_ AT last the hour was accomplished for both Apostles. But, as if to
complete his service, it was given to the fisherman of the Lord to
win two souls even in confinement. The soldiers, Processus and
Martinianus, who guarded him in the Mamertine prison, received
baptism. Then came the hour of torture. Nero was not in Rome at
that time. Sentence was passed by Helius and Polythetes, two
freedmen to whom Caesar had confided the government of Rome
during his absence.
On the aged Apostle had been inflicted the stripes prescribed by
law; and next day he was led forth beyond the walls of the city,
toward the Vatican Hill, where he was to suffer the punishment of
the cross assigned to him. Soldiers were astonished by the crowd
which had gathered before the prison, for in their minds the death
of a common man, and besides a foreigner, should not rouse such
interest; they did not understand that that retinue was composed
not of sightseers, but confessors, anxious to escort the great
Apostle to the place of execution, In the afternoon the gates of the
prison were thrown open at last, and Peter appeared in the midst of
a detachment of pretorians. The sun had inclined somewhat toward
Ostia already; the day was clear and calm. Because of his
advanced age, Peter was not required to carry the cross; it was
supposed that he could not carry it; they had not put the fork on his
neck, either, so as not to retard his pace. He walked without
hindrance, and the faithful could see him perfectly.
At moments when his white head showed itself among the iron
helmets of the soldiers, weeping was heard in the crowd; but it was
restrained immediately, for the face of the old man had in it so
much calmness, and was so bright with joy, that all understood
him to be not a victim going to destruction, but a victor celebrating
his triumph.
And thus it was really. The fisherman, usually humble and
stooping, walked now erect, taller than the soldiers, full of dignity.
Never had men seen such majesty in his bearing. It might have
seemed that he was a monarch attended by people and military.
From every side voices were raised, --
"There is Peter going to the Lord!"
All forgot, as it were, that torture and death were waiting for him.
He walked with solemn attention, but with calmness, feeling that
since the death on Golgotha nothing equally important had
happened, and that as the first death had redeemed the whole
world, this was to redeem the city.
Along the road people halted from wonder at sight of that old man;
but believers, laying hands on their shoulders, said with calm
voices,
"See how a just man goes to death, -- one who knew Christ and
proclaimed love to the world,"
These became thoughtful, and walked away, saying to themselves,
"He cannot, indeed, be unjust!"
Along the road noise was hushed, and the cries of the street. The
retinue moved on before houses newly reared, before white
columns of temples, over whose summits hung the deep sky, calm
and blue. They went in quiet; only at times the weapons of the
soldiers clattered, or the murmur of prayer rose. Peter heard the
last, and his face grew bright with increasing joy, for his glance
could hardly take in those thousands of confessors. He felt that he
had done his work, and he knew now that that truth which he had
been declaring all his life would overwhelm everything, like a sea,
and that nothing would have power to restrain it. And thus
thinking, he raised his eyes, and said: "O Lord, Thou didst
command me to conquer this world-ruling city; hence I have
conquered it. Thou hast commanded me to found here Thy capital;
hence I have founded it. This is Thy city now, O Lord, and I go to
Thee, for I have toiled greatly."
As he passed before temples, he said to them, "Ye will be temples
of Christ." Looking at throngs of people moving before his eyes, he
said to them, "Your children will be servants of Christ"; and he
advanced with the feeling that he had conquered, conscious of his
service, conscious of his strength, solaced, -- great. The soldiers
conducted him over the Pons Triumphalis, as if giving involuntary
testimony to his triumph, and they led him farther toward the
Naumachia and the Circus. The faithful from beyond the Tiber
joined the procession; and such a throng of people was formed that
the centurion commanding the pretonians understood at last that
he was leading a high-priest surrounded by believers, and grew
alarmed because of the small number of soldiers. But no cry of
indignation or rage was given out in the throng. Men's faces were
penetrated with the greatness of the moment, solemn and full of
expectation. Some believers, remembering that when the Lord died
the earth opened from fright and the dead rose from their graves,
thought that now some evident signs would appear, after which the
death of the Apostle would not be forgotten for ages. Others said
to themselves, "Perhaps the Lord will select the hour of Peter's
death to come from heaven as He promised, and judge the world."
With this idea they recommended recommended themselves to the
mercy of the Redeemer.
But round about there was calm. The hills seemed to be warming
themselves, and resting in the sun. The procession stopped at last
between the Circus and the Vatican Hill. Soldiers began now to
dig a hole; others placed on the ground the cross, hammers, and
nails, waiting till all preparations were finished. The crowd,
continuing quiet and attentive, knelt round about.
