CHAPTER XVI
"MORITURI"
Knowing well with whom he was to deal, Placidus had ordered a repast to beprepared for his guests on a scale of magnificence unusual even in hisluxurious dwelling. It was advisable, not only to impose on these rudenatures with unaccustomed pomp and parade, but also to excite theircupidity by the display of gold and jewels while their fiercer passionswere inflamed with wine. The more reckless and desperate they could berendered, the more fit would they be for his purpose. There were thetools, sharp and ready for use, but he thought they would admit of a yetfiner edge, and prepared to put it on accordingly. Therefore, he hadordered the supper to be laid in an inner apartment, reserved foroccasions of especial state, and in which it was whispered that Vitelliushimself had more than once partaken of his subject's hospitality; nay, hadeven expressed gratification with his entertainment; and which, whileblazing with as much of ornament and decoration as could be crowded into asupper-room, was of such moderate dimensions as to bring all the costlyobjects it contained within notice of the guests. The tesselated pavementwas of the richest and gaudiest squares, laid together as smooth andbright as glass. The walls were of polished citron-wood, heavily gildedround the skirting and edges, while the panels were covered in the floridand gradually deteriorating taste of the period, with paintings, brilliantin colour, and beautiful in execution. These represented mythologicalsubjects not of the purest nature, but fauns, nymphs, and satyrs were tobe found in the majority, while Bacchus himself was more than oncerepeated in all the glory of his swaying paunch; his garland of vine-leaves, his ivy-covered wand, and surrounding clusters of rich, ripe,purple grapes. To fill the niches between these panels, the goat--an animalalways associated in the Roman mind with wine, perhaps because he drinksno water--was imitated in precious metals, and in every attitude. Here theybutted, there they browsed, in another corner a pair of them frisked andgambolled in living kid-like glee, while yonder, horned and bearded, avenerable sage in silver gazed upon the guests with a wise Arcadiansimplicity that was almost ludicrous. The tables, which were removed withevery change of dishes, were of cedar, supported on grotesque claws ofbronze, heavily gilt; the couches, framed of ivory and gold, were drapedin various coloured shawls of the softest Asiatic texture, and strewedwith cushions of so rich a crimson as to border nearly on imperial purple.No dish was of a meaner metal than gold, and the drinking-cups, in whichFalernian blushed, or Chian sparkled, were studded with rubies, emeralds,pearls, and other precious stones. The sharp nail of a gladiator might atany moment have picked out, unobserved, that which would have purchasedhis freedom and his life, but the men were honest, as they understood theterm, and the gems were as safe here, and indeed a good deal safer, thanthey would have been in the temple of Vesta, or of the Capitoline Jovehimself. In a recess at one end of the apartment, reared like an altarupon three wide low carpeted steps, from each of which censers exhaledaromatic odours, stood the sideboard of polished walnut, carved inexquisite imitation of birds, insects, reptiles, flowers, and fruit. Thiswas covered by a snowy cloth, and on it glittered, richly chased andburnished, the tribune's store of golden cups and vases, which men quotedat every supper-table in Rome.
Lutorius, reclining opposite this blaze of magnificence, shaded his eyeswith his hand.
"What is it, my bold Gaul?" asked his host, raising himself on his elbowto pledge him, and signing to a slave to fill the swordsman's cup. "Hastthou got thy guard up already to save thy face?"
"They dazzle me, most illustrious!" answered the ready Gaul. "I had ratherblink at the sunrise flashing on the blue waters from Ostia. I did notthink there had been so much gold in Rome."
"He has not seen the palace yet," said Placidus, laughing, as he emptiedhis cup and turned to the other guests. "Some of us will indeed be dazzledto-night, if I mistake not. What think ye, my friends, must be the platesand drinking-vessels where the very shields and helmets of the guards aresolid gold? Meantime, let us wash our eyes with Falernian, lest we mistakeour way and intrude on the privacy of Caesar in the dark."
