CHAPTER XXI.
"Titus Claudius is dying!" the slaves whispered to each other in thesilent and deserted rooms, where notwithstanding the dignity andgravity of the master, so much gay laughter had once been heard, somuch young life had once been busy and gay.
"He is dying!" Octavia sighed, as she gazed in despair on the pale,altered face lying on the pillow, bathed in cold sweat, and with eyeshalf closed.
Behind that high, pale forehead dreadful havoc had been made during thelast few days. All the tortures of martyrdom, to which the barbarouslaw condemned the son, the father had suffered a thousand-fold. In thedelirium of fever, again and again he was dragged out to the hideousscene, where his boy was to be butchered and mangled; the mercifulcloud which, at first, had darkened his consciousness by degrees hadlifted, only to add to his sufferings, and his fancy ran riot in sightsand images which threatened his life. Octavia and Claudia had watchedby his bed with infinite patience, forced to control their own griefand look on, stricken and inconsolable, while the unhappy man wrestledday and night with the demons that possessed his mind, and poured outfurious curses on himself and his fate.
Now, after the storm, he had sunk into the calm of lethargy. Hisstrength was visibly sinking, and the leeches turned away in helplesssilence.
"He is dying!" was sorrowfully repeated in the remotest rooms of thehouse; for not the lowest of his slaves was so dull or so base, as notto mourn for so revered a master from the bottom of his heart. But heis sitting up, he is speaking--listen.
"No, no--you will forgive me," he murmurs hardly audibly. "You will,Quintus? You will not curse me? I have always loved you--oh! loved youmore than my life! That dreadful decree! Woe, woe is me! he turns away!A murderer, he calls me a murderer!" And he sank back on his pillows,gasping for breath; his hands clutched convulsively at the quilt.
"Quintus," he began again, softly, coaxingly--like a child. "Say onekind word to me. Oh! Quintus, can you for a moment imagine, that I amyour enemy! This hand has so often stroked your cheek, smoothed yourhair, your beautiful, long, waving hair! Ah! the beasts--the horriblewild beasts! Caesar, this is a hideous crime; mercy, pardon! Let me godown to them, let me die, but spare his youth! in vain, in vain--theyhave rushed upon him, they have seized him--ye gods! ye gods! have pityon me!"
A hoarse, dull scream, and then total silence.
"Father, Father, do you not know me?" said a trembling voice. "Itis I, your son--I myself; not a delusion, not a dream.--And here isCornelia--and here is Caius Aurelius, who has snatched us from the jawsof death."
Titus Claudius started up at the sound of this voice. He fixed hisglassy gaze on the figure of the young man, who was kneeling by hisside and covering his wasted hands with tears and kisses. Then,suddenly a light passed into his face, a shiver thrilled through hisenfeebled frame, and with a joyful cry of "Quintus! my son!" he fellback senseless. There he lay, motionless as the dead. His face grewpaler and paler, and his arms hung helplessly by the side of the couch.The by-standers were paralyzed with dismay; only Claudia had enoughpresence of mind to fly out of the room and call for assistance. Intwo minutes she brought back old Palaemon,[177] a freedman of thehousehold, who was versed in all the mysteries of Greek and Romanmedicine. He came up to the couch with a look of the deepest grief, andlaid his hand on the unconscious man's forehead, feeling at the sametime his scarcely fluttering pulse. Claudia, always brave and calm,told him of what had happened.
"Give him quiet," said Palaemon, waving them all back with his hand."This moment is decisive."
The family left the room; Octavia herself in an almost fainting state.Leaning on Aurelius, she went to her own apartments. Claudia only, withBaucis, remained with the leech to watch the sick man.
Palaemon forced a few drops of Samian wine,[178] between the sufferer'slivid lips, and then seating himself on a chair at the foot of the bed,he kept his eyes fixed on the senseless form.
"Courage, my child!"[179] said, as he caught sight of Claudia'stearful face. "He knew him, and that is everything. That will be bettermedicine, than all the herbs and decoctions known to our art. See, heis already breathing more quietly and regularly--that is not a swoon,it is sleep. If he does not sink from mere weakness, this sleep willcheck the violence of the fever and save his life. Open the door,daughter; quite wide, that the fresh spring air may come in. Baucis, doyou go and fill a bowl with snow-water and wet a handkerchief--I willlay it on his forehead, and that will cool him. But make no noise, nota sound--lest you should wake him."
A delightful breath of roses was wafted into the room, as Claudiasoftly opened the door, and in a few minutes Baucis had brought thecold water. The cooling application evidently had a soothing effect onthe sleeping man. He sighed deeply and turned on his side; his featuresrelaxed, and he slept soundly and easily.
