"Quo vadis." A story of the time of Nero

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QUO VADIS.

By Henryk Sienkiewicz. ^

Chapter I

. It was well-nigh midday when Petronius awoke, exceedingly wearied, as usual. He said himself that he felt benumbed in the morning, and had no power to collect his thoughts. But the morning bath and a careful kneading of the body done by the hands of skilful slaves gradually hastened the sluggish course of his blood, refreshed him, enlivened him, and restored his strength.

From the olaotekia, the last division of the bath, he came out invigorated, with eyes radiant with wit and joyousness, rejuvinated, blooming, and so unapproachable that Otho himself could not compare with him, and really worthy of his title of “ arbiter elegantiarum.”

The public baths he visited seldom, and only on such occasions when some public speaker happened to arrive who awakened admiration, and who was beginning to be talked of in the city, or when there were in the circus combats of exceptional interest.

He owned, on his own “ insula,” his private baths, which Severus Zeller had extended, re-built, and equipped witli such uncommon taste that Nero himself acknowledged their excellence over the baths of Caesar, although those *of the emperor were more extensive, and surrounded with incomparably greater luxury.

After last night’s feast, at which Petronius, getting tired of the jests of Vatinius with Nero, Lucan, and Seneca, took part in a discussion as to whether woman possesses a soul, — he, as we have said, awoke late as usual and took a bath. Two strong slaves laid him on a table of Cyprus wood cov-

QUO VADIS.

ered with snow-white Egj^ptian byssus, and, with tho' palms dipped in odorous oils, commenced to rub his wy shapen body. He, with closed eyes, waited till the heat^* . the laconicum, and the heat of their hands passed through his body, and expelled his numbness. After some time he began to speak, and, opening his eyes, inquired about the weather, and about the precious stones which the jeweler Idomeneus promised to send him for examination. It turned out that the weather, with soft breezes from the Alban hills, was beautiful, and that the gems had not been sent. Petronius, closing his eyes again, commanded to be carried to the tepidarium ; but at the same time, from behind a curtain, a nomenclator thrust in his head, and announced that young Marcus Yinicius, who had lately returned from Asia Minor, had come to visit him.

Petronius ordered to admit the guest to the tepidarium, whither he was carried himself. Yinicius was the son of his eldest sister, who, many years ago, had been married to Marcus Yinicius, who served as consul in the time of Tiberius. The young Yinicius was fighting then with the Parthians, under the reign of Corbulus ; and, after the termination of the war, returned to Rome. Petronius had for him a certain weakness, almost an affection, because Marcus was beautiful, a youth of athletic build, and, besides this, had the strength not to exceed a certain aesthetic measure in his profligacy, which virtue Petronius prized higher than anything.

“ Be greeted, Petronius I ” said the young man, entering the tepidarium with firm steps, “ may all the gods be kind unto thee, and especially Asklepios and Kypris, so that, under their double protection, nothing foolish happen with thee.”

“ Be welcome to Rome, and sweet be peace unto thee after war,” replied Petronius, extending his hand from between the folds of soft karbas stuff in which he was wrapped. “What is to be heard in Armenia? and didst thou not, on passing Asia, stumble into Bythinia ? ”

Petronius had once been pro-consul in Bythinia, and, what is more, he had governed with vigor and justice. This appeared a strange contradiction in the character of a man given to effeminacy and love of luxury ; he Was, therefore, fond of mentioning those times, as they were a proof of what he had been, and of what he might have become had he wished it.

QUO VADIS.

“ I happened to visit Heraklea,” replied Yinicius, Corbulus sent me thither for reinforcements.”

“ Ah, Heraklea 1 I knew there a girl from Colchis ; I would have given for her all the divorced women of this city, Poppsea included. But that was long since. Tell me rather what is to be heard from the Parthian boundaiy. To tell the truth, I am weary of all those Yologezes, Tiridates, and Tigranes, — of all those barbarians who, as young Arulenus maintains, still crawl on all fours at home, and only assume our human habits when they are among us. But at Rome they are now being much talked of, — maybe chiefly because it is not very safe to speak of anything else.”

“ That war is not successful, and, if it were not for Corbulo, might have terminated in a defeat.”