So appropriate a sentiment met with universal approval. The gladiatorslaughed loudly, and proffered their cups to be filled. There was noquestion now of secrecy or disguise; there was even no further affectationof ignoring the purpose for which they had met, or the probable result ofthe night's enterprise. Eumolpus, indeed, and one or two more of thethicker-witted, satisfied to know that the present moment brought amagnificent reception and an abundance of good cheer, were willing toremain in uncertainty about the future, resolving simply to obey theorders of their captain, and to ask no questions; but even these could nothelp learning by degrees that they had before them no work of ordinarybloodshed, but that they were involved in a conspiracy which was todetermine the empire of the world. It did not destroy their appetite,though it may have increased their thirst.
In proportion as the wine flowed faster the guests lost their diffidenceand found their tongues. Their host exerted himself to win golden opinionsfrom all, and entered with ready tact into the characteristics andpeculiarities of each.
"Eumolpus!" said he, as a slave entered bearing an enormous turbot on ayet larger dish, "fear not to encounter him. He is a worthy foe, and acountryman of thine own. He left Ravenna but yesterday. In truth, thatfair-built town sends us the widest turbots and the broadest shoulders inthe empire. Taste him, man, with a cup of Chian, and say if the trainer'srations have spoiled thy palate for native food."
Half-brutalised as he was by nature and education, the gladiator had stilla kindly feeling for his birthplace. Even now a memory of his boyhoodwould sometimes steal across him like a dream. The stretch of sand, thebreezy Adriatic, the waves dashing against the harbour-walls, and a visionof curly-headed, black-eyed children, of whom he was one, tumbling andplaying on the shore. He felt more human when he thought of such things.While the tribune spoke he rose in his own esteem; for his host treatedhim like a man rather than a beast; and those few careless words gained achampion for Placidus who was ready to follow him to the death.
So was it with the rest. To Rufus he enlarged on the happiness of acountry life, and the liberty--none the less dear for beingimaginary--enjoyed by a Roman citizen, who, within easy distance of thecapital, could sit beneath his own porch to watch the sunset crimsoningthe Apennines, and tread into home-made wine the grapes of his ownvineyard. He talked of pruning the elms and training the vines, ofshearing sheep and goading oxen, as though he had been a rustic all hislife, seasoning such glowing descriptions, to suit his listener's palate,with the charms even of winter in the snow amongst the hills--the boardriven through the leafless copse, the wild-fowl lured from the half-frozen lake, the snug and homely roof, the crackling fire, and thechildren playing on the hearth.
"'Tis but another night-watch," said he cordially, "and it will be my turnto sup with thee in thy mountain-home. Half a dozen such strokes as I haveseen thee deal in mere sport, my hero! and thou wilt never need to meddlewith steel again, save in the form of a ploughshare or a hunting-spear. Bythe fillet of Ceres! my friends, there is a golden harvest to-night, onlywaiting for the sickle!"
And Rufus, for whom a few acres of Italian soil, and liberty to cultivatethem in peace, with his wife and children, comprised all of happiness thatlife could give, contemplated the prospect thus offered with animagination heated by wine, and a determination, truly formidable in a manof his quiet, dogged resolution, if hard fighting was to count foranything, not to fail in at least deserving his reward.
"Hirpinus!" exclaimed the host, turning to the veteran, who was a swornlover of good cheer, and had already consumed supper enough for twoordinary men, washed down by proportionate draughts of wine, "thyfavourite morsel is even now leaving the spit. Pledge me in Falernian ereit comes. Nay, spoil it not with honey, which I hold to be a mistakeunworthy of a gladiator. We will pour a libation to Diana down ourthroats, in her capacity of huntress only, my friend; I care not for thegoddess i
n any other. Ho! slaves! bring here some wild boars!"
As he spoke the domestics reappeared, in pairs, carrying between them asmany wild boars, roasted whole, as there were guests. One of these hugedishes was set aside for each man, and the carvers proceeded to theirduty, unmoved by the ejaculations of amazement that broke from thegladiators at such prodigal magnificence.
