A Struggle for Rome, v. 2

by Felix Dahn

  CHAPTER X.

  In the tent they found the handsome cushions of the camp-bed placedround a low bronze table of perforated work, which Cethegus admired.

  "It is a piece of booty from the wars of the Vandals; I took it with mefrom Carthage. And these soft cushions once lay upon the bed of thePersian King; I gained them in the battle of Dara."

  "You are a fine practical scholar!" said Cethegus, smiling. "Are you sochanged since the days of Athens?"

  "I should hope so!" said Procopius, and began carving (for he haddismissed the attendant slaves) the smoking haunch of venison beforehim. "You must know that I wished to make philosophy my calling, tobecome a sage. For three years I listened to the Platonists, Stoics,and Academicians at Athens; and studied till I was sick and stupid. AndI did not stop at philosophy; according to the praiseworthy custom ofour pious century, theology must also be grappled with, and for anotheryear I had to reflect upon the mysteries of the Holy Trinity. Well,with studying so hard, my reason, which was not at all contemptible bynature, threatened to fail me. Fortunately, I became seriously ill, andthe physicians forbade me Athens and all books. They sent me to AsiaMinor. I only saved a 'Thucydides' from my books, and took it with mein my travelling-bag. And then 'Thucydides' saved me. In the tedium ofthe journey I read and re-read his splendid history of the deeds of theHellenes in war and peace; and now I found with astonishment that theacts and manners of men, their passions, their vices and virtues, werereally much more attractive and remarkable than all forms and figuresof heathen logic--not to speak of Christian logic. I arrived atEphesus, and was one day strolling through the streets, when my mindsuddenly became wonderfully enlightened. I was walking across a greatplace; there stood before me a church of the Holy Spirit; it was builtupon the ruins of the old Temple of Diana. On the left stood a ruinedaltar of Isis, and on the right the praying-house of the Jews. Then thethought flashed across me: Each one of these believed, and believedfirmly, that he alone knew the truth about the highest Being. And yetthat is impossible; the highest Being has, it seems to me, no need ofbeing known by us--neither should I, in His place--and He has createdmankind, that they may live, act rightly and strive honestly here onearth. And this living, acting, enjoying and striving is really allthat concerns us. If any one will search and think, he should searchthe lives and acts of men. As I stood so thinking, all at once I heardthe flourish of trumpets. A brilliant troop of horsemen came trottingup; at their head a splendid man on a bay horse, beautiful and strongas the God of War. Their weapons glittered, the flags waved, and thehorses pranced. And I thought: These know wherefore they live, and donot need to inquire of a philosopher! And while I was admiring thehorsemen, a citizen of Ephesus clapped me on the shoulder and said:'You seem not to know who that was, nor whither these men are bent?That is the hero Belisarius, who is off for the wars in Persia!' 'Good,friend!' I said, 'then I will go with him!' And so I did, the very samehour. And Belisarius soon appointed me his privy-councillor andsecretary. Since then I have a double calling; by day I make, or helpto make, history, and by night I write it."

  "And which is your best work?"

  "Alas! friend, the writing! And the writing would be better if thehistory were better. For generally I do not at all approve of what wedo, and I only help to do it because it is better than doing nothing,or putting up with philosophy. Bring the 'Tacitus,' slave," he calledout of the opening of the tent.

  "The 'Tacitus?'" asked Cethegus.

  "Yes, friend, we have drunk enough of the 'Livius.' You must know thatI name my wines according to their historical character. For example,to return to what I was saying, this piece of history which we areabout just now, this Gothic war, is quite against my taste. Narses isright, we ought first to repel the Persians before we attack theGoths."

  "Narses! What is my wise friend doing?"

  "He envies Belisarius, and will not confess it even to himself. Besidesthat, he makes plans of wars and battles. I will bet that he hadalready conquered Italy before we had even landed."

  "You are not his friend. Yet he is a man of genius. Why do you preferBelisarius?"