“ Corbulo 1 by Bacchus, he is a real little war-god, a real Mars, a great commander, and, at the same time, quicktempered, upright, and dull. I love him, — be it only because Nero is afraid of him.”

“ Corbulo is no fool.”

“ Perhaps thou art right, but with regard to this it is all one. Dullness, as Pyrrho says, is by no means worse than wisdom, and differs from it essentially in nothing.”

Yinicius commenced to relate about the war, but Petronius, having closed his eyes again, the young man looked at his tired and haggard face, changed the topic, and, with a certain interest, inquired about his health.

Petronius opened his eyes anew. How his health was ? — nothing. He did not feel very well ; but he did not impair his health as much as young Sissena, who had lost his senses to such a degree that when he was brought to the bath in the morning he inquired : “ Am I sitting? ” No,

he does not Teel well. Yinicius had just commanded him to the care of Asklepios and Kypris ; but he, Petronius, does not believe in Asklepios, — it is not even known 'whose son that Asklepios was, the son of Arsinoe or Koronis ; and if the mother was doubtful, what was to be said of his father ? — who could say, in that time, that one’s father was really his father ?

Here Petronius commenced to laugh, and, after a while, added :

“ Two years ago, it is true, I had sent to Epidaurus three dozens of live, well-fed chickens, and a golden gimlet ; but do you know why ? I said to myself whether it will help quo VADIS.

or not, it will certainly do no harm. As people are still sending gifts to the gods, so I think that all judge as I do, — with the exception, perhaps, of mule drivers hired at the Porta Rica Capena by travelers. What concerns Asklepios, I had to do with some of the Asklepioses, when, a year ago, I had some trouble with my kidneys. They performed an incubation for me. I knew that they were tricksters, but said to myself: ‘ What harm could it do me ? ’ All the world is based on swindling, and life itself is but a self-deceit ; the soul is also but a fancy. It is only necessary to have sense enough to distinguish between agreeable things and disagreeable ones. I prefer to have my heating-apparatus made with cedar wood scattered o’er with ambergris, because I prefer good smells to bad ones. What concerns Kypris, of whose protection you have so assured me, I am so acquainted with her protection that I have a sore finger in my right foot. As for the rest, she is a kind goddess I I foresee that thou, too, wilt, sooner or later, carry white doves to her altar.”

“ Thou art right,” said Yinicius, “ I have been shot at with the arrows of the Parthians, but those of Amor struck me, all unexpectedly, a few stadia from the city -gate.”

“ By the knees of the Graces 1 thou wilt, tell me about this at some leisure hour,” said Petronius.

“ I have come to thee with the express intention of asking thine advice,” replied Yinicius.

The epilators, who then came in and busied themselves about Petronius, interrupted him. He threw aside his tunic and, at the request of Petronius, entered a bath of lukewarm water.

“ Ah, I even don’t ask whether thou dost derive any advantage from the reciprocity of thy feeling,” said Petronius, looking at the youthful body of Yinicius which was as if cut out of marble. “ Had Lysippos seen thee, he would employ thee as a model for a statue of Hercules in youthful strength, to embellish the gate leading to the Palatine.”

The young man .smiled contentedly, and commenced to sink in the bath, splashing warm w'ater in abundance on the mosaic representing Hera at the moment when she is imploring sleep to lull Zeus to rest. Petronius all the while looked at Yinicius with the pleased eye of an artist.

When Yinicius came out from the bath, and yielded himself in turn to the epilators, a lector entered, wearing on his breast a bronze tube containing rolls of papyrus.

QUO VADIS.

“ Dost wish to listen ? ” asked Petronius.

“ If it is thy composition, with pleasure,” replied Yinicius, “ if this is not the case, I prefer to talk. Poets seize people nowadaj'^s at eveTy street corner.”

“ That is true. One cannot pass a basilica, a bath, or a library, or a book-shop without stumbling on a poet gesticulating wildly like an ape. Agrippa, in coming here from the East, thought them possessed. Such are our times. Caesar writes verses ; hence all follow in his path. It is only forbidden to write better verses than Caesar ; for that reason I have some fear about Lucan. But I write prose, with which, however, I neither treat myself nor others. The lector should read codicilli of that unfortunate Pabricius Veiento.”

