend Timon, whose artistic eye was feasting on the magnificent scene,started at the vehement and ardent pressure which Diodoros bestowed onhis hand.
What had come over the poor, suffering youth whom he, Timon, hadescorted to the Circus out of sheer compassion? His eyes sparkled, andhe held his head as high as ever. What was the meaning of his declaringthat everything would go well with him now? But it was in vain that hequestioned the youth, for Diodoros could not reveal, even to his bestfriend, what it was that made him happy. It was enough for him to knowthat Melissa loved him, and that the woman to whom he looked up withenthusiastic reverence esteemed her as highly as ever. And now, for thefirst time, he began to feel ashamed of his doubts of Melissa. How couldhe, who had known her from childhood, have believed of her anythingso base and foul? It must be some strong compulsion which bound her toCaesar, and she could never have looked at him thus unless she hadsome scheme--in which, perhaps, the lady Euryale meant to abet her--forescaping her imperial suitor before it was too late. Yes, it must be so;and the oftener he gazed at her the more convinced he felt.
Now he rejoiced in the blaze of light about him, for it showed him hisbeloved. The words which Euryale had whispered in her ear must have beenan admonition to prudence, for she only rarely bestowed on him a lovingglance, and he acknowledged that the mute but eager exchange of signalswould have been fraught with danger for both of them.
The first sudden illumination had revealed too many things to distractthe attention of the spectators, including Caesar's, for theirproceedings to be observed. Now curiosity was to some extent satisfied,and even Diodoros felt that reserve was imperative.
Caracalla had not yet shown himself to the people. A golden screen, inwhich there were holes for him to look through without being seen, hidhim from public gaze; still Diodoros could recognize those who wereadmitted to his presence. First came the givers of the entertainment;then the Parthian envoys, and some delegates from the municipalauthorities of the town. Finally, Seleukus presented the wives of themagnates who had shared with him the cost of this display, and amongthese, all magnificently dressed, the lady Berenike shone supreme by thepride of her demeanor and the startling magnificence of her attire. Asher large eyes met those of Caesar with a flash of defiance, he frowned,and remarked satirically:
"It seems to be the custom here to mourn in much splendor!"
But Berenike promptly replied:
"It has nothing to do with mourning. It is in honor of the sovereign whocommanded the presence of the mourner at the Circus."
Diodoros could not see the flame of rage in, Caesar's threatening eye,nor hear his reply to the audacious matron:
"This is a misapprehension of how to do me honor, but an opportunitywill occur for teaching the Alexandrians better."
Even across the amphitheatre the youth could see the sudden flush andpallor of the lady's haughty face; and immediately after, Macrinus, thepraetorian prefect, approached Caracalla with the master of the games,the superintendent of the school of gladiators.
At the same time Diodoros heard his next neighbor, a member of the citysenate, say:
"How quietly it is going off! My proposal that Caesar should come in toa dim light, so as to keep him and his unpopular favorites out of sightfor a while, has worked capitally. Who could the mob whistle at, so longas they could not see one from another? Now they are too much delightedto be uproarious. Caesar's bride, of all others, has reason to thankme. And she reminds me of the Persian warriors who, before going intobattle, bound cats to their bucklers because they knew that the Egyptianfoe would not shoot at them so long as the sacred beasts were exposed tobeing hit by his arrows."
"What do you mean by that?" asked another, and received the brisk reply:
"The lady Euryale is the cat who protects the damsel. Out of respect forher, and for fear of hurting her, too, her companion has hitherto beenspared even by those fellows up there."
And he pointed to a party of "Greens" who were laying their headstogether in one of the topmost tiers. But his friend replied:
"Something besides that keeps them within bounds. The three beardlessfellows just behind them belong to the city watch, who are scatteredthrough the general mass like raisins in doughcakes."
"That is very judicious," replied the senator.