Presently, outside in the colonnade, appeared Caius Aurelius; heglanced into the sick-room, asking for a report. Claudia rose andwent to meet him, smiling through her tears; regardless of Palaemon'spresence, she threw her arms round her lover and laid her head on hisshoulder with a deep sigh of relief. "He will live," she whispered,looking up in his face; "only look how quietly and peacefully he issleeping."
"Jupiter be praised! Oh! my darling, what have we not gone throughthose last few months!"
"More than we could have borne, if it had not been for our love."
He kissed her, looked once more at the sick man, and left her.
The sun sank behind Mons Janiculus, and the worn-out Flamen still layin his death-like sleep. About two hours before midnight he moved andasked for Quintus. Claudia, who had not quitted him, bent over him andsaid gently:
"He is safe, Father, you know," and her father looked up at her with abeatific smile. Then he asked for something to drink, greedily emptieda cup of water with fruit syrup, and at once fell asleep again. Whenday began to break, Palaemon, who had taken some hours' rest in theadjoining room, sent Claudia to lie down. In all human probability thedanger was now over, and Claudia obeyed, for she could scarcely hold upher head.
The sun rose in a cloudless sky--the first day of freedom in redeemedand regenerate Rome. The people set to work on all hands, to preparea worthy welcome for the new Emperor, the gentle and high-souledNerva, who was expected to arrive the following morning. Every arch oftriumph, every colonnade, every temple was decked with garlands. Romewas like one vast festal hall. The Praetorian guard and the soldiersof the city-garrison marched in noisy troops through the streets, tooverturn the statues of Domitian and to set up hastily-modelled imagesof Nerva in their stead.
But all the tumult and noise failed to wake Titus Claudius Mucianus,who lay sleeping and gaining strength every hour on the couch in hisairy cubiculum. It was not till late in the afternoon, that he beganto grow restless and to toss from side to side. Palaemon called thefamily, and they assembled in the room: Octavia, Claudia, Lucilia,Cornelia, Quintus and Caius Aurelius, who, now that the great politicalrevolution was accomplished, felt himself quite free and had flown atan early hour to see his Claudia. But with them there also came, to thegreat surprise of the worthy Baucis, a stranger, a knight from Rodumna,who to this day had never before crossed the Flamen's threshold; ouresteemed friend Cneius Afranius, the advocate. Lucilia's eyes, whichin the midst of her anxiety sparkled with an anticipation of imminenthappiness, whenever they met those of the man she loved, might haveexplained to the old nurse, that the unexpected guest had not comealtogether unbidden--nay, that something must have passed betweenthe two young people, which was of the deepest interest to Afraniushimself, as well as to the girl who--once so saucy--now looked up athim with an air of maidenly reserve. Cneius Afranius remained modestlyin the background, as if he was quite satisfied for the present toleave the old slave-woman's doubts unsettled.
Palaemon met them with the smile, that gives new life to the relationsof a sick man.
"Only go very gently," he said, as Lucilia and Quintus began toquestion him.
Pr
esently they heard a deep sigh from Titus Claudius, who was sittingup in bed, and gazing at the assembled family with wide and eager eyes.
"It is you!" he said, trembling with excitement "You, Quintus, my son,my adored son."
"Father!" was all Quintus could say, and he fell sobbing aloud intothose trembling, wasted arms.
"Was it delirium?" asked the high-priest, "or is it true? Was it you,Caius Aurelius, who saved my son?"
"As you say, my lord," replied the Batavian.
"How did you do it? Did you procure his pardon? Did you succeed, whenwe had all failed, in touching Caesar's heart?"
"Domitian is dead," said the Batavian, solemnly. "Before his rule waswrenched from him, he died by the hand of an assassin. But Nerva, ournew Emperor, is innocent of blood; he, mild and just, ordered me tostrike off the chains of the Nazarenes. We hurried at our utmost speedfrom the shores of Gaul to Rome, and the gods willed it, that I shouldarrive just in time to rescue Quintus and the noble Cornelia. Thedecree, which pronounced them guilty, is abrogated."
The high-priest had listened to him, motionless and silent; Palaemonwent forward to interrupt the conversation.
"Not yet, my good friend," said Titus Claudius with a grateful smile."You need fear nothing for me. New life is dancing in every vein.Suspense alone was crushing me to death; the truth will restore me tolife. Let our young friend tell us what has happened. Domitian dead!Nerva Emperor! The Nazarenes released...! I feel as if it were all adream!"