“ Why unfortunate ? ”

“ Because he has been told to stay in the fields of Odyssey and not return to his domestic hearth before he receives a new command. That Odyssey, though, will be in one respect not so hard for him as for Ulysses, for his wife by no means resembles Penelope. I think it unnecessary to tell thee that he acted foolishly ; but here all judge of matters superficially. Fabricius wrote a bad' enough and tiresome book, which people commenced to read eagerly only when the author is exiled. Now one only hears on every side : ‘ Scandal 1 scandal 1 It may be that Fabricius has added something.’ But I, who know the city well, our patres and women, assure thee that it is all more pallid than reality. This does not prevent every man from searching about in the book, — for himself with alarm, for acquaintances, with delight. At the book-store of Avirnns, a hundred copyists are transcribing the book at dictation, and its success is assured.”

“ Did not thine affairs slip into it ? ”

“ They have ; but the author is mistaken, because I am at once worse and less flat than he depicts me. Seest thou, we here have long since lost the ability to distinguish between what is pleasing or displeasing, and to me it seems, in good sooth, that such a difference does not exist, although Seneca, Mausonius, and Trasca pretend that they see it. To me it is all the same. By Hercules, I speak from the heart.

I have preserved that loftiness which does not mix up the ugly with the beautiful, — but, for example, our poet Bronzebeard, the charioteer, the singer, the actor, does not under stand this.”

io QUO VADTS.

“ I am sorry, however, for Fabriciiis ; he is a good companion.’^

“ He was ruined by vanity. All suspected him ; no one knew, certainly ; nor could he keep silence, and told the secret all over in confidence. Hast heard his story of Rufinus?”

— “ Then come to the frigidarium ; we shall cool ourselves there, and I will tell it to thee.”

They went over to the frigidarium, in the middle of which stood a fountain emitting a bright, rose-colored, violetscented stream. Seated in niches covered with thin velvet, they cooled themselves. Silence reigned for some time. Vinicius looked thoughtfully at a bronze fawn which, bending over the arms of a nymph, was seeking her lips eagerly with his lips.

“ He is right ; that is better than anything life affords.”

“Yes, more or less. But thou, besides this, dost love war to which I am not inclined, because in tents one’s finger-nails crack and lose their rose color. But every one has his weakness. The Bronzebeard loves song, especially his own ; and old Scaurus his Corinthian vase, which he places at night by his bed, and which he kisses if he cannot fall asleep. He has already rubbed off the edge of that vase with his lips. Tell me, dost thou write no verses ? ”

“ No; I never can compose a single hexameter.”

“ And dost thou not play on the lute, or sing ? ”

“ And dost not drive a chariot ? ”

“ I attempted it once at Antioch, but without success.”

“ Then I am at peace concerning thee. And to what party dost thou belong in the circus ? ”

“ To the Greens.”

“ Now I am perfectly at peace concerning thee, — the more so, because thou hast great possessions, though not such great ones as Seneca or Lucan. For, seest thou, with us it is good now for one to write A’^erses, to sing to a lute, to recite, and to fight in the circus ; but better it is, and especially less dangerous, not to write verses, not to play, not to sing, and not to fight in the circus. Best of all it is to know how to become enthusiastic when all this is done by Bronzebeard. Thou art a good-looking young man and, consequently, it may happen that Poppaia should fall in love with thee. But she is in this respect somewhat danger-

QUO VADIS.

ous. She had enough of love with her first two husbands, and for the third one she has quite different views. Dost thou know that that silly Otho still loves her to madness? He wanders about on the cliffs of Spain, and sighs ; but he has lost his former habits to such a degree, and has so much ceased to care for his own person that, to dress his hair daily, three hours suffice him. AVho could expect this, and especially from Otho ? ”

“ I understand him,” replied Yinicius, “ but in his place I would have done something else.”

“ What, namely ? ”

“I should have selected faithful legions of mountaineers from that country. Good soldiers spring from that country.”