"
We might otherwise have had to quit the Circus a great deal quickerthan we came in. We shall hardly get home with dry garments as it is.Look how the lights up there are flaring; you can hear the lashingof the storm, and such flashes are not produced by machinery. Zeus ispreparing his bolts, and if the storm bursts--"
Here his discourse was interrupted by the sound of trumpets, minglingwith the roar of distant thunder following a vivid flash. The processionnow began, which was the preliminary to every such performance.
The statues of the gods had, before Caesar's arrival, been placed on thepedestals erected for them to prevent any risk of a demonstration atthe appearance of the deified emperors. The priests now first marchedsolemnly round these statues, and Timotheus poured a libation on thesand to Serapis, while the priest of Alexandria did the same tothe tutelary hero of the town. Then the masters of the games, thegladiators, and beast-fighters came out, who were to make proof of theirskill. As the priests approached Caesar's dais, Caracalla came forwardand greeted the spectators, thus showing himself for the first time.
While he was still sitting behind the screen, he had sent for Melissa,who had obeyed the command, under the protection of Euryale, and he hadspoken to her graciously. He now took no further notice of her, ofher father, or her brother, and by his orders their places had beenseparated by some little distance from his. By the advice of Timotheushe would not let her be seen at his side till the stars had once morebeen consulted, and he would then conduct Melissa to the Circus as hiswife-the day after to-morrow, perhaps. He thanked the matron for havingescorted Melissa, and added, with a braggart air of virtue, that theworld should see that he, too, could sacrifice the most ardent wish ofhis heart to moral propriety.
The elephant torch-bearers had greatly delighted him, and in theexpectation of seeing Melissa again, and of a public recognition that hehad won the fairest maid there, he had come into the Circus in the bestspirits. He still wore his natural expression; yet now and then his browwas knit, for he was haunted by the eyes of Seleukus's wife. The haughtywoman--"that bedizened Niobe" he had contemptuously called her inspeaking to Macrinus--had appeared to him as an avenging goddess;strangely enough, every time he thought of her, he remembered, too, theconsul Vindex and his nephew, whose execution Melissa's intercession hadonly hastened, and he was vexed now that he had not lent an ear to herentreaties. The fact that the name Vindex signified an avenger disturbedhim greatly, and he could no more get it out of his mind than the imageof the "Niobe" with her ominous dark eyes.
He would see her no more; and in this he was helped by the gladiators,for they now approached him, and their frantic enthusiasm kept himfor some time from all other thoughts. While they flourished theirweapons-some the sword and buckler, and others the not less terrible netand harpoon--the time-honored cry rose from their husky throats in eageracclamation: "Hail, Caesar! those about to die salute thee!" Then, inrows of ten men each, they crossed the arena at a rapid pace.
Between the first and second group one man swaggered past alone, asthough he were something apart, and he strutted and rolled as he walkedwith pompous self-importance. It was his prescriptive right, and inhis broad, coarse features, with a snub nose, thick lips, and white,flashing teeth like those of a beast of prey, it was easy to see thatthe adversary would fare but ill who should try to humble him. And yethe was not tall; but on his deep chest, his enormous square shoulders,and short, bandy legs, the muscles stood out like elastic balls, showingthe connoisseur that in strength he was a giant. A loin-cloth was all hewore, for he was proud of the many scars which gleamed red and white onhis fair skin. He had pushed back his little bronze helmet, so that theterrible aspect of the left side of his face might not be lost on thepopulace. While he was engaged in fighting three panthers and a lion,the lion had torn out his eye and with it part of his cheek. His namewas Tarautas, and he was known throughout the empire as the most brutalof gladiators, for he had also earned the further privilege of neverfighting but for life or death, and never under any circumstances eithergranting or asking quarter. Where he was engaged corpses strewed theplain.
