CHAPTER XI.
The meal was ended; Cocceius Nerva had proposed the health of Corneliaas the heroine of the day. After offering a libation, according tothe ancient custom, he invoked the favor and mercy of the Immortalson the young girl; then he rose and left the triclinium. The wholecompany followed him, to listen to the sweet tones of soft music in thefresher air of the peristyle, and to walk up and down on the inlaidmarble floor, chatting in low tones. Bronze lamps shed their lightfrom between the Corinthian pillars, and the stars shone down from thecloudless skies; in the court itself a confidential twilight prevailed.
"Now, my sweet Claudia, tell me, how do you like Trajan?"[237]whispered Lucilia in her sister's ear as she stood meditatively by thefountain.
"I have only seen him to-day for the third time--how can I judge?"
"To me he is quite too delightful. What a pity that he is alreadymarried.--To be sure, even then he would be too old...."
"Do you think so?" said Claudia absently.
"Why, you seem to have forgotten that he was consul a long time ago."
"Was he?"
"Yes, of course, with Glabrio. How often your father has spoken of him."
"I do not happen to remember it."
"To be sure, we were still in the nursery, and stories of Cupid andPsyche[238] interested us more than the virtues of a statesman."
Claudia sighed: "Happy childhood!" she said sadly.
"Nerva even--old Nerva--thinks great things of him," Lucilia went on,without observing this diversion. "He calls him his son, and is alwaysready to listen to his counsels--and in fact it is well worth whileto listen to what Trajan has to say. You cannot think how cleverly,how wisely and judiciously he can talk. And at the same time he is sohonest, so simple, so unpretentious! No one would imagine from hisappearance, that he once was the commander-in-chief of all the forcesin Germany, with unlimited authority, and won a glorious victory."
"Where in the world did you acquire all this information as to hismerits?--Whenever I looked across at you, you were chatting with CaiusAfranius."
"Cneius, not Caius."
"I thought it was Caius. Considering it was your first meeting, yourconversation with this Afranius was somewhat eager."
"Oh! I had met him before--a week or more ago; do you not remember? Theday you had a headache. He is intimate with Cornelius. He has been inRome since the beginning of March, and is already beginning to play animportant part in the Forum."[239]
"Is he a jurist?" asked Claudia.
"A defender of the oppressed and accuser of the criminal!" answeredLucilia warmly. "He has even gained a cause, quite lately, againstClodianus, Caesar's adjutant. His eloquence and powerful argumentwon him the victory, in spite of all his adversary's art, and theimpression he made was so tremendous, that for the moment every oneforgot how dangerous it is to have Clodianus for an enemy. The wholeBasilica[240] shook with the applause."
"Did he himself tell you this?"
"Certainly not! I heard it from Ulpius Trajanus."
"And that no doubt is what makes you think Trajan so amiable?"
"Silly child! Do you suppose...? You know, my dear, that when folks arein love, they see the whole world from one point of view."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, I mean that you would say with Theognis[241] of Megara, thatamiable poet:
'Temper the pangs of love and assuage the torments, O Goddess, That gnaw my heart! Oh! restore my joy and contentment.'"
"You are incorrigible!" said Claudia.
But Lucilia, with a merry twinkle in her eye, laid her hand on hercompanion's shoulder, saying softly: "Ah! fluttering heart, it is vainto try concealment! Your Lucilia's experience and knowledge of mankindcan see through every disguise. 'Restore my joy, bring Aurelius to myside.' It is the wolf in the fable--he comes softly down on his preywith a tender, elegiac grace! Sigh again--with Sappho this time--:
'Woe is me! my tremulous heart beats faintly-- Thou art near! My faltering voice refuses utterance even!'"
And she glided off, while Claudia stood gazing fixedly at the sparklingwater in the basin. In her somewhat hasty retreat, Lucilia ran upagainst the broad back of Herodianus, who was clinging convulsively tothe back of a chair with both hands, and leaning over it gazed up, asif spellbound, in silent contemplation at the star-spangled sky.
