Quo Vadis: A Narrative of the Time of Nero
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Chapter LXVIII
NEWS of the miraculous rescue of Lygia was circulated quickly amongthose scattered Christians who had escaped destruction. Confessors cameto look at her to whom Christ's favor had been shown clearly. First cameNazarius and Miriam, with whom Peter the Apostle was hiding thusfar; after them came others. All, as well as Vinicius, Lygia, and theChristian slaves of Petronius, listened with attention to the narrativeof Ursus about the voice which he had heard in his soul, and whichcommanded him to struggle with the wild bull. All went away consoled,hoping that Christ would not let His followers be exterminated on earthbefore His coming at the day of judgment. And hope sustained theirhearts, for persecution had not ceased yet. Whoever was declared aChristian by public report was thrown into prison at once by the citywatches. It is true that the victims were fewer, for the majority ofconfessors had been seized and tortured to death. The Christianswho remained had either left Rome to wait out the storm in distantprovinces, or had hidden most carefully, not daring to assemblein common prayer, unless in sand-pits outside the city. They werepersecuted yet, however, and though the games were at an end, the newlyarrested were reserved for future games or punished specially. Thoughit was believed in Rome no longer that Christians had caused theconflagration, they were declared enemies of humanity and the State, andthe edict against them remained in former force.
The Apostle Peter did not venture for a long time to appear in the houseof Petronius, but at last on a certain evening Nazarius announced hisarrival. Lygia, who was able to walk alone now, and Vinicius ran out tomeet him, and fell to embracing his feet. He greeted them with emotionall the greater that not many sheep in that flock over which Christhad given him authority, and over the fate of which his great heart wasweeping, remained to him. So when Vinicius said, "Lord, because of theethe Redeemer returned her to me," he answered: "He returned her becauseof thy faith, and so that not all the lips which profess His name shouldgrow silent." And evidently he was thinking then of those thousands ofhis children torn by wild beasts, of those crosses with which the arenahad been filled, and those fiery pillars in the gardens of the "Beast";for he spoke with great sadness. Vinicius and Lygia noticed also thathis hair had grown entirely white, that his whole form was bent, andthat in his face there was as much sadness and suffering as if he hadpassed through all those pains and torments which the victims of Nero'srage and madness had endured. But both understood that since Christ hadgiven Himself to torture and to death, no one was permitted to avoidit. Still their hearts were cut at sight of the Apostle, bent by years,toil, and pain. So Vinicius, who intended to take Lygia soon to Naples,where they would meet Pomponia and go to Sicily, implored him to leaveRome in their company.
But the Apostle placed his hand on the tribune's head and answered,--
"In my soul I hear these words of the Lord, which He spoke to me on theLake of Tiberias: 'When thou wert young, thou didst gird thyself,and walk whither thou wouldst; but when thou shalt be old, thou shaltstretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry theewhither thou wouldst not.' Therefore it is proper that I follow myflock."
And when they were silent, not knowing the sense of his speech, headded,
"My toil is nearing its end; I shall find entertainment and rest only inthe house of the Lord."
Then he turned to them saying: "Remember me, for I have loved you asa father loves his children; and whatever ye do in life, do it for theglory of God."
Thus speaking, he raised his aged, trembling hands and blessed them;they nestled up to him, feeling that to be the last blessing, perhaps,which they should receive from him.
It was destined them, however, to see him once more. A few dayslater Petronius brought terrible news from the Palatine. It had beendiscovered there that one of Caesar's freedmen was a Christian; and onthis man were found letters of the Apostles Peter and Paul, with lettersof James, John, and Judas. Peter's presence in Rome was known formerlyto Tigellinus, but he thought that the Apostle had perished withthousands of other confessors. Now it transpired that the two leadersof the new faith were alive and in the capital. It was determined,therefore, to seize them at all costs, for it was hoped that with theirdeath the last root of the hated sect would be plucked out. Petroniusheard from Vestinius that Caesar himself had issued an order to putPeter and Paul in the Mamertine prison within three days, and that wholedetachments of pretorians had been sent to search every house in theTrans-Tiber.
When he heard this, Vinicius resolved to warn the Apostle. In theevening he and Ursus put on Gallic mantles and went to the house ofMiriam, where Peter was living. The house was at the very edge of theTrans-Tiber division of the city, at the foot of the Janiculum. On theroad they saw houses surrounded by soldiers, who were guided by certainunknown persons. This division of the city was alarmed, and in placescrowds of curious people had assembled. Here and there centurionsinterrogated prisoners touching Simon Peter and Paul of Tarsus.
Ursus and Vinicius were in advance of the soldiers, and went safely toMiriam's house, in which they found Peter surrounded by a handful of thefaithful. Timothy, Paul's assistant, and Linus were at the side of theApostle.
At news of the approaching danger, Nazarius led all by a hidden passageto the garden gate, and then to deserted stone quarries, a few hundredyards distant from the Janiculum Gate. Ursus had to carry Linus, whosebones, broken by torture, had not grown together yet. But once in thequarry, they felt safe; and by the light of a torch ignited by Nazariusthey began to consult, in a low voice, how to save the life of theApostle who was so dear to them.