Caesar knew that he himself had been nicknamed Tarautas after this man,and he was not ill pleased; for, above all things, he aimed at beingthought strong and terrible, and this the gladiator was without a peerin his own rank of life. They knew each other: Tarautas had receivedmany a gift from his imperial patron after hard-won victories in whichhis blood had flowed. And now, as the scarred veteran, who, puffed upwith conceit, walked singly and apart in the long train of gladiators,cast a roving and haughty glance on the ranks of spectators, he wasfilled out of due time with the longing to center all eyes on himself,the one aim of his so frequently risking his life in these games. Hischest swelled, he braced up the tension of his supple sinews, and ashe passed the imperial seats he whirled his short sword round his head,describing a circle in the air, with such skill and such persistentrapidity, that it appeared like a disk of flashing steel. At the sametime his harsh, powerful voice bellowed out, "Hail, Caesar!" soundingabove the shouts of his comrades like the roar of a lion; and Caracalla,who had not yet vouchsafed a friendly word or pleasant look to anyAlexandrian, waved his hand graciously again and again to this audaciousmonster, whose strength and skill delighted him.
This was the instant for which the "Greens" in the third tier werewaiting. No one could prohibit their applauding the man whom Caesarhimself approved, so they forthwith began shouting "Tarautas!" with alltheir might. They knew that this would suggest the comparison betweenCaesar and the sanguinary wretch whose name had been applied to him,and all who were eager to give expression to their vexation ordissatisfaction took the hint and joined in the outcry. Thus in a momentthe whole amphitheatre was ringing with the name of "Tarautas!"
At first it rose here and there; but soon, no one knew how, the wholecrowd in the upper ranks joined in one huge chorus, giving free vent totheir long-suppressed irritation with childish and increasing uproar,shouting the word with steady reiteration and a sort of involuntaryrhythm. Before long it sounded as though the multitude must havepracticed the mad chant which swelled to a perfect roar.
"Tarau-Tarau-Tarautas!" and, as is always the case when a breach hasbeen made in the dam, one after another joined in, with here the shrillwhistle of a reed pipe and there the clatter of a rattle. Mingling withthese were the angry outcries of those whom the lictors or guardiansof the peace had laid hands on, or their indignant companions; and thethunder outside rolled a solemn accompaniment to the mutinous tumultwithin.
Caesar's scowling brow showed that a storm threatened in that quarteralso; and no sooner had he discerned the aim of the crowd than, foamingwith rage, he commanded Macrinus to restore order.
Then, above the chaos of voices, trumpet-calls were sounded. The mastersof the games perceived that, if only they could succeed in riveting theattention of the mob by some exciting or interesting scene, that wouldsurely silence the demonstration which was threatening ruin to the wholecommunity; so the order was at once given to begin the performance withthe most important and effective scene with which it had been intendedthat the whole should conclude.
The spectacle was to represent a camp of the Alemanni, surprised andseized by Roman warriors. In this there was a covert compliment toCaesar, who, after a doubtful victory over that valiant people, hadassumed the name of Alemannicus. Part of the gladiators, clothed inskins, represented the barbarians, and wore long flowing wigs of red oryellow hair; others played the part of Roman troops, who were to conquerthem. The Alemanni were all condemned criminals, who were allowed noarmor, and only blunt swords wherewith to defend themselves. But lifeand freedom were promised to the women if, after the camp was seized,they wounded themselves with the sharp knives with which each one wasprovided, at least deeply enough to draw blood. And any who succeeded infeigning death really deceptively were to earn a special reward. Amongthe Germans there were, too, a few gladiators of exceptional stature,armed with sharp weapons, so as to defer the decision for a while.
In a few minutes, and under the eyes of the spectators, carts, cattle,and horses were placed together in a camp, and surrounded by a wall oftree trunks, stones, and shields. Meanwhile shouts and whistles werestill heard; nay, when Tarautas came out on the arena in the highlydecorated armor of a Roman legate, at the head of a troop of heavilyarmed men, and again greeted the emperor, the commotion began afresh.But Caracalla's patience was exhausted, and the high-priest saw by hispale cheeks and twitching eyelids what was passing in his mind; so,inspired by the fervent hope of averting some incalculable disaster fromhis fellow-citizens, he took his place in front of the statue of thegod, and, lifting up his hands, he began:
"In the name of Serapis, O Macedonians!" His deep, ringing tones soundedabove the voices of the insurgents in the upper rows, and there wassilence.