"I beg your pardon, old sinner!"[242] said the girl saucily, as shepassed on; but a deep sigh from the freedman made her pause.
"What is the matter, oh! boon companion from the North? Are yousuffering from apoplexy? or do you wish to become a mathematician?[243]Why are you staring so dolefully up at the Pleiades?"
"Ah! sweet mistress--what is it the Greek sage says? 'All things flowaway!'[244] I too am flowing away. I do not know how I feel."
"The wine-cup could answer that perhaps," suggested Lucilia.
"No indeed--my feeble constitution to be sure--and that Caecubum wasexcellent. Perhaps it has flowed through all my limbs--but with allrespect be it said, I am used to that.--And a sense of propriety--butyou see, mistress, I cannot stir from the spot, and at the sametime--oh no! it is not the wine, for I feel full of lofty ideas; myhead is clear--uplifted, I might say, to Olympian heights--like Pelionpiled on Ossa. Oh fair lady! you who are kindness itself, allow me toask you one question...!"
"Speak, you shameless toper; but first sit down, for I foresee themoment when, if you do not, the chair will slide away on the polishedpavement and you will fall on the top of it."
"You are right, mistress--and it is all in my knees! my miserablelegs--you are very right, the pavement is slippery. Why are pavementsso polished, I wonder? Very well, then I will sit down. Excuse me if Iseem to have some difficulty in doing so.--The gods have doomed thefat to labor and sweat.--There, now I am seated."
"By Lyaeus,[245] but you are a scandal! Here, even here, in the houseof Cinna, where temperance reigns supreme...."
"Temperance is good--I knew that long ago, fair Lucilia.--But now,lend me your ear. Who--who--was that magnificent creature--thatsplendidly-developed woman who sat at the end, quite at the bottom ofthe table, not far from your worthy--your--what is her name--Baucis.She wore a brown dress--an elegant bracelet clasped her arm...."
"Who can you mean?" asked Lucilia, looking round her; Herodianus alsolooked about.
"There, there she is," he whispered rapturously: "She is talking toUlpius Trajanus. Ye gods! what a form! what grace and dignity!"
Lucilia made a desperate effort and swallowed her laughter.
"That?" she said, irresistibly tempted to carry on the jest: "Thatshort, stout woman by the pillar?"
"Just going into the hall."
"That is Chloe, who brought up our sweet friend Cornelia. She is anative of Antium, the daughter of a freedman, six and thirty years ofage, unmarried, and possessor of a little fortune--what more can heartdesire? In truth, Herodianus, I admire your distinguished taste: thatround face, that short fat throat, that wide mouth--wider even thanmine--are these not heaven-sent gifts from Cypris herself?"
"To me she is divine. Past the first bud of youth, mature in bodyand mind; Chloe stirs my soul to feelings, which till this hour Ihad never appreciated. Fifty years old--and even now unblest withthe joys of family life! Oh Chloe! Chloe! If only you had crossedmy path earlier!... I ... I might not have drunk so much Caecubumand Falernian! When Hymen opens his bosom to receive us, the rock ofoffence fades away.... Alas mistress, if the spring-tide of life couldbut blossom for me once more! If I could again rest my head on thebosom of a loving woman...! Trajectum, city of my heart, home of myyouth! I remember to this day how my mother--for the last time--cut myhair. It was up in the little corner room. How long, long ago! Oh! ifonly I were away, far away from here! What have I left to live for inthis world? A cup of wine! Oh! woe is me!"
And he began to cry copiously, but noiselessly.
Lucilia thought it advisable to leave the man's strange mood to run itscourse. "Is it
in earnest or a mere craze?" she thought, as she shookher head. Then she danced off to join Cornelia, who was sitting underthe arcade, listening with half indifferent attention to the mutteredcounsels of Baucis.
"What Pythian wisdom are you uttering now, O blue-robed Baucis?" askedLucilia, patting the slave-woman lightly on the shoulder.
"Wisdom that you would do well to profit by," retorted Baucis. "A newveil or an amusing book is, I know, dearer to you far than the mostsacred oracles."