Their attention was, however, somewhat distracted at this stage of thefeast by the entrance of Euchenor, who slunk to the place reserved for himwith a shade of sullen disappointment lowering on his brow. The host,however, had resolved that nothing should occur to mar the success of hisentertainment, so refrained from asking any questions as to his absence,and motioned him courteously to a couch, with as frank a greeting asthough he had been aware of its cause. He suspected treacherynotwithstanding, none the less that Euchenor hastened to explain his tardyarrival. "He had heard a tumult in the neighbourhood," he said, "whilstthe guests were entering the house, and had visited the nearest post ofhis comrades to ascertain that they had not been attacked. It was somedistance to the palace-gardens, and he could not avoid missing the earlierstages of the banquet."
"You must make up for lost time," observed Placidus, signing to the slavesto heap the new-comer's plate and fill his cup to the brim. "The later,the warmer welcome; the earlier, the better cheer;" and whilst he spokethe friendly words he was resolving that the Greek should be placed infront that whole night, under his immediate supervision. At the slightestsymptom of treachery or wavering he would slay him with his own hand.
And now the gigantic hunger of these champions seemed to be appeased atlast. Dish had succeeded dish in endless variety, and they had appliedthemselves to each as it came with an undiminished energy that astonishedthe domestics accustomed to the palled appetites of jaded men of pleasurelike their lord. Even the latter--though he tried hard, for he especiallyprided himself on his capacity of eating and drinking--found it impossibleto keep pace with his guests. Their great bodily powers, indeed, increasedby severe and habitual training, enabled them to consume vast quantitiesof food, without experiencing those sensations of lassitude and repletionwhich overcome weaker frames. It seemed as though most of what they atewent at once to supply the waste created by years of toil, and as soon asswallowed, fed the muscles instead of burdening the stomach. It wasequally so with wine. Such men can drink draught after draught, andpartake freely in the questionable pleasures of intoxication, whilst theypay none of its penalties. A breath of fresh air, a few minutes' exercise,and their brains are cool, their eyes clear, their whole systemstrengthened for the time, and stimulated, rather than stupefied, by theirexcess.
The gladiators lay back on their couches in extreme bodily content. Thecups were still quickly filled and emptied, but more in compliance withthe customs of conviviality than the demands of thirst. They were alltalking at once, and every man saw both present and future through therosy medium of the wine he had imbibed.
There were two, however, of the party who had not suffered their realinmost attention to stray for an instant from the actual business of thenight, who calculated the time exactly as it passed--who watched the menthrough the succeeding phases of satisfaction, good-humour, conviviality,and recklessness, stopping just short of inebriety, and seized the verymoment at which the iron was hot enough to strike. The same thought was inthe brain of each, when their eyes met; the same words were springing totheir lips, but Hippias spoke first.
"No more wine to-night, tribune, if work is to be done! The circus isfull; the arena swept; the show paid for. When the praetor takes his seatwe are ready to begin."
Placidus glanced significantly in his face, and rose, holding a brimminggoblet in his hand. The suddenness of the movement arrested immediateattention. The men were all silent, and looking towards their host.
"Good friends!" said he. "Trusty swordsmen! Welcome guests! Listen to me.To-night we burn the palace--we overthrow the empire--we hurl Caesar from histhrone. All this you know, but there is something more you do not know.One has escaped who is acquainted with the plot. In an hour it may be toolate. We are fast friends; we are in the same galley--the land is not abowshot off. But the wind is rising--the water rushing in beneath her keel.Will you bend your backs forthwith and row the galley safe home with me?"
The project was a favourite one, the metaphor suited to their tastes. Asthe tribune paused, acclamations greeted him on all sides, and "We will!We will!" "Through storm and sunshine!" "Against wind and weather!" sprangfrom many an eager lip. It was obvious the men were ready for anything."One libation to Pluto!" added the host, emptying his cup, and the guestsleaping to their feet followed his example with a mad cheer. Then theyformed in pairs, as they were accustomed in the amphitheatre, and Euchenorwith a malicious laugh exclaimed--_Morituri te salutant_.
It was enough! The ominous words were caught up and repeated in wilddefiance and derision, boding small scruples of mercy or remorse. Twicethey marched round the supper-room to the burden of that ghastly chant,and when shaking off the fumes of wine they snatched eagerly at theirarms, Placidus put himself at their head with a triumphant convictionthat, come what might, they would not fail him in his last desperate throwfor the great game.