Not a sound was to be heard but the long-drawn howling of the wind, andnow and then the flap of a strip of cloth torn from the velarium by thegale. Mingling with these might be heard the uncanny hooting of owlsand daws which the illumination had brought out of their nests in thecornice, and which the storm was now driving in again.
Timotheus, in a clear and audible address, now appealed to his audienceto remain quiet, not to disturb the splendid entertainment here setbefore them, and above all to remember that great Caesar, the divineruler of the world, was in their midst, an honor to each and all. As theguest of the most hospitable city on earth, their illustrious sovereignhad a right to expect from every Alexandrian the most ardent endeavorsto make his stay here delightful. It was his part as high-priest touplift his warning voice in the name of the greatest of the gods, thatthe ill-will of a few malcontents might not give rise to an idea in themind of their beloved guest that the natives of Alexandria were blind tothe blessings for which every citizen had to thank his beneficent rule.
A shrill whistle here interrupted his discourse, and a voice shouted:"What blessings? We know of none."
But Timotheus was not to be checked, and went on more vehemently
"All of you who, by the grace of Caesar, have been made Romancitizens--"
But again a voice broke in--the speaker was the overseer of thegranaries of Seleukus, sitting in the second tier--"And do you supposewe do not know what the honor costs us?"
This query was heartily applauded, and then suddenly, as if by magic, aperfect chorus arose, chanting a distich which one man in the crowd hadfirst given out and then two or three had repeated, to which a fourthhad given a sort of tune, till it was shouted by every one present atthe very top of his voice, with marked application to him of whomit spoke. From the topmost row of places, on every side of theamphitheatre, rang out the following lines, which but a moment before noone had ever heard:
"Death to the living, to pay for burying those that are dead; Since, what the taxes have spared, soldiers have ruthlessly seized."
And the words certainly came from the heart; of the people, for theyseemed never weary of repeating them; and it was not till a tremendousclap of thunder shook the very walls that several were silent and lookedup with increasing alarm. The moment's pause was seized on to beginthe fight. Caesar bit his lip in powerless fury, and his hatred of thetowns-people, who had thus so plainly given him to understand theirsentiments, was rising from one minute to the next. He felt it a realmisfortune that he was unable to punish on the spot the insult thusoffered him; swelling with rage, he remembered a speech made byCaligula, and wished the town had but one head, that he might sever itfrom the body. The blood throbbed so fiercely in his temples, and therewas such a singing in his ears, that for some little time he neither sawnor heard what was going on. This terrible agitation might cost him yetsome hours of great suffering. But he need no longer dread them so much;for there sat the living remedy which he believed he had secured by thestrongest possible ties.
How fair she was! And, as he looked round once more at Melissa, heobserved that her eye was turned on him with evident anxiety. At this alight seemed to dawn in his clouded soul, and he was once more consciousof the love which had blossomed in his heart. But it would never doto make her who had wrought the miracle so soon the confidante of hishatred. He had seen her angry, had seen her weep, and had seen hersmile; and within the next few days, which were to make him a happyman instead of a tortured victim, he longed only to see her great eyessparkle and her lips overflow with words of love, joy, and gratitude.His score with the Alexandrians must be settled later, and it was in hispower to make them atone with their blood and bitterly rue the deeds ofthis night.
He passed his hand over his furrowed brow, as though to wake himselffrom a bad dream; nay, he even found a smile when next his eyes methers; and those spectators to whom his aspect seemed more absorbing thanthe horrible slaughter in the arena, looked at each other in amazement,for the indifference or the dissimulation, whichever it might be, withwhich Caesar regarded this unequaled scene of bloodshed, seemed to themquite incredible.
Never, since his very first visit to a circus, had Caracalla leftunnoticed for so long a time the progress of such a battle as this.However, nothing very remarkable had so far occurred, for the actualseizure of the camp had but just begun with the massacre of the Alemanniand the suicide of the women.