  "I will tell you," said Procopius, pouring out the "Tacitus," "It is mymisfortune that I was not the historian of Alexander or Scipio. Since Irecovered from philosophy and theology, my whole nature has longed formen, for real men of flesh and blood. So these spindle-shanked emperorsand bishops and generals, who subtilise everything with their reason,disgust me. We have become a crippled generation; the hero time liesfar behind us! Only honest Belisarius is a hero like those of the oldentime. He might have encamped with Agamemnon before Troy! He is notstupid; he has good sense; but only the natural sense of a noble wildanimal for its prey, for his vocation. Belisarius's vocation isheroism! And I delight in his broad chest and his flashing eyes andmighty thighs with which he masters the strongest stallion. And I amglad when, sometimes, his blind delight in blows upsets all his fineplans. I love to see him rush amongst the enemy and fight like aninfuriated boar. But I dare not tell him so; for then all would beover; in three days he would be cut to pieces. On the contrary, I keephim back. I am his 'reason,' as he calls me. And he puts up with myprudence because he knows that it is not cowardice. More than once Ihave been obliged to save him from a difficulty into which thefrowardness of his heroism had brought him! The most amusing of thesestories is that of the horn and tuba."

  "Which of the two do you blow, O my Procopius?"

  "Neither; only the trumpet of fame and the pipe of mockery!"

  "But what about the horn and trumpet?"

  "Oh, we were lying before a rocky nest in Persia, which we were obligedto take, because it commanded the high-road. But we had already, manytimes, damaged our heroic heads against its hard walls; and my master,becoming angry, swore 'by the slumber of Justinian'--that is his biggestoath--that he would never blow the signal of retreat before this Castleof Anglon. Now our outposts were very often surprised by sallies from thefortress; we, in the highly-situated camp, could see the assaulters asthey issued from the fortress, but our outposts, lying at the foot ofthe hill, could not. I now advised that we should give our people thesignal of retreat from the camp whenever we saw the danger approaching.But I met with a fine reception! The slumber of Justinian was such asacred thing that no one dare meddle with an oath sworn by it. And soour poor fellows were obliged to let themselves be taken unawares bythe Persians, until I hit upon the ingenious expedient of proposing tomy master that we should give the signal of retreat to our men not withthe trumpet but with the horn. The idea pleased my honest Belisarius.And so when we merrily blew the horn to the attack, our men ran awaylike frightened hares. It was enough to make one die with laughing tosee those belligerent sounds produce such a despicable effect! But itavailed. Justinian's slumber and Belisarius's oath remained intact, ouroutposts were no more butchered, and at last the rocky fortress fell.Thus I always scold and laugh at Belisarius for his heroic acts, but inreality my heart is warmed and gladdened: he is the last hero."

  "Well," observed Cethegus, "amongst the Goths you will find many suchsturdy fellows."

  Procopius nodded reflectively:

  "Can't deny that I have great pleasure in these Goths. But they are toostupid."

  "How? Why?"

  "They are stupid because, instead of pressing upon us slowly, step bystep, in union with their yellow-haired brethren (they would beirresistible!) they have planted themselves singly in the midst ofItaly, without right or reason, like a piece of wood in the centre of aglimmering hearth. They will be ruined by this; they will be burnt, youwill see!"

  "I hope to see it. And what then?" asked Cethegus quietly.

  "Yes," answered Procopius peevishly, "what then? That is the vexation.Then Belisarius will be Governor of Italy--for it will not last a yearwith the purple Prince--and he will wear away his fine strength here inidleness, when there is work enough to do in Persia. And then, as hiscourt-historian, I shall only have to write down how many skins of winewe em
pty yearly."

  "So you would like, when the Goths are done with, to have Belisariusout of Italy?"

  "Certainly. In the Persian land bloom his and my laurels. I havethought already of many a plan to get him away from here."

  Cethegus was silent. He was glad to have found such an important allyfor his plans. At last he said:

  "And so his 'reason' Procopius, rules the lion Belisarius?"

  "No," sighed Procopius; "rather his _un_reason, his wife!"