"Indeed? Who told you that? Chatter away in all confidence!--on thecontrary--if what you told me the other day about Barbillus,[246] thepriest of Isis, is true...."
"I was just speaking of that very thing. Our noble Cornelia isastounded at the extraordinary miracle. Exactly at the very moment,that Barbillus had foretold, I fell in a swoon, as he had said, and sawthe mysterious vision. I saw the goddess floating above me in shiningwhite. O, ye immortals! I knew of course that it was not she herself,only her image in a dream; for how should Isis, the all powerful,condescend to come down to me, a humble slave, and to speak withme--and in Greek too! Still, I could almost have sworn that it was she,I saw her so plainly--the folds of her silvery robe, and her noble andgentle face, so lovely, oh, so lovely! as beautiful as you are, nobleCornelia. No, I maintain it; I will never apply to any other priestthan Barbillus, the favorite of the gods. He will reveal my wholefuture life to me--only think, noble Cornelia, for the ridiculouslysmall price of two hundred sesterces--but I did not happen to have somuch about me just then. Besides--what can I expect should happen to meat my time of life? My dear Quintus has his sweet Cornelia; our darlingClaudia sooner or later--well, well, I meant nothing--and you, brightLucilia--I cannot be anxious about you. You bear your own happinessin yourself. Well, so I said very humbly: 'Oh! my lord,' said I, 'nofuture lies before me. But I will tell the fair Cornelia, betrothed toour Quintus, that you are a true prophet--our Cornelia, who is so fullof melancholy fancies, and who prays so fervently and humbly to thebeneficent goddess.' Then Barbillus gave me this precious amulet.--Itis only made of horn, but the power that resides in it makes itprecious."
Cornelia had listened to her in silence, and her face was as pale asdeath.
"Listen," she began after a pause: "You are advanced in age and richin experience, and for many a year you have had to do with the chosenservants of the goddess. What do you advise me? Last night I had adream[247]--a mysterious dream. I was standing alone on a vast untilledplain; everything was deserted and silent. There was not a tree, not ashrub, not a herb--rotting bones and nothing else lay hideous on theground, but far away on the horizon shone the walls and towers of asplendid town."
"That is full of meaning," observed Baucis.
"Listen to the end. As I gazed at the distant and radiant city, Ifelt my heart swell with fervent and unspeakable longing. I struggledbreathlessly to get forwards, but my feet seemed rooted to the ground.I was seized with terror, and trembling with fear I looked upwards;there I saw Quintus, high above me, but coming across the waste likeHelios in the sun-chariot, and beckoning to me lovingly. I struggled, Igroaned, I screamed. In vain! I held up my hands and cried out with thefervor of anguish: 'Isis, mother of the universe! Isis, save me!'--Butthe goddess was deaf. At last, after a long agony, I heard Chloe'svoice; the good soul was standing by my bed. I awoke groaning...."
"A hideous dream," said Baucis.
"And when I question my heart, it seems to me that it bodes evil."
"Folly!" laughed Lucilia. "I have dreamed worse things than that ahundred times, and no great event has ever happened to me. What does itmean? Why, that you were lying uncomfortably, or had read something theday before...."
Cornelia rose gravely.
"My dearest, you are not cross with me?" cried Lucilia following her.
"Not at all," said Cornelia with a polite smile. "No, indeed, certainlynot," she added less coldly, as her eyes met Lucilia's affectionateglance. "Come, let us be moving. Such discourse ill-beseems a festival,and to-day is to be a festival, my birthday."
Meanwhile Caius Aurelius had found a pretext--in agreement with hispromise to Cinna--for taking Quintus Claudius into his host's study,and a minute later Cinna himself came in, accompanied by MarcusCocceius Nerva.
"At last!" cried Cinna when all were seated. "It has been sticking inmy throat like a mouthful of poison. Quintus, you too must hear what Ihave to say. The facts are perhaps known to you, for the house of TitusClaudius is intimately allied with the palace...."
"I know nothing, I can assure you," interrupted Quintus, somewhatcoldly.