“ Yinicius, Yinicius I I am almost ready to tell that thou wonldst prove incapable of doing it, and dost thou know why ? Because such things are done, and not mentioned, be it but conditionally. What concerns me, I should have laughed in his place at Poppaea, laughed at Bronzebeard, and formed legions for myself, not of Iberian men, but Iberian women. And, moreover, I would write epigrams, and would not show them to any one, — not like that poor Rufinus.”

“ Hast wished to tell me his history.”

“ I shall do it in the unctorium.”

But in the unctorium the attention of Yinicius was arrested by beautiful female slaves, who were waiting for the bathers. Two of them, Africans, resembling noble statues of ebony, commenced to anoint their bodies with delicate Arabian perfumes; others, skilled hairdressers from Phrygia, held in their hands, which were soft and smooth like snakes, polished steel mirrors and combs ; and two Grecian girls from Cos, who were beautiful as deities, waited, as Yestiplicas, till the moment should come to put statuesque folds in the togas of the Patricians.

“ Cloud-scattering Zeus, what a choice thou hast I ” exclaimed Yinicius.

“ I prefer quality to quantity,” replied Petronius ; “ all my ‘family ’* at Rome does not exceed four hundred, and I think that for personal attendance, only upstarts need surround themselves with a greater number of slaves.”

“More beautiful bodies even Bronzebeard does not possess,” said Yinicius, distending his nostrils.

* Household servants.

QUO VADIS.

Petronius replied with a certain friendly indifference : “ Thou art my relative ; and I am neither such a misanthrope as Barsus, nor such a pedant as A ulus Plautius.

But Vinicius, hearing the name of the latter, forgot the girls from Cos, and, raising his head, asked :

“ Why art thou reminded of Aulus Plautius ? Dost thou know, then, that after I had disjointed my arm outside the city, I spent more than two weeks in his house ? Plautius happened to come up at the moment when the accident happened and, seeing me afflicted with intense pain, took me to his house, where a slave of his, the physician Merion, cured me. 1 wished to speak to thee especially about this very matter.”

“ What is the matter? Hast thou, perhaps, already fallen in love with Pomponia ? In that case, I am sorry for thee ; she is not young, and still virtuous. I cannot imagine a worse combination. Brr I ”

“ I have not fallen in love with Pomponia — eheu,” answered Vinicius.

“ With whom then ? ”

“I should like to know it myself; but I do not even know her exact name : Lygia or Callina ? At home she is called Lygia, because she comes^rom the Lygian nation ; but she has her own barbarian name : Callina ! What a strange house is that of Plautius ! There are man}’^ people in it, but it is nevertheless quiet there as in the groves of Subiacum. During two weeks I did not even suspect that a deity was living qmar me. But once, about daybreak, I beheld her bathing in the garden-fountain, and I swear by the foam from which Aphrodite arose, that the rays of the dawn transfixed her body. It seemed to me that, as the sun rose, she would dissolve in his beams, as the twilight of the morning does. Since then I saw her twice, and since then I cannot rest ; I know not what other desires are, I have no wish to know what Rome can give me ; I want neither women, nor gold, nor Corinthian bronze, nor amber, nor pearls, nor wine, nor feasts, — I want only Lygia 1 — whole days and nights I am yearning for her.”

“ If she is a slave, buy her.”

“ She is not a slave.”

“ What is she, then ? A.freed woman of Plautius’ ? ”

‘‘ She has never been a slave, and cannot, therefore, be a freed woman.”

“ Who is she, then ? ”

“ I don’t know ; a king’s daughter, or something of that sort.”

“ Thou dost awaken my curiosity, Yinicius.”

“ If thou wilt listen to me, I shall straight satisfy thy curiosity. It will not take long to tell the tale. Thou hast perhaps personally known Yannius,king of the Suevi,who, driven out of his own country, lived many years at Rome, and even became famous through his skill at dice-playing, and his good driving. Drusus placed him on the throne once more, and Yannius, who was really a strong, active man, ruled well in the beginning, and made war with success. But afterward, however, he began to rob, not only his own neighbors, but also his own Suevi. Thereupon, Yangio and Sido, two sisters’ sons of his, and the sons of Yibilius, king of the Hermunduri, resolved to compel him to go to Rome once .more to try his fortune with dice.”