The Apostle, with his head in the sun-rays and golden light, turned
for the last time toward the city. At a distance lower down was
seen the gleaming Tiber; beyond was the Campus Martins; higher
up, the Mausoleum of Augustus; below that, the gigantic baths just
begun by Nero; still lower, Pompey's theatre; and beyond them
were visible in places, and in places hidden by other buildings, the
Septa Julia, a multitude of porticos, temples, columns, great
edifices; and, finally, far in the distance, hills covered with houses,
a gigantic resort of people, the borders of which vanished in the
blue haze, -- an abode of crime, but of power; of madness, but of
order, -- which had become the head of the world, its oppressor,
but its law and its peace, almighty, invincible, eternal, But Peter,
surrounded by soldiers, looked at the city as a ruler and king looks
at his inheritance. And he said to it, "Thou art redeemed and
mine!" And no one, not merely among the soldiers digging the
hole in which to plant the cross, but even among believers, could
divine that standing there among them was the true ruler of that
moving life; that Caesars would pass away, waves of barbarians go
by, and ages vanish, but that old man would be lord there
unbrokenly.
The sun had sunk still more toward Ostia, and had become large
and red. The whole western side of the sky had begun to glow with
immense brightness. The soldiers approached Peter to strip him.
But he, while praying, straightened himself all at once, and
stretched his right hand high. The executioners stopped, as if made
timid by his posture; the faithful held the breath in their breasts,
thinking that he wished to say something, and silence unbroken
followed.
But he, standing on the height, with his extended right hand made
the sign of the cross, blessing in the hour of death,--
Urbi et orbi! (the city and the world).
In that same wonderful evening another detachment of soldiers
conducted along the Ostian Way Paul of Tarsus toward a place
called Aquae Salviae. And behind him also advanced a crowd of
the faithful whom he had converted; but when he recognized near
acquaintances, he halted and conversed with them, f or, being a
Roman citizen, the guard showed more respect to him. Beyond the
gate called Tergemina he met Plautilla, the daughter of the prefect
Flavius Sabinus, and, seeing her youthful face covered with tears,
he said: "Plautilla, daughter of Eternal Salvation, depart in peace.
Only give me a veil with which to bind my eyes when I am going
to the Lord." And taking it, he advanced with a face as full of
delight as that of a laborer who wbaen he has toiled the whole day
successfully is returning home. His thoughts, like those of Peter,
were as calm and quiet as that evening sky. His eyes gazed with
thoughtfulness upon the plain which stretched out before him, and
to the Alban Hills, immersed in light. He remembered his
journeys, his toils, his labor, the struggles in which he had
conquered, the churches which he had founded in all lands and
beyond all seas; and he thought that he had earned his rest
honestly, that he had finished his work. He felt now that the seed
which he had planted would not be blown away by the wind of
malice. He was leaving this life with the certainty that in the battle
which his truth had declared against the world it would conquer;
and a mighty peace settled down on his soul.
The road to the place of execution was long, and evening was
coming. The mountains became purple, and the bases of them
went gradually into the shade. Flocks were returning home. Here
and there groups of slaves were walking with the tools of labor on
their shoulders. Children, playing on the road before houses,
looked with curiosity at the passing soldiers. But in that evening,
in that transparent golden air, there were not only peace and
lovingness, but a certain harmony, which seemed to lift from earth
to heaven. Paul felt this; and his heart was filled with delight at the
thought that to that harmony of the world he had added one note
which had not been in it hitherto, but without which the whole
earth was like sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal.
He remembered how he had taught people love, -- how he had told
them that though they were to give their property to the poor,
though they knew all languages, all secrets, and all sciences, they
would be nothing without love, which is kind, enduring, which
does not return evil, which does not desire honor, suffers all
things, believes all things, hopes all things, is patient of all things.
And so his life had passed in teaching people this truth. And now
he said in spirit: What power can equal it, what can conquer it?
Could Caesar stop it, though he had twice as many legions and
twice as many cities, seas, lands, and nations?
And he went to his reward like a conqueror.
The detachment left the main road at last, and turned toward the
east on a narrow path leading to the Aquae Salviae. The red sun
was lying now on the heather. The centurion stopped the soldiers
at the fountain, for the moment had come.
Paul placed Plautifia's veil on his arm, intending to bind his eyes
with it; for the last time he raised those eyes, full of unspeakable
peace, toward the eternal light of the evening, and prayed. Yes, the
moment had come; but he saw before him a great road in the light,
leading to heaven; and in his soul he repeated the same words
which formerly he had written in the feeling of his own finished
service and his near end, --
"I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept
the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of
righteousness." _