Quo Vadis: A Narrative of the Time of Nero

  Chapter LXIV

  ONE evening Scevinus, a Senator, visited Petronius and began a longconversation, touching the grievous times in which they were living,and also touching Caesar. He spoke so openly that Petronius, though hisfriend, began to be cautious. Scevinus complained that the world wasliving madly and unjustly, that all must end in some catastrophe moredreadful still than the burning of Rome. He said that even Augustianswere dissatisfied; that Fenius Rufus, second prefect of the pretorians,endured with the greatest effort the vile orders of Tigellinus; and thatall Seneca's relatives were driven to extremes by Caesar's conduct aswell toward his old master as toward Lucan. Finally, he began to hintof the dissatisfaction of the people, and even of the pretorians, thegreater part of whom had been won by Fenius Rufus.

  "Why dost thou say this?" inquired Petronius.

  "Out of care for Caesar," said Scevinus. "I have a distant relative amongthe pretorians, also Scevinus; through him I know what takes place inthe camp. Disaffection is growing there also; Caligula, knowest thou,was mad too, and see what happened. Cassius Chaerea appeared. That was adreadful deed, and surely there is no one among us to praise it; stillChaerea freed the world of a monster."

  "Is thy meaning as follows: 'I do not praise Chaerea, but he was aperfect man, and would that the gods had given us as many such aspossible'?" inquired Petronius.

  But Scevinus changed the conversation, and began all at once to praisePiso, exalting his family, his nobility of mind, his attachment to hiswife, and, finally, his intellect, his calmness, and his wonderful giftof winning people.

  "Caesar is childless," said he, "and all see his successor in Piso.Doubtless, too, every man would help him with whole soul to gain power.Fenius Rufus loves him; the relatives of Annaeus are devoted to himaltogether. Plautius Lateranus and Tullius Senecio would spring intofire for him; as would Natalis, and Subrius Flavius, and SulpiciusAsper, and Afranius Quinetianus, and even Vestinius."

  "From this last man not much will result to Piso," replied Petronius."Vestinius is afraid of his own shadow."

  "Vestinius fears dreams and spirits," answered Scevinus, "but he is apractical man, whom people wish wisely to make consul. That in his soulhe is opposed to persecuting Christians, thou shouldst not take ill ofhim, for it concerns thee too that this madness should cease."

  "Not me, but Vinicius," answered Petronius. "Out of concern forVinicius, I should like to save a certain maiden; but I cannot, for Ihave fallen out of favor with Ahenobarbus."

  "How is that? Dost thou not notice that Caesar is approaching theeagain, and beginning to talk with thee? And I will tell thee why. He ispreparing again for Achaea, where he is to sing songs in Greek of hisown composition. He is burning for that journey; but also he trembles atthought of the cynical genius of the Greeks. He imagines that eitherthe greatest triumph may meet him or the greatest failure. He needs goodcounsel, and he knows that no one can give it better than thou. This iswhy thou art returning to favor."

  "Lucan might take my place."

  "Bronzebeard hates Lucan, and in his soul has written down death for thepoet. He is merely seeking a pretext, for he seeks pretexts always."

  "By Castor!" said Petronius, "that may be. But I might have stillanother way for a quick return to favor."

  "What?"

  "To repeat to Bronzebeard what thou hast told me just now."

  "I have said nothing!" cried Scevinus, with alarm.

  Petronius placed his hand upon the Senator's shoulder. "Thou hast calledCaesar a madman, thou hast foreseen the heirship of Piso, and hast said,'Lucan understands that there is need to hasten.' What wouldst thouhasten, carissime?"

  Scevinus grew pale, and for a moment each looked into the eyes of theother.

  "Thou wilt not repeat!"

  "By the hips of Kypris, I will not! How well thou knowest me! No; I willnot repeat. I have heard nothing, and, moreover, I wish to hear nothing.Dost understand? Life is too short to make any undertaking worth thewhile. I beg thee only to visit Tigellinus to-day, and talk with him aslong as thou hast with me of whatever may please thee."

  "Why?"

  "So that should Tigellinus ever say to me, 'Scevinus was with thee,' Imight answer, 'He was with thee, too, that very day.'"

  Scevinus, when he heard this, broke the ivory cane which he had inhis hand, and said,--"May the evil fall on this stick! I shall be withTigellinus to-day, and later at Nerva's feast. Thou, too, wilt be there?In every case till we meet in the amphitheatre, where the last of theChristians will appear the day after tomorrow. Till we meet!"

  "After to-morrow!" repeated Petronius, when alone. "There is no time tolose. Ahenobarbus will need me really in Achaea; hence he may count withme."

  And he determined to try the last means.

  In fact, at Nerva's feast Caesar himself asked that Petronius reclineopposite, for he wished to speak with the arbiter about Achaea and thecities in which he might appear with hopes of the greatest success. Hecared most for the Athenians, whom he feared. Other Augustians listenedto this conversation with attention, so as to seize crumbs of thearbiter's opinions, and give them out later on as their own.

  "It seems to me that I have not lived up to this time," said Nero, "andthat my birth will come only in Greece."

  "Thou wilt be born to new glory and immortality," answered Petronius.

  "I trust that this is true, and that Apollo will not seem jealous. If Ireturn in triumph, I will offer him such a hecatomb as no god has had sofar."

  Scevinus fell to repeating the lines of Horace:--

  "Sic te diva potens Cypri, Sic fratres Helenae, lucida sidera,Ventorumque regat Pater-"

  "The vessel is ready at Naples," said Caesar. "I should like to go eventomorrow."

  At this Petronius rose, and, looking straight into Nero's eyes, said,

  "Permit me, O divinity, to celebrate a wedding-feast, to which I shallinvite thee before others."

  "A wedding-feast! What wedding-feast?" inquired Nero.

  "That of Vinicius with thy hostage the daughter of the Lygian king. Sheis in prison at present, it is true; but as a hostage she is not subjectto imprisonment, and, secondly, thou thyself hast permitted Vinicius tomarry her; and as thy sentences, like those of Zeus, are unchangeable,thou wilt give command to free her from prison, and I will give her tothy favorite."

  The cool blood and calm self-possession with which Petronius spokedisturbed Nero, who was disturbed whenever any one spoke in that fashionto him.

  "I know," said he, dropping his eyes. "I have thought of her and of thatgiant who killed Croton."

  "In that case both are saved," answered Petronius, calmly.

  But Tigellinus came to the aid of his master: "She is in prison by thewill of Caesar; thou thyself hast said, O Petronius, that his sentencesare unchangeable."

  All present, knowing the history of Vinicius and Lygia, understoodperfectly what the question was; hence they were silent, curious as tothe end of the conversation.

  "She is in prison against the will of Caesar and through thy error,through thy ignorance of the law of nations," said Petronius, withemphasis. "Thou art a naive man, Tigellinus; but even thou wilt notassert that she burnt Rome, and if thou wert to do so, Caesar would notbelieve thee."

  But Nero had recovered and begun to half close his near-sighted eyeswith an expression of indescribable malice.

  "Petronius is right," said he, after a while.

  Tigellinus looked at him with amazement.

  "Petronius is right," repeated Nero; "to-morrow the gates of the prisonwill be open to her, and of the marriage feast we will speak the dayafter at the amphitheatre."

  "I have lost again," thought Petronius.

  When he had returned home, he was so certain that the end of Lygia'slife had come that he sent a trusty freedman to the amphitheatre tobargain with the chief of the spoliarium for the delivery of her body,since he wished to give it to Vinicius.