“ I remember, that was not long ago, in the time of Claudius.”

“ Yes. War broke out. Yannius called to his assistance the Yagyzi; and his dear nephews resorted to the Lygians, who, hearing of the riches of Yannius, and lured by the hope of spoil, gathered in such numbers that Caesar himself, Claudius, began to entertain fears about the safety of the boundary. Claudius, not wishing to interfere in a war with the barbarians, wrote to Atelius Hister, who commanded the legions of the Danube, to look with a watchful eye on the course of the war, and not to allow them to disturb our peace. Then Hister demanded of the Lygians they should bind themselves not to cross the boundary ; and they not only agreed to this, but gave hostages, among whom were the wife and daughter of their leader. Thou knowest that barbarians take along their wives and daughters to war with them. Thus my Lygia is the daughter of that leader.”

“ Whence didst thou learn all this ? ”

“ Aulus Plautius told it to me himself. The Lygians did not cross the boundary then ; but barbarians come and vanish like a tempest. So did the Lygians disappear with their wild ox-horns on their heads. They killed Yannius’ Suevi and Yagj^zi ; but their own king fell. After this, they disappeared with their spoils, leaving their hostages in Hister’s hands. The mother died soon afterward, and Hister, not knowing what to do with the daughter, sent her to Pomponias, the governor of all Germany. The latter, at the termination of the war with the Catti, returned to Rome,— rwhere Claudius, as is known to thee, gave him permission to hold a triumph. The maiden walked on that day after the car of the victor, but after the solemnity, — since Pomponias did not know what to do with her definitely, and since hostages cannot be considered captives, — he gave her away at last to his sister Pomponia Grsecina, the wife of Plautius. In that house where all,— commencing with the masters and ending with the poultry in the chicken-yard, — are virtuous, that girl, alas ! grew up as virtuous as Pomponia herself, and so beautiful that even Poppsea herself would look in her presence like an autumn fig near an apple of the Hesperides.”

“ Well then ? ”

“ And I repeat to thee that from the moment when I saw the sun-rays passing through her body, I fell in love with her to distraction.”

“ She is as transparent as a lamprey-eel, then, or a j^oung sardine ? ”

“ Jest not, Petronius ; and if the frankness with which I speak of my passions awakens in thee some doubt, remember that glittering raiment often conceal deep wounds. I must also tell thee that, on returning from Asia, I passed one night at the temple of Mopsa to have a revelation ; and Mopsa himself appeared to me in a dream, predicting that love would bring about a great change in my life.”

“ I heard that Pliny does not believe in gods ; but he believes in dreams, and, perhaps, he is right. My jests do not prevent me from thinking sometimes that there is, in reality, only one deity, — eternal, almighty, creative, — Yeniis Genitrix. She ties souls together, and unites bodies and things. Eros called forth light from chaos. Whether he did well or not, is a dijSerent question ; but since it is so, we must recognize his might, though we have the freedom not to bless it.”

“ Ah, Petronius, it is easier to philosophize than to give a good advice.”

“ Tell me, what dost thou wish especially ? ”

“ I want to possess Lygia. I wish that these hands of mine which now embrace only air might lock her in mine embrace, and press her to my bosom. I want to inhale her breath. If she were a slave, I would give Aulus for her a hundred slaves, with feet whitened with lime, as a sign that they were exhibited for sale for the first time. I want to

QUO VADIS.

haVe her in my house till the time when my head shall be as white as the peaks of Socrate in winter.”

“ Although she is not a slave, she still belongs to the ‘ familia ’ of Plautius, and as a child deserted by her relatives, she may be considered an ‘ alumna.’ Plautius, if he wished, might yield her to thee.”

“ I see that thou knowest not Pomponia Graecina. They at last became attached to her as if she were their own child.”

“ I know Pomponia, — a real cypress. If she were not the wife of Plautius, she might be engaged as a mourner. Since the time when Julius died, she has not thrown aside black robes, and looks as if she were walking among the dead. Therefore she is a ‘ one-man-wife,’— that is a phoenix among our women who have been divorced four or five times. By the way, hast thou heard that a real phoenix has been hatched out in Upper Egypt? Such an event happens only once in four or five centuries.”

