_ PETRONIUS went borne. Nero and Tigcllinus went to Poppaea's
atrium, where they were expected by people with whom the
prefect had spoken already.
There were two Trans-Tiber rabbis in long solemn robes and
mitred, a young copyist, their assistant, together with Chilo. At
sight of Caesar the priests grew pale from emotion, and, raising
their hands an arm's length, bent their heads to his hands.
"Be greeted, O ruler of the earth, guardian of the chosen people,
and Caesar, lion among men, whose reign is like sunlight, like the
cedar of Lebanon, like a spring, like a palm, like the balsam of
Jericho,"
"Do ye refuse to call me god?" inquired Nero.
The priests grew still paler. The chief one spoke again, --
"Thy words, O lord, are as sweet as a cluster of grapes, as a ripe
fig,-- for Jehovah filled thy heart with goodness! Thy father's
predecessor, Caesar Caius, was stern; still our envoys did not call
him god, preferring death Itself to violation of the law."
"And did not Caligula give command to throw them to the lions?"
"No, lord; Caesar Caius feared Jehovah's anger."
And they raised their heads, for the name of the powerful Jehovah
gave them courage; confident in his might, they looked into Nero's
eyes with more boldness.
"Do ye accuse the Christians of burning Rome?" inquired Caesar.
"We, lord, accuse them of this alone, -- that they are enemies of
the law, of the human race, of Rome, and of thee; that long since
they have threatened the city and the world with fire! The rest will
be told thee by this man, whose lips are unstained by a lie, for in
his mother's veins flowed the blood of the chosen people."
Nero turned to Chio: "Who art thou?"
"One who honors thee, O Cyrus; and, besides, a poor Stoic--"
"I hate the Stoics," said Nero. "I hate Thrasea; I hate Musonius and
Cornutus. Their speech is repulsive to me; their contempt for art,
their voluntary squalor and filth."
"O lord, thy master Seneca has one thousand tables of citrus wood.
At thy wish I will have twice as many. I am a Stoic from necessity.
Dress my stoicism, O Radiant One, in a garland of roses, put a
pitcher of wine before it; it will sing Anacreon in such strains as to
deafen every Epicurean."
Nero, who was pleased by the title "Radiant," smiled and said,--
"Thou dost please me."
"This man is worth his weight in gold!" cried Tigellinus.
"Put thy liberality with my weight," answered Chilo, "or the wind
will blow my reward away."
"He would not outweigh Vitelius," put in Caesar.
"Eheu! Silver-bowed, my wit is not of lead."
"I see that thy faith does not hinder thee from calling me a god."
"O Immortal! My faith is in thee; the Christians blaspheme against
that faith, and I hate them."
"What dost thou know of the Christians?"
"Wilt thou permit me to weep, O divinity?"
"No," answered Nero; "weeping annoys me."
"Thou art triply right, for eyes that have seen thee should be free of
tears forever. O lord, defend me against my enemies."
"Speak of the Christians," said Poppaea, with a shade of
impatience.
"It will be at thy command, O Isis," answered Chilo. "From youth I
devoted myself to philosophy, and sought truth. I sought it among
the ancient divine sages, in the Academy at Athens, and in the
Serapeum at Alexandria. When I heard of the Christians, I judged
that they formed some new school in which I could find certain
kernels of truth; and to my misfortune I made their acquaintance.
The first Christian whom evil fate brought near me was one
Glaucus, a physician of Naples. From him I learned in time that
they worship a certain Chrestos, who promised to exterminate all
people and destroy every city on earth, but to spare them if they
helped him to exterminate the children of Deucalion. For this
reason, O lady, they hate men, and poison fountains; for this
reason in their assemblies they shower curses on Rome, and on all
temples in which our gods are honored. Chrestos was crucified;
but he promised that when Rome was destroyed by fire, he would
come again and give Christians dominion over the world."
"People will understand now why Rome was destroyed,"
interrupted Tigellinus.
"Many understand that already, O lord, for I go about in the
gardens, I go to the Campus Martius, and teach. But if ye listen to
the end, ye will know my reasons for vengeance. Glaucus the
physician did not reveal to me at first that their religion taught
hatred. On the contrary, he told me that Chrestos was a good
divinity, that the basis of their religion was love. My sensitive
heart could not resist such a truth; hence I took to loving Glaucus, I
trusted him, I shared every morsel of bread with him, every copper
coin, and dost thou know, lady, how he repaid me? On the road
from Naples to Rome he thrust a knife into my body, and my wife,
the beautiful and youthful Berenice, he sold to a slave-merchant. If
Sophocles knew my history -- but what do I say? One better than
Sophocles is listening."
"Poor man!" said Poppaeua.
"Whoso has seen the face of Aphrodite is not poor, lady; and I see
it at this moment. But then I sought consolation in philosophy.
