CHAPTER XXIV
"The sorrows of death compassed me."--PSALM XVIII. 4.
Dea Flavia lay upon her bed, with wide-open eyes fixed into vacancyabove her.
Afternoon and evening had gone by since that awful moment when the wholefell purpose of the Caesar's plan was revealed to her, and she sawHortensius Martius standing unarmed and doomed in the arena, face toface with a raging, wild beast. Afternoon and evening had vanished intothe past since she saw Taurus Antinor, with Hortensius' body held highover his head, saving one life whilst offering up his own, since sheheard that deafening cry of horror uttered by two hundred thousandthroats when the panther sprung upon him unawares and felled him to theground, whilst his blood reddened the sand of the arena.
Afternoon and evening had swooned in the arms of eternity since she sawthe terror-stricken Caesar treacherously stab the man who had rushedforward to save him.
After that last agonising moment she remembered nothing more until shefound herself in her own house, lying on her bed, with Licinia'sanxious, wrinkled face bending over her.
"What hath happened, Licinia?" she had asked feebly as soon asconsciousness had returned.
"We brought thee home safely, my precious treasure," replied the oldwoman fervently, "all praise be unto the gods who watched over theirbeloved."
"But how did it happen?" queried Dea with some impatience. "Tell me allthat happened, Licinia," she reiterated with earnest insistence, as sheraised herself on her elbow and fixed her large blue eyes, in whichburned a feverish light, upon the face of her slave.
"Yes! yes! I'll tell thee all I know," rejoined the woman soothingly."Thy slaves were close at hand in the vestibule of the imperial tribune,and thy litter was down below with the bearers, in case thou shouldstrequire it. But I had stood on the threshold of the tribune for sometime watching thee, for thy sweet face had been pale as death all themorning, and I feared that the heat would be too much for thee. Thus Isaw much of what went on. I saw the traitor advance toward the Caesar,trying to smother him with a cloak. I saw the Caesar--whom may the godsprotect--stab the traitor in the breast, and then leave the Amphitheatrehurriedly, followed by a few among his faithful guard. But my thoughtsthen were only of thee. I could see thy lovely face white as the mapleleaf, and thou wast leaning against the wall as if ready to swoon. Thetraitor whom the Caesar had justly punished lay bleeding from many woundsclose to thy foot. The next moment I had thee in my arms, having caughtthee when thy dear body swayed forward and would have fallen even uponthe breast of the dead traitor."
"The traitor?" murmured Dea Flavia then.
"Aye! the praefect of Rome," said Licinia, with a vicious oath. "He hadincited the rabble against the Caesar, and--may his dead body be defiledfor the sacrilege!--he was causing the populace to acclaim him as theirEmperor, even whilst he raised his murderous hand against him who is theequal of the gods!"
"He was striving to save Caesar, Licinia, and not to murder him," saidDea Flavia earnestly.
"To save the Caesar? Nay! nay! my precious, the praefect of Rome tried tomurder Caesar by smothering him with a cloak."
"It is false I tell thee!"
"False? Nay, dear heart, I saw it all, and thou wast beside thyself andknew not rightly what happened. Even a minute later thou laidst in myarms like a dead white swan, and I pushed my way through the soldiers,and past the other Augustas who cowered in the tribune, screaming andwringing their hands. Two of thy slaves were luckily close at hand.Together we carried thee down to thy litter and bore thee safely homefor which to-morrow I will offer special sacrifice to Minerva whoprotected thee."
"And what happened after we were gone?"
"Alas! I know not. They say that the populace became more and moreunruly: there were shouts for the praefect of Rome, who fortunately laydead on the floor of the tribune, and there were even some sacrilegiousmiscreants who called for death upon the Caesar."
"Do they say," queried Dea Flavia, speaking slowly and low, "that thepraefect of Rome is dead?"
"If he be not dead now," retorted Licinia viciously, for her loyalty tothe Caesar was bound up with her love for Dea Flavia, and treachery toCaesar meant treachery to her beloved, "If he be not dead now, he shallstill suffer for his treason: and if he be dead his body shall bedefiled."
"Oh!"
"Aye! a traitor must suffer even in death. His body shall be given tothe dogs, his blood to the carrion...."
"Silence, Licinia!" broke in Dea Flavia sternly, "fill not mine earswith thy hideous talk. Every word thou dost utter is impiety andsacrilege, and I would smite thee for them had I but the strength.
"But I am so tired," she added after a slight pause, with a weary littlesigh, even whilst Licinia, subdued and frightened, stood silently by: "Iwould like to sleep."
"Then sleep, my goddess," said the old woman, "I'll watch over thee."
"No! no! I could not sleep if I were watched," rejoined Dea Flavia withthe fretfulness of a tired child. "I would rather be alone."
"But thou'lt have bad dreams."
"Order Blanca to lie across the threshold. I can then send her to fetchthee, if I have need of thee."
"I would rather lie across thy threshold myself," muttered the oldwoman.
"Good Licinia, do as I tell thee," said Dea, now with marked impatience."And--stay--" she added as Licinia still grumbling prepared reluctantlyto obey--"I pray thee find out for me all that is going on in the city.Mayhap Tertius will know what has happened--or Piso.... Go seek them,Licinia, and find out all that there is to know, so that thou canst tellme everything anon, when I wake."