Aurelius told his tale, and Titus Claudius listened, clinging tohis son's hands with both his own. The one feeling that he had beenpreserved from the last, worst horror, without having to reproachhimself with any breach of his duty as a statesman and an official,triumphed over all the other various emotions, that Aurelius' narrativemight have roused in him. Again and again his eye turned to rest on theradiant face of the son he had believed to be lost beyond recall, andwhom he now saw and held in the flesh. Every other consideration wasswept away in the current of a father's love, so long held in unnaturalcheck.
"The gods have willed it so!" he said sadly, when Aurelius ceasedspeaking. "I cannot hold the office, conferred on me by Domitian,under the enemy of the murdered Caesar. But I yield to the force ofcircumstances; what till now was treason is now law. I am but a weakmortal; I do not pretend to judge the case. I can but marvel and besilent. Justice is perhaps on the side of the stronger conviction, thestronger will and the greater vigor--such mysteries can only be solvedby the gods. So the first words I address to you, after these days ofterror and torment, shall be words of conciliation. Cains Aurelius,my daughter's heart is yours--then she shall be your wife. I will notdestroy your happiness; you have all suffered enough on my account."
But here Palaemon interfered with all the authority of his office. Healmost pushed Claudia and the Batavian from the bedside.
"Pardon me!" he said, "but this will not do. He must have perfect rest.I only wanted him to see Quintus, that will conduce to his recovery.He will shake hands with his worthy son-in-law quite soon enough." Thewhole party left the room.
"And we?" asked Lucilia, as Afranius came close by her side.
"Patience, my queen," said the lawyer; "the fruit that has set is sureto ripen. Leave him to get well and think quietly over the past; ourhour will strike in good time."
Lucilia nodded assent, and Claudia threw her arms round her, and kissedher ardently.
Quintus was the last to quit the room; his father gazed after him witha look of rapture. Then, with an upward glance, he sighed deeply,and once more closed his eyes. He was quite exhausted, and presentlyagain dropped asleep. His excited brain still worked in fresh and vividdreams, but now they were not demons that hovered round him, but kindlyghosts, and his fancy bore him through rose-tinted clouds to the sunnyregions of freedom and peace.
Kindly genii, proclaiming freedom and peace, hovered over Rome, thelong-suffering city. The next day, two hours after sunrise, MarcusCocceius Nerva made his solemn entrance, amid the enthusiastic shoutsof the multitude; and before the sun had sunk on the second day, hehad accomplished that grand change, which altered the course of theworld's history, and secured to the Roman Empire for many years thebenefits of justice and liberty. The venerable Emperor, in order not toleave his dominions a prey to fresh political convulsions in the eventof his death, solemnly adopted the Hispanian, Ulpius Trajanus, as hisson, before the assembled Senate,[180] and with the consent of thatillustrious body, appointed him his successor on the throne of Rome.
"I know, my beloved son," so the old Emperor addressed him, "that youwill accept this gift from your venerable father, and this highestof all honors at the hands of the Roman Senate and people with a duesense of gratitude. You will not be overbearing in the possession ofpower, any more than you were servile when, at any moment, you mighthave fallen a victim to the miscarriage of a noble cause, You will notlet yourself be befooled by flatterers, for you yourself have neverlearnt to flatter. You will acknowledge, that all your dignity andpower emanate from the sovereign will of the people; that you rule onlybecause your country bids you rule; that you are not called to be thetyrant, but the servant of the State."
So spoke Nerva, and Trajan bowed his head with a grave conviction ofduty, and accepted the responsible honor.--Trajan, that noble, moderateand just man,[181] whom the verdict of posterity has, with singularunanimity, pronounced to be the best of all the emperors of Rome.
At the same hour, when Marcus Cocceius Nerva was returning with Trajanfrom the heights of the Capitol to their residence in the Palatium, twomen, each solitary and in the plainest dress, were turning their backon the Eternal City.
One of them, Barbillus, the priest of Isis, stole away, carefullydisguised, to Antium, where he was met by an accomplice, who had in hischarge all the treasure he had been able to collect in his haste. Fromthence he purposed to reach Alexandria by sea, and so elude the wrathof Cinna, who was now all-powerful and Cocceius Nerva's closest friend.But the ship was wrecked, and a week later the body of the greatmagician was cast on shore near Messana.
The other of the two men was Eurymachus, who took the road to Ostia.Lycoris, who had given up all luxury and splendor and had had herselfbaptized, had anticipated all that Quintus had intended to do for him;she had bought Eurymachus from the heirs of Stephanus, had set him freeand had provided him amply for a journey to Gaul. Thus, after all histrials and struggles, he set forth with renewed energies, to be theapostle of the Nazarene creed in the remotest frontiers of the Empire.
FOOTNOTES:
[177] OLD PALAEMON. See note 202, Vol. I.
[178] SAMIAN WINE. The island of Samos, near the coast of Asia Minor, was famed from ancient times for its delicious wine.