"Lord," said Vinicius, "let Nazarius guide thee at daybreak to the AlbanHills. There I will find thee, and we will take thee to Antium, where aship is ready to take us to Naples and Sicily. Blessed will the day andthe hour be in which thou shalt enter my house, and thou wilt bless myhearth."
The others heard this with delight, and pressed the Apostle, saying,
"Hide thyself, sacred leader; remain not in Rome. Preserve the livingtruth, so that it perish not with us and thee. Hear us, who entreat theeas a father."
"Do this in Christ's name!" cried others, grasping at his robes.
"My children," answered Peter, "who knows the time when the Lord willmark the end of his life?"
But he did not say that he would not leave Rome, and he hesitated whatto do; for uncertainty, and even fear, had been creeping into his soulfor some time. His flock was scattered; the work was wrecked; thatchurch, which before the burning of the city had been flourishing like asplendid tree, was turned into dust by the power of the "Beast." Nothingremained save tears, nothing save memories of torture and death. Thesowing had yielded rich fruit, but Satan had trampled it into the earth.Legions of angels had not come to aid the perishing,--and Nero wasextending in glory over the earth, terrible, mightier than ever, thelord of all seas and all lands. More than once had that fisherman of theLord stretched his hands heavenward in loneliness and asked: "Lord, whatmust I do? How must I act? And how am I, a feeble old man, to fight withthis invincible power of Evil, which Thou hart permitted to rule, andhave victory?"
And he called out thus in the depth of his immense pain, repeating inspirit: "Those sheep which Thou didst command me to feed are no more,Thy church is no more; loneliness and mourning are in Thy capital; whatdost Thou command me to do now? Am I to stay here, or lead forth theremnant of the flock to glorify Thy name in secret somewhere beyond thesea?"
And he hesitated, He believed that the living truth would not perish,that it must conquer; but at moments he thought that the hour had notcome yet, that it would come only when the Lord should descend to theearth in the day of judgment in glory and power a hundred times greaterthan the might of Nero.
Frequently it seemed to him that if he left Rome, the faithful wouldfollow; that he would lead them then far away to the shady groves ofGalilee, to the quiet surface of the Lake of Tiberias, to shepherdsas peaceful as doves, or as sheep, who feed there among thyme andpepperwort. And an increasing desire for peac
e and rest, an increasingyearning for the lake and Galilee, seized the heart of the fisherman;tears came more frequently to the old man's eyes.
But at the moment when he made the choice, sudden alarm and fear came onhim. How was he to leave that city, in which so much martyrs' blood hadsunk into the earth, and where so many lips had given the true testimonyof the dying? Was he alone to yield? And what would he answer the Lordon hearing the words, "These have died for the faith, but thou didstflee"?
Nights and days passed for him in anxiety and suffering. Others, who hadbeen torn by lions, who had been fastened to crosses, who had been burntin the gardens of Caesar, had fallen asleep in the Lord after moments oftorture; but he could not sleep, and he felt greater tortures thanany of those invented by executioners for victims. Often was the dawnwhitening the roofs of houses while he was still crying from the depthof his mourning heart: "Lord, why didst Thou command me to come hitherand found Thy capital in the den of the 'Beast'?"
For thirty-three years after the death of his Master he knew no rest.Staff in hand, he had gone through the world and declared the "goodtidings." His strength had been exhausted in journeys and toil, tillat last, when in that city, which was the head of the world, he hadestablished the work of his Master, one bloody breath of wrath hadburned it, and he saw that there was need to take up the struggle anew.And what a struggle! On one side Caesar, the Senate, the people, thelegions holding the world with a circle of iron, countless cities,countless lands,--power such as the eye of man had not seen; on theother side he, so bent with age and toil that his trembling hand washardly able to carry his staff.
At times, therefore, he said to himself that it was not for him tomeasure with the Caesar of Rome,--that Christ alone could do that.
All these thoughts were passing through his care-filled head, when heheard the prayers of the last handful of the faithful. They, surroundinghim in an ever narrowing circle, repeated with voices of entreaty,--
"Hide thyself, Rabbi, and lead us away from the power of the 'Beast.'"
Finally Linus also bowed his tortured head before him.
"O lord," said he, "the Redeemer commanded thee to feed His sheep,but they are here no longer or to-morrow they will not be here; go,therefore, where thou mayst find them yet. The word of God is livingstill in Jerusalem, in Antioch, in Ephesus, and in other cities. Whatwilt thou do by remaining in Rome? If thou fall, thou wilt merely swellthe triumph of the 'Beast.' The Lord has not designated the limit ofJohn's life; Paul is a Roman citizen, they cannot condemn him withouttrial; but if the power of hell rise up against thee, O teacher, thosewhose hearts are dejected will ask, 'Who is above Nero?' Thou art therock on which the church of God is founded. Let us die, but permit notthe victory of Antichrist over the viceregent of God, and return nothither till the Lord has crushed him who shed innocent blood."
"Look at our tears!" repeated all who were present.
Tears flowed over Peter's face too. After a while he rose, and,stretching his hands over the kneeling figures, said,--
"May the name of the Lord be magnified, and may His will be done!"