Quo Vadis: A Narrative of the Time of Nero

by Henryk Sienkiewicz

  Chapter XLVIII

  CAMPS of people were disposed in the lordly gardens of Caesar, formerlygardens of Domitius and Agrippina; they were disposed also on the CampusMartius, in the gardens of Pompey, Sallust, and Maecenas, in porticos,tennis-courts, splendid summer-houses, and buildings erected for wildbeasts. Peacocks, flamingoes, swans, ostriches, gazelles, Africanantelopes, and deer, which had served as ornaments to those gardens,went under the knives of the rabble. Provisions began to come in nowfrom Ostria so abundantly that one might walk, as on a bridge, overships, boats, and barges from one bank of the Tiber to the other. Wheatwas sold at the unheard-of low price of three sestertia, and was givengratis to the indigent. Immense supplies of wine, olives, and chestnutswere brought to the city; sheep and cattle were driven in every day fromthe mountains. Wretches who before the fire had been hiding in alleys ofthe Subura, and were perishing of hunger in ordinary times, had a morepleasant life now. The danger of famine was averted completely, but itwas more difficult to suppress robbery, murder, and abuses. A nomadiclife insured impunity to thieves; the more easily since they proclaimedthemselves admirers of Caesar, and were unsparing of plaudits whereverhe appeared. Moreover, when, by the pressure of events, the authoritieswere in abeyance, and there was a lack of armed force to quell insolencein a city inhabited by the dregs of contemporary mankind, deeds weredone which passed human imagination. Every night there were battles andmurders; every night boys and women were snatched away. At the PortaMugionis, where there was a halting-place for herds driven in from theCampania, it come to engagements in which people perished by hundreds.Every morning the banks of the Tiber were covered with drowned bodies,which no one collected; these decayed quickly because of heat heightenedby fire, and filled the air with foul odors. Sickness broke out on thecamping-grounds, and the more timorous foresaw a great pestilence.

  But the city burned on unceasingly. Only on the sixth day, when thefire reached empty spaces on the Esquiline, where an enormous number ofhouses had been demolished purposely, did it weaken. But the piles ofburning cinders gave such strong light yet that people would not believethat the end of the catastrophe had come. In fact the fire burst forthwith fresh force on the seventh night in the buildings of Tigellinus,but had short duration for lack of fuel. Burnt houses, however, fellhere and there, and threw up towers of flame and pillars of sparks. Butthe glowing ruins began to grow black on the surface. After sunset theheavens ceased to gleam with bloody light, and only after dark did bluetongues quiver above the extended black waste, tongues which rose frompiles of cinders.

  Of the fourteen divisions of Rome there remained only four, includingthe Trans-Tiber. Flames had consumed all the others. When at lastthe piles of cinders had been turned into ashes, an immense space wasvisible from the Tiber to the Esquiline, gray, gloomy, dead. In thisspace stood rows of chimneys, like columns over graves in a cemetery.Among these columns gloomy crowds of people moved about in the daytime,some seeking for precious objects, others for the bones of those dearto them. In the night dogs howled above the ashes and ruins of formerdwellings.

  All the bounty and aid shown by Caesar to the populace did not restrainevil speech and indignation. Only the herd of robbers, criminals, andhomeless ruffians, who could eat, drink, and rob enough, were contented.People who had lost all their property and their nearest relatives werenot won over by the opening of gardens, the distribution of bread, orthe promise of games and gifts. The catastrophe had been too great andunparalleled. Others, in whom was hidden yet some spark of love for thecity and their birthplace, were brought to despair by news that the oldname "Roma" was to vanish, and that from the ashes of the capital Caesarwould erect a new city called Neropolis. A flood of hatred rose andswelled every day, despite the flatteries of the Augustians and thecalumnies of Tigellinus. Nero, more sensitive than any former Caesar tothe favor of the populace, thought with alarm that in the sullen andmortal struggle which he was waging with patricians in the Senate, hemight lack support. The Augustians themselves were not less alarmed,for any morning might bring them destruction. Tigellinus thought ofsummoning certain legions from Asia Minor. Vatinius, who laughed evenwhen slapped on the face, lost his humor; Vitelius lost his appetite.