"Well then, hear them now. I know you to be a young man of provedcourage and of excellent understanding.--Until now you have taken thedarkness for light and bitter for sweet, as not discerning them; yourfather's strong spirit has influenced you, and his errors of judgmenthave descended to you. But now, my friend, use your own judgment, andask yourself on your honor: Is Rome still Rome?"
"You really excite my curiosity," said the young man, with more reservethan ever.
Cornelius Cinna shut the doors; then he went on in a mysterious andtrembling voice:
"It was last night. Happily for you, Nerva, your ailing health hadtaken you into the country, and so saved you from the worst. I waslying in bed, but I could not sleep; I was tormented by a ceaselesswhirl of confused thoughts, and was on the point of calling toCharicles, that he might read to me. Suddenly I heard heavy blowson the house door.... 'Porter, wake up, make haste, a message fromCaesar!'"
Cocceius Nerva leaned forward eagerly in his chair; his breath camequicker and deeper as he listened. Cornelius Cinna went on.
"My bedroom door was opened, so I heard every word. I heard the porterrefuse admittance. 'Caesar requires your master's presence at thepalace,' said a voice outside. I sprang up and ordered him to open thedoor. I had hardly time to throw on my toga, when Caesar's messengerscame into the atrium--men at arms belonging to the praetorian guard.'Our god and master Domitian[248] requires you to attend immediately,'said the officer. 'Is the state in danger?' I asked angrily. Thesoldier shrugged his shoulders; 'I do not know,' he said; 'our ordersare to fetch you; no reasons were given. Do not delay, noble Cinna, thelitter is at the door.'"
"Unheard-of!--" murmured Nerva, passing his fingers through his greyhair.
"I wanted to refuse; my own chair and bearers were ready--'Thatwill not do,' said the soldier: 'You are to come alone, with nofollowers.' Cinna without followers! I considered a moment, butonly for a moment--then I had decided.--The situation was serious,I looked on the whole thing as a plot. 'Caesar,' said I to myself,'counts on your defying him, and hopes thus to find a pretext for yourdestruction--long since determined on. He will avail himself of that.He shrinks from dealing you an arbitrary blow for no reason at all, forhe knows that the Romans love you, and he dreads the public resentment.Hence, if you refuse to obey, you will supply him with an excuse...!'Well--I obeyed.... Cornelius Cinna obeyed! And after all it mightconcern the weal or woe of the state.--As a precaution, however, I hida phial of poison in my dress and then I told the men at arms that Iwas ready."
"You acted very wisely," said Cocceius Nerva.
"It was the wisdom of necessity. Now, listen to what seems incredible.When I reached the palace, I was received by slaves dressed all inblack; they led me into a hall hung with black, where I found all theleading men of the senate and of the knightly order assembled andwaiting in agonized expectation. They all, like me, had been abruptlyfetched from their beds and brought thither in litters sent by Caesar.Presently we were desired to sit down, and a black column was placedin front of each man, with his name engraved upon it. Two sepulchrallamps were then lighted and youths, dressed in black, performed asolemn dance, and a funeral banquet,[249] served on black dishes,closed the hideous farce. Caesar himself, calm and haughty, took thehead of the table. Every one seemed paralyzed; each one expected tomeet his death the next instant. Sextus, who sat by my side, wassobbing like a woman. I whispered to him to be calm--that the wh
olething was a mere brutal jest, but he was not to be convinced and brokeinto tears."
"He is but a coward--I know him well!" said Nerva.
"A stammering child! As for me, I really do not know myself, what gaveme a conviction from the very first, that we were in no danger. Caesarwould talk of nothing but things which referred to death and murderand yet, in spite of that, my confidence grew each moment. But I wasburning with rage, with revengeful fury, that I could scarcely controlor conceal."
"I wonder indeed that you could bear it," cried Nerva, drawing a deepbreath. "Knowing you as I do, it is nothing less than a miracle."