When I came to Rome, I tried to meet Christian elders to obtain
justice against Glaucus. I thought that they would force him to
yield up my wife. I became acquainted with their chief priest; I
became acquainted with another, named Paul, who was in prison
in this city, but was liberated afterward; I became acquainted with
the son of Zebedee, with Linus and Clitus and many others. I know
where they lived before the fire, I know where they meet. I can
point out one excavation in the Vatican Hill and a cemetery
beyond the Nomentan Gate, where they celebrate their shameless
ceremonies. I saw the Apostle Peter. I saw how Glaucus killed
children, so that the Apostle might have something to sprinkle on
the heads of those present; and I saw Lygia, the foster-child of
Pomponia Graecina, who boasted that though unable to bring the
blood of an infant, she brought the death of an infant, for she
bewitched the little Augusta, thy daughter, O Cyrus, and thine, O
Isis!"
"Dost hear, Caesar?" asked Poppaea.
"Can that be!" exclaimed Nero.
"I could forgive wrongs done myself," continued Chio, "but when I
heard of yours, I wanted to stab her. Unfortunately I was stopped
by the noble Vinicius, who loves her."
"Vinicius? But did she not flee from him?"
"She fled, but he made search for her; he could not exist without
her. For wretched pay I helped him in the search, and it was I who
pointed out to him the house in which she lived among the
Christians in the Trans-Tiber. We went there together, and with us
thy wrestler Croton, whom the noble Viicius hired to protect him.
But Ursus, Lygia's slave, crushed Croton. That is a man of dreadful
strength, O Lord, who can break a bull's neck as easily as another
might a poppy stalk. Auluae and Pomponia loved him because of
that."
"By Hercules," said Nero, "the mortal who crushed Croton
deserves a statue in the Forum. But, old man, thou art mistaken or
art inventing, for Vinicius killed Croton with a knife."
"That is how people calumniate the gods. O lord, I myself saw
Croton's ribs breaking in the arms of Ursus, who rushed then on
Viicius and would have killed him but for Lygia. Vinicius was ill
for a long time after that but they nursed him in the hope that
through love he would become a Christian. In fact, he did become
a Christian."
"Vinicius?"
"Yes."
"And, perhaps, Petronius too?" inquired Tigellinus, hurriedly. Chio
squirmed, rubbed his hands, and said, --
"I admire thy penetration, O lord. He may have become one! He
may very well have become one."
"Now I understand why he defended the Christians."
Nero laughed: "Petronius a Christian! Petronius an enemy of life
and luxury! Be not foolish; do not ask me to believe that, since I
am ready not to believe anything."
"But the noble Vinicius became a Christian, lord. I swear by that
radiance which comes from thee that I speak the truth, and that
nothing pierces me with such disgust as lying. Pomponia Graecina
is a Christian, little Aulus is a Christian, Lygia is a Christian, and
so is Vinicius. I served him faithfully, and in return, at the desire
of Glaucus the physician, he gave command to flog me, though I
am old and was sick and hungry. And I have sworn by Hades that I
will not forget that for him. O lord, avenge my wrongs on them,
and I will deliver to thee Peter the Apostle and Linus and Clitus
and Glaucus and Crispus, the highest ones, and Lygia and Ursus. I
will point out hundreds of them to you, thousands; I will indicate
their houses of prayer, the cemeteries, all thy prisons will not
hold them! Without me ye could not find them. In misfortunes I
have sought consolation; hitherto in philosophy alone, now I will
find it in favors that will descend on me. I am old, and have not
known life; let me begin."
"It is thy wish to be a Stoic before a full plate," said Nero. "Whoso
renders service to thee will fill it by that same."
"Thou art not mistaken, O philosopher."
But Poppaeca did not forget her enemies. Her fancy for Vinicius
was, indeed, rather a momentary whim, which had risen under the
influence of jealousy, anger, and wounded vanity. Still the
coolness of the young patrician touched her deeply, and filled her
heart with a stubborn feeling of offence. This alone, that he had
dared to prefer anothe'r, seemed to her a crime calling for
vengeance. As to Lygia, she hated her from the first moment, when
the beauty of that northern lily alarmed her, Petronius, who spoke
of the too narrow hips of the girl, might talk what he pleased into
Caesar, but not into the Augusta. Poppaea the critic understood at
one cast of the eye that in all Rome Lygia alone could rival and
even surpass her. Thenceforth she vowed her ruin.
"Lord," said she, "avenge our child."
"Hasten!" cried Chio, "hasten! Otherwise Vinicius will hide her. I
will point out the house to which she returned after the fire."
"I will give thee ten men, and go this moment," said Tigellinus.
"O lord! thou hast not seen Croton in the arms of Ursus; if thou
wilt give fifty men, I will only show the house from a distance. But
if ye will not imprison Vinicius, I am lost."
Tigellinus looked at Nero. "Would it not be well, O divinity, to
finish at once with the uncle and nephew?"
Nero thought a moment and answered, --
"No, not now. People would not believe us if we tried to persuade
them that Petronius, Vinicius, or Pomponia Graecina had fired
Rome. Their houses were too beautiful. Their turn will come later;
to-day other victims are needed."
"Then, O lord, give me soldiers as a guard," said Chilo. "See to
this, Tigellinus."
"Thou wilt lodge meanwhile with me," said the prefect to Chilo.
Delight beamed from the face of the Greek.
"I will give up all! only hasten! -- hasten!" cried he, with a hoarse
voice. _