  Others were taking counsel among themselves how to avert the danger, forit was no secret that were an outburst to carry off Caesar, not oneof the Augustians would escape, except, perhaps, Petronius. To theirinfluence were ascribed the madnesses of Nero, to their suggestions allthe crimes which he committed. Hatred for them almost surpassed thatfor Nero. Hence some began to make efforts to rid themselves ofresponsibility for the burning of the city. But to free themselves theymust clear Caesar also from suspicion, or no one would believe that theyhad not caused the catastrophe. Tigellinus took counsel on this subjectwith Domitius Afer, and even with Seneca, though he hated him. Poppaea,who understood that the ruin of Nero would be her own sentence, tookthe opinion of her confidants and of Hebrew priests, for it had beenadmitted for years that she held the faith of Jehovah. Nero found hisown methods, which, frequently terrible, were more frequently foolish,and fell now into terror, now into childish delight, but above all hecomplained.

  On a time a long and fruitless consultation was held in the house ofTiberius, which had survived the fire. Petronius thought it best toleave troubles, go to Greece, thence to Egypt and Asia Minor. Thejourney had been planned long before; why defer it, when in Rome weresadness and danger?

  Caesar accepted the counsel with eagerness; but Seneca when he hadthought awhile, said,--

  "It is easy to go, but it would be more difficult to return."

  "By Heracles!" replied Petronius, "we may return at the head of Asiaticlegions."

  "This will I do!" exclaimed Nero.

  But Tigellinus opposed. He could discover nothing himself, and if thearbiter's idea had come to his own head he would beyond doubt havedeclared it the saving one; but with him the question was that Petroniusmight not be a second time the only man who in difficult moments couldrescue all and every one.

  "Hear me, divinity," said he, "this advice is destructive! Beforethou art at Ostia a civil war will break out; who knows but one of thesurviving collateral descendants of the divine Augustus will declarehimself Caesar, and what shall we do if the legions take his side?"

  "We shall try," answered Nero, "that there be no descendants ofAugustus. There are not many now; hence it is easy to rid ourselves ofthem."

  "It is possible to do so, but is it a question of them alone? No longerago than yesterday my people heard in the crowd that a man like Thraseashould be Caesar."

  Nero bit his lips. After a while he raised his eyes and said:"Insatiable and thankless. They have grain enough, and they have coal onwhich to bake cakes; what more do they want?"

  "Vengeance!" replied Tigellinus.

  Silence followed. Caesar rose on a sudden, extended his hand, and beganto declaim,--

  "Hearts call for vengeance, and vengeance wants a victim." Then,forgetting everything, he said, with radiant face: "Give me the tabletand stilus to write this line. Never could Lucan have composed the like.Have ye noticed that I found it in a twinkle?"

  "O incomparable!" exclaimed a number of voices. Nero wrote down theline, and said,--

  "Yes, vengeance wants a victim." Then he cast a glance on those aroundhim. "But if we spread the report that Vatinius gave command to burn thecity, and devote him to the anger of the people?"

  "O divinity! Who am I?" exclaimed Vatmius.

  "True! One more important than thou is demanded. Is it Vitelius?"

  Vitelius grew pale, but began to laugh.

  "My fat," answered he, "might start the fire again."

  But Nero had something else on his mind; in his soul he was looking fora victim who might really satisfy the people's anger, and he found him.

  "Tigellinus," said he after a while, "it was thou who didst burn Rome!"A shiver ran through those present. They understood that Caesar hadceased to jest this time, and that a moment had come whic
h was pregnantwith events.

  The face of Tigellinus was wrinkled, like the lips of a dog about tobite.

  "I burnt Rome at thy command!" said he.

  And the two glared at each other like a pair of devils. Such silencefollowed that the buzzing of flies was heard as they flew through theatrium.

  "Tigellinus," said Nero, "dost thou love me?"

  "Thou knowest, lord."

  "Sacrifice thyself for me."

  "O divine Caesar," answered Tigellinus, "why present the sweet cup whichI may not raise to my lips? The people are muttering and rising; dostthou wish the pretorians also to rise?"

  A feeling of terror pressed the hearts of those present. Tigellinus waspretorian prefect, and his words had the direct meaning of a threat.Nero himself understood this, and his face became pallid.

  At that moment Epaphroditus, Caesar's freedman, entered, announcing thatthe divine Augusta wished to see Tigellinus, as there were people in herapartments whom the prefect ought to hear.

  Tigellinus bowed to Caesar, and went out with a face calm andcontemptuous. Now, when they had wished to strike him, he had shownhis teeth; he had made them understand who he was, and, knowing Nero'scowardice, he was confident that that ruler of the world would neverdare to raise a hand against him.

  Nero sat in silence for a moment; then, seeing that those presentexpected some answer, he said,--

  "I have reared a serpent in my bosom."

  Petronius shrugged his shoulders, as if to say that it was not difficultto pluck the head from such a serpent.

  "What wilt thou say? Speak, advise!" exclaimed Nero, noticing thismotion. "I trust in thee alone, for thou hast more sense than all ofthem, and thou lovest me."