"A miracle indeed! But the Fates would not have it that CorneliusCinna should fall into so stupid a trap.--I mastered myself. At lastCaesar rose from the table and dismissed us, and the guard escorted ushome again.--I was choking with shame and wrath. What am I, my friendNerva, that I am to submit to such treatment? Am I a Roman or no? AmI Cornelius Cinna--or a slave, a dog? Was such base buffoonery everheard of even under a Nero, or Caligula? Nay, my endurance is at anend! Sooner would I be a street porter in the meanest suburb,[250] thanremain senator under the burden of this intolerable yoke!"
He sank back in his chair with a groan, and covered his face. There wasa long pause, which Quintus was the first to break.
"What!" he said with a scowl. "Did Caesar dare to do such things? Ihave long known, that he was liable to fits of extravagant whims andfancies, but--as I understood--only in his treatment of the foes of thethrone. I believed in the wisdom of my venerable and learned father,when he assured me that some injustice, both apparent and real, wasinevitable in the conduct of so vast an empire; that the good of thecommonwealth was paramount over the fate of individuals.--But now, bythe gods, Cinna! but if your indignation has not painted the picturetoo darkly...."
"Too darkly!" exclaimed Cinna starting up. "To be sure, you are the sonof Titus Claudius. But hear me to the end. Hardly had Charicles oncemore put out the lamp, when I again heard a knocking at the door. Wouldyou believe it? another message from Caesar. His gracious majesty thistime sent me the fellow who had led the dance in black as a present,and begged to know how I had liked the midnight supper. By the greatname of Brutus! A tipsy reveller never spurned a beggar with more uttercontempt;[251] in the first burst of anger I could have flung the boyon the ground. But I recollected myself. Cornelius Cinna will never letthe weapon atone for the arm that wields it...."
Nerva rose and clasped his excited and angry friend in his arms.
"Be calm," he said in a deep voice. Then, going up to Quintus he saidloftily:
"And you, noble youth, give me your right hand in pledge of silence!Not that Cornelius Cinna has said anything that need shun the light ofday--but you know the danger to which freedom of speech is exposed. Hisindignation and bitter feeling must remain a secret...."
"A secret? and why? To-morrow I propose seeing Caesar at his greatreception. I will hear from his own lips the meaning of this mysteriousmidnight banquet. I will insist on satisfaction for Cinna...."
"Madman, what are you thinking of?" cried Nerva horrified.
"Of my duty--rely on my discretion. Caesar owes something to me...."
"Domitian owes you something!" laughed Cinna scornfully. "Do you notknow, that he hates those most who have rendered him a service? Do notI know it by my own experience?"
"It is worth trying, at any rate," said Quintus. "But now allow me tobreathe the fresh air; I am suffocating in here." And as he spoke heunbarred the door and quitted the room.
"You must dissuade him!" said Nerva, as the door closed upon him.
"He is mad," said Cinna. Then, turning to Aurelius, he went on:"You, my friend, go now and mingle with the guests. Amuse yourself,refresh and rest yourself. You are young, and youth claims its dues.To-morrow--you know--at the house of Afranius...."
"Yes, I know," answered Aurelius, drawing a deep breath, "and I thankyou, noble friends, for honoring me by admitting me to your society andconfidence."
He went slowly out into the atrium, where the darkness was but dimlybroken by a few lamps hanging under the colonnade. A cold chill fellon his heart, for, from the peristyle, he heard a girl's voice singinga graceful melody to the chords of a cithara. It was the same air thathad charmed his heart before now, at Baiae--the Spring song of Ibycus;it was the same voice--the voice of his beautiful, adored and peerlessClaudia. These few weeks had wrought an entire change in him. He hadbeen unresistingly drawn into the vortex of two engulfing passions.On one hand was the noble girl whom he worshipped and perhaps mightnever win, on the other were the proud nobles--men inspired with themost fervid patriotism, who had taken him spellbound as by some sacredmagic; the champions of liberty, of manly dignity, of proud Romanvirtue, among a degenerate rabble of slaves. What a storm and whirl offeeling in the present, and what a struggle to be fought in the future!