At this moment the gladiator Tarautas, as nimble as a cat and asbloodthirsty as a hungry wolf, sprang on to one of the enemy's piled-upwagons, and a tall swordsman, with a bear-skin over his shoulder, andlong, reddish-gold hair, flew to meet him.
This was no sham German! Caracalla knew the man. He had been brought toRome among the captive chiefs, and, as he had proved to be a splendidhorseman, he had found employment in Caesar's stables. His conducthad always been blameless till, on the day when Caracalla had enteredAlexandria, he had, in a drunken fit, killed first the man set overhim, a hot-headed Gaul, and then the two lictors who had attempted toapprehend him. He was condemned to death, and had been placed on theGerman side to fight for his life in the arena.
And how he fought! How he defied the most determined of gladiators, andparried his strokes with his short sword! This was a combat really worthwatching; indeed, it so captivated Caracalla that he forgot everythingelse. The name of the German's antagonist had been applied tohim--Caesar. Just now the many-voiced yell "Tarautas!" had been meantfor him; and, accustomed as he was to read an omen in every incident, hesaid to himself, and called Fate to witness, that the gladiator's doomwould foreshadow his own. If Tarautas fell, then Caesar's days werenumbered; if he triumphed, then a long and happy life would be his.
He could leave the decision to Tarautas with perfect confidence; he wasthe strongest gladiator in the empire, and he was fighting with a sharpsword against the blunt one in his antagonist's hand, who probably hadforgotten in the stable how to wield the sword as he had done of yore.But the German was the son of a chief, and had followed arms from hisearliest youth. Here it was defense for dear life, however glorious itmight be to die under the eyes of the man whom he had learned to honoras the conqueror and tyrant of many nations, among them his own. So thestrong and practiced athlete did his best.
He, like his opponent, felt that the eyes of ten thousand were on him,and he also longed to purge himself of the dishonor which, by actualmurder, he had brought on himself and on the race of which he was stilla son. Every muscle of his powerful frame gained more rigid tension atthe thought, and when he was presently hit by the sword of his hithertounconquered foe, and felt the warm blood flow over his breast and leftarm, he collected all his strength. With the battle-cry of his tribe,he flung his huge body on the gladiator. Heedless of the furioussword-thrust with which Tarautas returned the assault, he threw himselfoff the top of the packed wagon on to the stones of the camp inclosure,and the combatants rolled, locked together like one man, from the wallinto the sand of the arena.
Caracalla started as though he himself had been the injured victim, andwatched, but in vain, to see the supple Tarautas, who had escaped suchperils before now, free himself from the weight of the German's body.
But the struggle continued to rage round the pair, and neither stirreda finger. At this Caesar, greatly disturbed, started to his feet, anddesired Theocritus to make inquiry as to whether Tarautas were woundedor dead; and while the favorite was gone he could not sit still.Agitated by distressing fears, he rose to speak first to one and thento another of his suite, only to drop on his seat again and glance oncemore at the butchery below. He was fully persuaded that his own end mustbe near, if indeed Tarautas were dead. At last he heard Theocritus'svoice, and, as he turned to ask him the news, he met a look from thelady Berenike, who had risen to quit the theatre.
He shuddered!--the image of Vindex and his nephew rose once more beforehis mind's eye; at the same moment, however, Theocritus hailed him withthe exclamation:
"That fellow, Tarautas, is not a man at all! I should call him an eel ifhe were not so broad shouldered. The rascal is alive, and the physiciansays that in three weeks he will be ready again to fight four bears ortwo Alemanni!"
A light as of sudden sunshine broke on Caesar's face, and he wasperfectly cheerful again, though a fearful clap of thunder rattledthrough the building, and one of those deluges of rain which are knownonly in the south came pouring down into the open theatre, extinguishingthe fires and lights, and tearing the velarium from its fastenings tillit hung flapping in the wind and lashing the upper tiers of places, soas to drive the spectators to a hasty retreat.
Men were flying, women screaming and sobbing, and the heralds loudlyproclaimed that the performance was suspended, and would be resumed onthe next day but one.