  Petronius had the following on his lips: "Make me pretorian prefect, Iwill deliver Tigellinus to the people, and pacify the city in a day."But his innate slothfulness prevailed. To be prefect meant to bear onhis shoulder's Caesar's person and also thousands of public affairs. Andwhy should he perform that labor? Was it not better to read poetry inhis splendid library, look at vases and statues, or hold to his breastthe divine body of Eunice, twining her golden hair through his fingers,and inclining his lips to her coral mouth? Hence he said,--

  "I advise the journey to Achaea."

  "Ah!" answered Nero, "I looked for something more from thee. The Senatehates me. If I depart, who will guarantee that it will not revolt andproclaim some one else Caesar? The people have been faithful to me sofar, but now they will follow the Senate. By Hades! if that Senate andthat people had one head!--"

  "Permit me to say, O divinity, that if thou desire to save Rome, thereis need to save even a few Romans," remarked Petronius, with a smile.

  "What care I for Rome and Romans?" complained Nero. "I should be obeyedin Achaea. Here only treason surrounds me. All desert me, and ye aremaking ready for treason. I know it, I know it. Ye do not even imaginewhat future ages will say of you if ye desert such an artist as I am."

  Here he tapped his forehead on a sudden, and cried,--

  "True! Amid these cares even I forget who I am."

  Then he turned to Petronius with a radiant face.

  "Petronius," said he, "the people murmur; but if I take my lute and goto the Campus Martius, if I sing that song to them which I sang duringthe conflagration, dost thou not think that I will move them, as Orpheusmoved wild beasts?"

  To this Tullius Senecio, who was impatient to return to his slavewomen brought in from Antium, and who had been impatient a long time,replied,--

  "Beyond doubt, O Caesar, if they permit thee to begin."

  "Let us go to Hellas!" cried Nero, with disgust.

  But at that moment Poppaea appeared, and with her Tigellinis. The eyesof those present turned to him unconsciously, for never had triumphatorascended the Capitol with pride such as his when he stood before Caesar.He began to speak slowly and with emphasis, in tones through which thebite of iron, as it were, was heard,--

  "Listen. O Caesar, for I can say: I have found! The people wantvengeance, they want not one victim, but hundreds, thousands. Hastheard, lord, who Christos was,--he who was crucified by Pontius Pilate?And knowest thou who the Christians are? Have I not told thee of theircrimes and foul ceremonies, of their predictions that fire would causethe end of the world? People hate and suspect them. No one has seen themin a temple at any time, for they consider our gods evil spirits; theyare not in the Stadium, for they despise horse races. Never have thehands of a Christian done thee honor with plaudits. Never has one ofthem recognized thee as god. They are enemies of the human race, of thecity, and of thee. The people murmur against thee; but thou hast givenme no command to burn Rome, and I did not burn it. The people wantvengeance; let them have it. The people want blood and games; let themhave them. The people suspect thee; let their suspicion turn in anotherdirection."

  Nero listened with amazement at first; but as Tigellinus proceeded, hisactor's face changed, and assumed in succession expressions of anger,sorrow, sympathy, indignation. Suddenly he rose, and, casting off thetoga, which dropped at his feet, he raised both hands and stood silentfor a time. At last he said, in the tones of a tragedian,--

  "O Zeus, Apollo, Here, Athene, Persephone, and all ye immortals! why didye not come to aid us? What has this hapless city done to those cruelwretches that they burnt it so inhumanly?"

  "They are enemies of mankind and of thee," said Poppaea.

  "Do justice!" cried others. "Punish the incendiaries! The godsthemselves call for vengeance!"

  Nero sat down, dropped his head to his breast, and was silent a secondtime, as if stunned by the wickedness of which he had heard. But after awhile he shook his hands, and said,--

  "What punishments, what tortures befit such a crime? But the gods willinspire me, and, aided by the powers of Tartarus, I will give mypoor people such a spectacle that they will remember me for ages withgratitude."