She lay back on her bed with closed eyes whilst Licinia kissed her handsand feet, re-arranged the embroidered coverlet and the downy cushions,and after a while shuffled out of the room.
There was nothing that the old woman loved better than a gossip withTertius, who was the comptroller of the Augusta's household, or withPiso, who was the overseer of her slaves: and even her fond desire towatch beside her mistress yielded to the delight of holding long andinteresting parley with these worthies.
So it was with considerable alacrity that--having deputed the younggirl, Blanca, to watch over her mistress--she made her way through theatrium, and thence across the vast peristyle to the quarters of theslaves.
Tertius--the comptroller--had, it appears, sallied forth into thestreets, despite the lateness of the hour, in the hope of gleaning someinformation as to what was going on in the city. Even in this secludedportion of the Palatine, where stood the house of Dea Flavia under theshelter of the surrounding palaces, weird sounds of human cries and ofthe clashing of steel was penetrating with ominous persistency.
Piso--the overseer--who had remained at home, as he did not feelsufficiently valiant to face once again the disturbance outside, toldLicinia all that he had witnessed before he finally found safe haven athome.
It seemed that the tumult in the Amphitheatre had not ceased with theflight of the Emperor, rather that it had grown in intensity when thepopulace saw the praefect of Rome fall backwards, stabbed by the Caesar,and the latter disappear hurriedly, followed by a few from among thepraetorian guard.
There was no doubt that the temper of the populace had been over-excitedby the cruel scenes of a while ago; lust of blood and of tyranny hadbeen fanned to fever-pitch through those very spectacles which the Caesarhimself had provided for the people, with a view to satisfying his ownferocious desires of hate and of revenge.
Now that same fever-heated temper was turning against him, who hadfanned it for his own ends.
Caligula had made good his escape, satisfied that his dagger had doneits work upon the arch-traitor. He had fled through the private entranceof his tribune, and his guard had rallied round him. But a company oflegionaries--some five or six hundred strong--was still in the place,as well as his knights and all his friends, and against these did thewrath of the rabble turn.
The lawless and the rough soon had it all their own way, and thepeaceable citizen who would have liked t
o get wife and children safelyout of the crowd found it well-nigh impossible to make his way throughthe throng.
After a few moments the disturbance became general; there was a greatdeal of shouting and presently missiles began to fly about. The rabbleattacked the legionaries and a sanguinary conflict ensued. The formerwas in overwhelming number and succeeded in breaking the rank of thesoldiers, and in putting them momentarily to rout.
After this there was a general stampede down and along the gradients ofthe Amphitheatre, during which hundreds of persons--including women andchildren--were crushed to death. The scene of confusion seems to havebaffled description. Piso, who had succeeded in making his way home inthe midst of it all, had even now to wipe his brow, which was streamingwith perspiration at the recollection of the horrors which he hadwitnessed.
Whilst he proceeded with his narrative, Tertius had returned withfurther news. And these, of a truth, were very alarming. The lowerslopes of the Palatine, as well as the Forum and the surroundingstreets, were now in the hands of the mob. The few legions who were inthe city had been cut off from the Palatine, and though they were makingvigorous efforts to break through the close ranks of the crowd, theyhad, up to this hour, been wholly unsuccessful, owing no doubt to thepaucity of their numbers, since the bulk of the army was not yet homefrom that insensate and mock expedition into Germany.
The whole of the troops in and around the city, including the town andpraetorian guard, was on this day computed at less than one thousand,and the mob--so Tertius averred--was over one hundred thousand strong.
The law-abiding citizens had locked themselves up in the fastnesses oftheir homes, and the Caesar--so it was believed--was inside his palacewith a small detachment of his guard around him, one hundred strong, whoalready had had to repel numerous attacks delivered by the more forwardamongst the rabble.
Tertius had not been able to get far beyond the precincts of the house,for fear had driven him back. The shouts which came from the streetsbelow and from the Forum were ominous and threatening.
"Death to the Caesar! Death to the tyrant!" could be distinctly heardabove the din of stampeding feet, and a low and constant murmur thatsounded like distant thunder.
There was no doubt that the Caesar's life was in grave danger, seeingthat only a handful of men stood between him and the fury of an excitedpopulace; and these men were without a leader, for the praetorianpraefect had been cut off from them, even as he tried to push his waythrough the crowd earlier in the day.
Thus, therefore, did this harbinger of evil news resume the situation.Caligula was in his palace, surrounded by the slaves of his householdand guarded by a few soldiers against a raging mob--an hundred thousandor more strong--who had formed a ring around the Palatine, and wasclamouring for the Caesar's death. The legionaries, under the command offaithful Centurions, were cut off from the Palatine and from their Caesarby the mob whose solid ranks they had hitherto been unable to break. TheAugustas and their slaves were also safe within their palaces.
But what Tertius did not know, and was therefore unable to impart to hiseager listeners was that the party of conspirators, with HortensiusMartius as their acknowledged leader, were taking advantage of thedisturbance to place themselves at the head of the mob, hoping that thecry of "Death to Caligula!" would soon be followed by one of "Hail tothe Caesar! the new Caesar, Hortensius Martius! Hail!"