  "Antonina! Tell me, why did you call her unhappy?"

  "Because she is half-hearted and a contradiction. Nature intended herfor a good and faithful wife; and Belisarius loves her with all hisheroic heart. But she came to the court of the Empress. Theodora, thebeautiful she-devil, is intended by nature as much for vice as isAntonina for virtue. The circus-girl has certainly never felt the stingof conscience. But I believe she cannot endure to have an honest womannear her, because an honest woman would despise her. She did not restuntil she had succeeded in arousing Antonina's coquetry by her hellishexample. Now Antonina suffers tortures of remorse on account of herdalliance with her adorers; for she loves, she worships her husband."

  "And yet? How is it possible that a hero like Belisarius cannot contenther?"

  "Just because he is a hero. He does not flatter her, with all his love.She could not bear to see the Empress's lovers exhaust themselves inverses, flowers, and gifts, and to live herself without such homage.Vanity was her snare. But she does not feel at all at ease amidst hertrifling."

  "And has Belisarius any suspicion?"

  "Not a shadow. He is the only one in all the Roman Empire who does notknow what most concerns him. I believe it would be his death. For thisreason alone he must not remain here in peace, as Governor of Italy. Inthe camp, in the tumult of battle, flatterers are wanting to thecoquettish woman and also the leisure to listen to them. For, as ifin voluntary atonement for the sweet crimes of secret verses andflowers--she is certainly incapable of greater guilt--Antonina outdoesall other women in the severe performance of her duty. She isBelisarius's friend, his co-commander; she shares with him thedifficulties and dangers of sea, desert, and battle. She works with himday and night, if she does not happen to be reading the verses ofothers on her lovely eyes! She has often saved him from the snares ofhis enemies at the court of Byzantium. In short, she is only goodduring war-time and in the camp, there, where also his greatness canalone flourish."

  "Well," said Cethegus, "now I know well enough how things standhere. Let me speak plainly with you. You would like to have Belisariusout of Italy immediately after his victory: so would I. You forBelisarius's sake, I for that of Italy's. You know that I was always aRepublican----"

  At this Procopius pushed his cup to one side and looked significantlyat Cethegus.

  "All young people are so between the ages of fourteen and twenty-one,"said he. "But that you are still so--I find--very--very--unhistorical.Out of these Italian vagabonds, our very amiable allies against theGoths, you will make citizens of a republic? They are good for nothingbut a tyrant!"

  "I will not dispute about that," answered Cethegus with a smile; "onlyI should like to preserve my fatherland from _your_ tyrant."

  "I don't blame you for it," said Procopius, smiling also; "theblessings of our rule are--stifling."

  "A native governor under the protection of Byzantium will suffice atfirst."

  "To be sure. And his name would be--Cethegus!"

  "If it must be so--that too."

  "Listen," said Procopius earnestly, "I would only advise you against_one_ thing. The air of Rome engenders proud plans. There, as master ofRome, a man is not willing to be only the second in the world. Andbelieve the historian--nothing more can come of the universal Empire ofRome."

  Cethegus felt annoyed. He thought of King Theodoric's warning.

  "Historicus of Byzantium, I know my Roman affairs better than you.First let me initiate you into our Roman secrets; then, earlyto-morrow, before the embassy arrives from Rome, procure me aninterview with Belisarius, and--be sure of a great success."

  And he now began to unfold to the astonished Procopius, in rapidoutlines, the secret history of the latest times and his plans for thefuture, wisely veiling his ultimate aim.

  "By the manes of Romulus!" cried Procopius, when he had finished, "youstill make history on the Tiber. Well, here is my hand. You shall havemy assistance. Belisarius shall win, but not rule in Italy. Let usempty a flask of dry 'Sallustius' upon it!"

  Early the next day Procopius brought about an interview withBelisarius, from which his friend returned well contented.

  "Have you told him everything?" asked the historian.

  "Not quite everything," said Cethegus with a sly smile; "one mustalways keep something to say in reserve."