  The forehead of Petronius was covered with a sudden cloud. He thought ofthe danger hanging over Lygia and over Vinicius, whom he loved, and overall those people whose religion he rejected, but of whose innocence hewas certain. He thought also that one of those bloody orgies would beginwhich his eyes, those of an aesthetic man, could not suffer. But aboveall he thought: "I must save Vinicius, who will go mad if that maidenperishes"; and this consideration outweighed every other, for Petroniusunderstood well that he was beginning a game far more perilous than anyin his life. He began, however, to speak freely and carelessly, ashis wont was when criticising or ridiculing plans of Caesar and theAugustians that were not sufficiently aesthetic,--

  "Ye have found victims! That is true. Ye may send them to the arena, orarray them in 'painful tunics.' That is true also. But hear me! Ye haveauthority, ye have pretorians, ye have power; then be sincere, atleast, when no one is listening! Deceive the people, but deceive notone another. Give the Christians to the populace, condemn them to anytorture ye like; but have courage to say to yourselves that it was notthey who burnt Rome. Phy! Ye call me 'arbiter elegantiarum'; hence Ideclare to you that I cannot endure wretched comedies! Phy! how all thisreminds me of the theatrical booths near the Porta Asinaria, in whichactors play the parts of gods and kings to amuse the suburban rabble,and when the play is over wash down onions with sour wine, or get blowsof clubs! Be gods and kings in reality; for I say that ye can permityourselves the position! As to thee, O Caesar, thou hast threatenedus with the sentence of coming ages; but think, those ages will utterjudgment concerning thee also. By the divine Clio! Nero, ruler of theworld, Nero, a god, burnt Rome, because he was as powerful on earth asZeus on Olympus,--Nero the poet loved poetry so much that he sacrificedto it his country! From the beginning of the world no one did thelike, no one ventured on the like. I beseech thee in the name of thedouble-crowned Libethrides, renounce not such glory, for songs of theewill sound to the end of ages! What will Priam be when compared withthee; what Agamenmon; what Achilles; what the gods themselves? We neednot say that the burning of Rome was good, but it was colossal anduncommon.
I tell thee, besides, that the people will raise no handagainst thee! It is not true that they will. Have courage; guard thyselfagainst acts unworthy of thee,--for this alone threatens thee, thatfuture ages may say, 'Nero burned Rome; but as a timid Caesar and a timidpoet he denied the great deed out of fear, and cast the blame of it onthe innocent!'"

  The arbiter's words produced the usual deep impression on Nero; butPetronius was not deceived as to this, that what he had said was adesperate means which in a fortunate event might save the Christians,it is true, but might still more easily destroy himself. He had nothesitated, however, for it was a question at once of Vinicius whomhe loved, and of hazard with which he amused himself. "The dice arethrown," said he to himself, "and we shall see how far fear for his ownlife outweighs in the monkey his love of glory."

  And in his soul he had no doubt that fear would outweigh.

  Meanwhile silence fell after his words. Poppaea and all present werelooking at Nero's eyes as at a rainbow. He began to raise his lips,drawing them to his very nostrils, as was his custom when he knew notwhat to do; at last disgust and trouble were evident on his features.

  "Lord," cried Tigellinus, on noting this, "permit me to go; for whenpeople wish to expose thy person to destruction, and call thee, besides,a cowardly Caesar, a cowardly poet, an incendiary, and a comedian, myears cannot suffer such expressions!"

  "I have lost," thought Petronius. But turning to Tigellinus, he measuredhim with a glance in which was that contempt for a ruffian which is feltby a great lord who is an exquisite.

  "Tigellinus," said he, "it was thou whom I called a comedian; for thouart one at this very moment."

  "Is it because I will not listen to thy insults?"

  "It is because thou art feigning boundless love for Caesar,--thou whoa short while since wert threatening him with pretorians, which we allunderstood as did he!"

  Tigellinus, who had not thought Petronius sufficiently daring to throwdice such as those on the table, turned pale, lost his head, and wasspeechless. This was, however, the last victory of the arbiter over hisrival, for that moment Poppaea said,--

  "Lord, how permit that such a thought should even pass through the headof any one, and all the more that any one should venture to express italoud in thy presence!"

  "Punish the insolent!" exclaimed Vitelius.

  Nero raised his lips again to his nostrils, and, turning hisnear-sighted, glassy eyes on Petronius, said,--

  "Is this the way thou payest me for the friendship which I had forthee?"

  "If I am mistaken, show me my error," said Petronius; "but know that Ispeak that which love for thee dictates."

  "Punish the insolent!" repeated Vitelius.

  "Punish!" called a number of voices.

  In the atrium there was a murmur and a movement, for people began towithdraw from Petronius. Even Tullius Senecio, his constant companion atthe court, pushed away, as did young Nerva, who had shown him hithertothe greatest friendship. After a while Petronius was alone on the leftside of the atrium, with a smile on his lips; and gathering with hishands the folds of his toga, he waited yet for what Caesar would say ordo.

  "Ye wish me to punish him" said Caesar; "but he is my friend and comrade.Though he has wounded my heart, let him know that for friends this hearthas naught but forgiveness."

  "I have lost, and am ruined," thought Petronius.

  Meanwhile Caesar rose, and the consultation was ended.