“ Petronius, Petronius, we shall talk about the phoenix some other time.”

“ Listen to what I will tell thee, my dear Marcus, I am acquainted with Aulus Plautius who, though he finds fault with my mode of living, has for me some weakness, and, maybe, even respects me more than others ; for he knows that I have never been an informer, like Domitius Afer, for instance, or Tigellinus, and a whole rabble of Ahenobarbus’s intimates. Without having any pretensions to stoicism, I have, nevertheless, been offended more than once at such acts of Nero, at which Seneca and Burrus looked at through their fingers. If thou art of the opinion that I might do something for thee with Aulus, I am at thy command.”

“ I think thou canst. Thou hast influence and, besides, thy mind has inexhaustible resources. If thou couldst look deep into the matter and speak with Plautius ” —

“ Thou dost overestimate both mine influence and wit ; but if that is the only question, I will talk to Plautius soon as they return to Rome.”

“ They had returned two days ago.”

“ In that case let us go to the triclinium where a meal is ready for us, and after we have refreshed ourselves we shall give command to carry us to Plautius.”

‘I Thou hast ever been dear to me,” exclaimed Yinicius, with vivacity, “ and now it only remains for me to place thy statue among my lares, — just such a beautiful one as this, — and place offerings before it.”

Saying ^this, he turned to the statues decorating one entire wall of the perfumed chamber, and pointed to a statue representing Petronius as Hermes with a staff in his hand. Then he added :

“ By the light of Helios, if the ‘ godlike ’ Alexander resembled thee, I do not wonder at Helen.” And in that exclamation there was as much flattery as vanity ; for Petronius, though older and not of such athletic built, had even a more beautiful appearance than Yinicius. The women of Rome not only admired his pliant mind and his taste, for which he was honored with the title “ Arbiter elegantise,” but also his body. This admiration was even visible on the faces of the two girls from Cos who were arranging the folds of his toga; and one of whom, whose name was Eunice, loved him in secret, and looked in his eyes with submission and rapture. But he, not paying any attention to her, smiled at Yinicius, and quoted in answer an expression of Seneca concerning women : “ Animal imprudens, etc.,” and then, placing his hand on thb shoulder of the young man, conducted him to the triclinium.

In the unctorium, the two Grecian maidens from Phrygia, and the two Ethiopians, began to collect the vessels containing the perfumes. But at that very moment, from beyond the curtain of the frigidarium, appeared the heads of the balneators, and a low “ Pst 1 ” was heard. At this call one of the Grecian girls, and the two Ethiopians quickly disappeared behind the curtain.

In the baths began a moment of license and merry-making, for which the inspector did not censure the slaves, as he himself had frequently taken part in similar orgies. Petronius suspected that they took place but, as a prudent man and one who did not like to dominate like a tyrant, looked at it through his fingers. In the unctorium only Eunice remained. For some time she listened to the voices and laughter which retreated in the direction of the laconicum, and then she took the stool inlaid with amber and ivory, on which Petronius had been sitting, and placed it carefully before his statue. The unctorium was filled with sunlight, and the reflection from the many-colored marbles with which the walls were faced. Eunice stood on the stool and, finding herself at the level of the statue, cast her arms suddenly around its neck. Then, throwing back her

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gc^lden hair and pressing ber roseate body against the white marble, commenced, with ecstasy, to cover the cold lips of PeU’onius with kisses.

CHAPTER 11.

After the “ morning meal,” as Petronius called it, although the two friends sat down to it at an hour when the common mortals had long since risen from dinner, Petronius proposed a light nap. According to his opinion, it was somewhat too early to pay visits. There are, of course, people who begin to visit friends at sunrise, thinking that habit an old Roman one ; but the most convenient time for paying visits is in the afternoon, — not before, though, the sun passes to the side of Jove’s temple on the Capitol, and begins to throw slanting rays on the Forum. In autumn it is still hot, and people are glad to sleep after eating. At that time it is pleasant to hear the noise of the fountain in the atrium, and, after the obligatory thousand steps, to doze in the red light which filters in through the purple, half-drawn velarium.