[179] COURAGE MY CHILD! This familiar tone from the physician's lips need cause no surprise. Earlier (see note 209, Vol. I.) I have explained that a sort of filial relation existed between the old family servants and the children, nay that the former often took it upon themselves to reprove and scold the latter.
[180] THE VENERABLE EMPEROR, ETC. See Dio Cassius, LXVIII, 3. In reality this adoption and the appointment of "crown-prince," ("Caesar" in a stricter sense) connected with it, occurred some time later, while Ulpius Trajanus was living as imperial governor in Upper Germany.
[181] TRAJAN, THAT NOBLE, MODERATE AND JUST MAN. See Dio Cass. LXVIII, 5: "His character had not the slightest trace of falsity, malice or cruelty; he loved good citizens, treated them with respect and distinguished them: about the bad ones he did not ask."--LXVIII, 6: "He was eminent for his love of justice, courage, and simplicity of manners.... He envied no one, barred no one's path to fame; he rather honored and exalted all merit. Hence he had no cause to fear any man. Slanderers he did not trust. He neither meddled with the property of others, nor allowed the innocent to be put to death"--LXVIII, 16: "When he gave the sword to the commander of the Praetorian
guard, he drew it from the sheath and held it up, saying: 'Take this sword and use it, if I reign well, for me, if I reign ill, against me.'" Even the eulogy of the younger Pliny, who was a friend of the new emperor, spite of many exaggerated expressions, shows that it is the utterance of sincere conviction; certain facts especially speak for themselves; for instance the total change in the ceremonies of the court. "Formerly"--so says Pliny--"the imperial palace was a fortress; under Nerva and Trajan it has become a public building. There are no bolts, no degrees of humiliation, and when a thousand thresholds have been crossed, we do not constantly encounter fresh forms and obstacles. We do not come to Trajan, as was the case with former emperors, in confusion and haste, that we may not endanger our lives by delay, but with a feeling of security, gladly, and just as it suits our convenience. If some pressing business detains us, Trajan does not even require a word of apology. When we have saluted him, we do not rush hurriedly away. We linger, stroll comfortably about, as if the palace belonged to us--the very palace, which but a short time ago that abandoned monster (Domitian) surrounded with so many horrors; the very palace where the wild-beast shut himself up as if in a den, sometimes drinking the blood of his nearest relatives, sometimes rushing out to slay the noblest citizens.... But vengeance burst the wall of his guards and pressed victoriously through the locked doors.... How much safer and more free from anxiety is this palace, now that it is _not_ protected by the guards of tyranny, but of love, not protected by seclusion and bolts, but by the citizens passing in and out. You have shown us by experience, that a prince's virtue is his best defence," Pliny _Paneg._ 65: "Trajan convinced us that the sovereign is not above the law--but the law above the sovereign," Pliny _Paneg._ 67, and "Usually we have taken vows of fealty simply for the emperor's welfare; but the expressions in which we have sworn faith to our present government deserve to be emphasized--if you will rule the state wisely and for the good of all ... that is you will only be preserved by the gods, on the condition that you rule the state wisely and for the welfare of all."
THE END.
Transcriber's Note
Incidental typographical errors have been corrected, and are noted intable below. On occasion, apparent errors, in modern usage, are allowedto stand. In particular, the repeated use of 'eat' in the past tense,even where the subjunctive is not in play, sounds odd to our ear.
On. p. 235, the footnote anchor 146 was missing from the text and hasadded.
This table documents the textual issues encountered, and theirresolution.
p. 8 [h]as suddenly vanished Added.
p. 18 be[./ ]baptized in a quarry Corrected.
p. 26 in such contempt[.]" Added.
p. 35 Latin word '_religio_?["/'] Corrected.
p. 43 ["]By Castor, Added.
p. 50 n. 41 "In the commencement Added.
p. 56 n. 45 Juv. VI, 31[)] Added.
p. 60 n. 46 accidently _sic._
p. 79 come _sic._
p. 87 you may bes[ei/ie]ge me Transposed.
p. 89 to Chian figs.[)"/")] Transposed.
p. 125 Piacenza[.] Added.
p. 128 magna[min/nim]ous Transposed.
p. 133 a[u/n]xiously Corrected.
p. 160 resolute[d]ly _sic._
p. 168 retractation _sic._
p. 169 responsib[i]lity Added.
p. 177 bursting into tears[.] Added.
p. 184 of Cornelia.["] Added.
p. 205 Febru[r]ary Removed.
p. 224 co[u]nsul Removed.
p. 234 this very spot[.] Added.
p. 242 tort[ru/ur]e Transposed. his defenceless prey[.] Added.
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