He stood still to listen; a faint murmur coming up through the peacefulnight, was all that could be heard of the tumult of the busy city thatsurrounded them, and the sweet girlish voice rose clear and strong--aspure and holy as though in all the earth there was no such thing assorrow, as remorse and crime. The song, as it soared up fresh andstrong from the innocent soul, seemed to rise to heaven in atonementfor the infinite wickedness of the two million souls in the city, andfor the foul and bloody deeds of its tyrants. Aurelius quivered inevery nerve, and tears sprang to his eyes; but he instantly struck hisbreast resolutely and defiantly, and dashing his hand across his wetlashes, went through the corridor into the peristyle.
FOOTNOTES:
[237] M. ULPIUS TRAJANUS, born September 18th, A.D. 53, at Italica in Spain, obtained the consulship in the year 91.
[238] CUPID AND PSYCHE. The story of Cupid and Psyche was the primeval prototype of Cinderella and a thousand other gems of primitive poetry, and was familiar in nurseries of every rank long before Appuleius cast it into shape, availing himself no doubt of several traditional versions. "Once upon a time there were a king and queen, who had three beautiful daughters," (_Erant in quadam civitate rex et regina; hi tres numero filias forma conspicuas habuere_,) was no doubt as favorite a legend with the children of that age as with ours.
[239] IN THE FORUM, that is in the basilica situated in the forum.
[240] BASILICA, ([Greek: basilike] _scil. domus_ or _porticus_--royal house) a magnificent public building, used for holding courts of law, or transacting commercial business, and thus at the same time a court-house and exchange. Above were seats for the spectators. The basilicas consisted of a central nave and two side ones, divided from the former by columns. After Constantine the Great had transformed numerous basilicas into churches, the name and style of architecture became associated with the latter.
[241] THEOGNIS. An elegiac poet from Attic Megara, who lived B.C. 520. The lines here quoted by Lucilia may be found _Eleg._ 1323, and in the original text run:
[Greek: Kyprogene, pauson me ponon, skedason de merimnas Thymoborous, strephou d'hauthis es euphrosynas.]
[242] OLD SINNER! Lucilia here speaks in the tone of the old Latin comedies (_Plautus_, _Terence_).
[243] MATHEMATICIAN. The usual name of the (principally Chaldean) astrologers.
[244] ALL THINGS FLOW AWAY! ([Greek: panta rhei]) asserted the philosopher Heraclitus of Ephesus, (460 B.C.) called on account of his obscurity, "the dark."
[245] LYAEUS ([Greek: Lyaios]), the deliverer, the care-dispeller, a name given Bacchus.
[246] BARBILLUS. An astrologer of this name is mentioned. Dio Cass, LXVI, 9.
[247] LAST NIGHT I HAD A DREAM. Faith in the prophetic character of dreams was universal in Rome; their interpretation was a regular profession. A surprising example of the seriousness with which the representatives of this "profession" regarded their calling, is furnished in the dream-book of t
he (undoubtedly sincere) Artemidorus, (Daldianus.) If Lucilia laughs at Cornelia's fears, it is a piece of free-thinking which did not often happen, and springs rather from a merry, saucy mood, than the deeper source of a philosophical conviction.
[248] OUR GOD AND MASTER DOMITIAN. The emperor Domitian ordered himself to be called, "God and Master." Suet, _Dom._ 13.
[249] FUNERAL BANQUET. The story of the nocturnal summons to the senators and knights is related by Dio Cassius (LXVII, 9.)
[250] THE MEANEST SUBURB. Butuntum, a little city in Apulia, now Bitonto, is used by Martial (_Ep._ II, 48 and IV, 55) as a synonym for "quiet provincial town," as the inhabitants of Berlin say: "Treuenbrietzen" or "Perleberg."
[251] UTTER CONTEMPT. One of the principal amusements of gay young men was to play pranks in the streets at night, usually on the proletarii. A special favorite was the _Sagatio_, which consisted in putting some unfortunate wight in a cloak, and tossing him up and down like Sancho Panza.
Quintus Claudius: A Romance of Imperial Rome. Volume 1 Page 12
