Part 5 (1/2)
IV THE GOVERNORS OF ROME AND ANTIOCH
Daas sparkling on the ht crept into the passes and the sun already bathed the copper roofs of Antioch in gleaish, muddy stream with caainst the city gate and spread itself to await inspection by the tax-gatherers, the governor's representatives and the police There was a tedious procedure of exaossipers, the lers, and the men to whom the latest news led with the new-comers from Asia, Bythinia, Pontus, Pisidia, Galatia and Cappadocia
The caravan guards piled their spears and breakfasted apart, their duty done They had the air of men to whom the constantly repeated e of aand devoid of all romance Tounded One, with a dent in the helainst a rock; refused food, and slowly bled to death, his white face almost comically disappointed
A military tribune, followed by a slave with tablets, and by a nity, rode out frouards' decurion, a half-breed Dacian-Italian, black-bearded and taciturn, who dictated it to the slave in curt, staccato sentences, grudging the very gesture that he lanced at the report, signed it, turned his horse and rode into the city, disregarding the decurion's salute, his ainst the limestone and above the predominant brown of the camels and coats of their owners He cantered his horse when he passed through the gate, and there went up a claroup loosed tongues in co bad, the news spread swiftly The quadruple lines of coluhfare was called, began to look like pier-piles in a flowing tide of men Yellow, blue, red, striped and parti-colored costumes, restless as the flotsam on a mill-race, swirled into patterns, and broke, and reblended The long portico of Caesar's baths resounded to the hollow hu lines of slaves in the midst of the street were delayed by the crowd, and abused for obstructing it Gossip went up like the voice of the sea to the cliffs and startled clouds of spray-white pigeons, faintly edged with pink against an azure sky; then ceased as suddenly The neas known Whatever Antioch knew, bored it Nine days' wonders were departed long ago into the limbo of the days of Xerxes Nine hours had come to be the limit of men's interest-ninewhich the balance of erew quiet, conscious of the sunny weather and the springtime lassitude that is a luxury to s went forth to clear the watercourses in advance of floods, whips cracking to inspire zeal Wagon-loads of flowers, lowing oats-even a white horse, a white ass-oil and wine in painted cards, whose solid wooden wheels screaony-threaded the streets to the teet convenience and send the floods too soon
The Forued marble, tinted statuary, a mosaic pavean to overfloith leisuredThe s of coin, with scales and shovel and the tables of exchange The chaffering began in corn-shops, where the lawless agreeed hands ten times in the hour, and bills on Rome, scrawled over with endorsements, outsped currency as well as outwitted the revenue men No tax-farible wealth when the bills for a yptian game Men richer than the fabled Croesus carried all their wealth in leather wallets in the fors of slaves, certificates of ownershi+p of cargoes, promises to pay and contracts for delivery of merchandise
Nine-tenths of all the clamor was the voice of slaves, each one of them an expert in his master's business and often richer than the owners of the s which slaves were soed to accumulate-to buy his freedom when a ood mood
The hall of the basilica was almost as much a place of fashi+on as the baths of Julius Caesar, except that there were some admitted into the basilica whose presence, later in the day, within the precincts of the baths would have led to a riot Whoever had wealth and could afford to ht enter the basilica and lounge a with contracts and the news of changing prices There, on marble benches, spread with colored cushi+ons, at the rear under the balcony, the richer hts-Jews, Alexandrians, Athenians-a Roman here and there, cupidity more frankly written on his face, his eyes a little harder and less subtle, esture and less patient with delays
”That is a tale which is all very well for the slaves to believe, and for the priests, if they wish, to repeat As for me, I was born in Tarsus, where noexcept a bill of sale”
”But I tell you, Maternus was scourged, and then crucified at the place of execution nearest to where he committed his last crime That is, where the crossroad leads to Daphne There is no doubt about that whatever He was nearly four days dying, and the sentries stood guard over him until he ceased to breathe, a little after sunset yesterday evening So they say, at all events A little before ht, in Daphne, near one of those booths where the caterers prepare hot meals, a man strode up to where some slaves were seated around a fire He burned a piece of parchht and build; that he strode like a rass stains on his knees, and covered his face with a toga They also swear he said he was Maternus, and that he was gone before they could recover their wits They say his voice was sepulchral One of the slaves, who can read, declares that the words on the parchment he burned were ”Maternus Latro,” and that it was the identical parch from Maternus' neck on the cross They tortured that slave at once, of course, to get the truth out of him, and on the rack he contradicted himself at least a dozen tio, because his owner said he was a valuable cook; but the fact remains that the story hasn't been disproved
”And there is absolutely no doubt whatever about this: The caravan fro traveled the last stage by night, as usual, in order to arrive early and get the formalities over with They came past the place of execution before sunrise They had heard the news of the execution from the north-bound caravan that passed them in the mountains They had all been afraid of Maternus because he had robbed so many wayfarers, so naturally they were interested to see his dead body It was gone!”
”What of it? Probably the women took it down for burial Robbers always have a troupe of women Maternus never had to steal one, so they say They flocked to him like Bacchanalians”
”No matter Now listen to this: between the time when they learned of Maternus' execution and their passing the place of execution that is to say at the narrowest part of the pass, where it curves and begins to descend on this side of the mountain-they were attacked by robbers who made use of Maternus' war-cry The robbers were beaten off, although they wounded two ot aith half-a-dozen horses and a slave-girl”
”That -PardonWhat is it, Stilchio? Are you mad? You have contracted to deliver fifty bales at yesterday's price? You want to ruin ood h, and the price is falling But as I was saying, your story is si of coincidences All the robbers use Maternus' war-cry, because of the terror his name inspires; they probably had not heard he had been crucified”
”Well, that hat the caravan folk thought, until they passed the place of execution and saw no body there”
”The robbers possibly thee Maternus”
”Much more likely somebody was bribed to let hied, for that was done in Antioch; but they did not scourge hiht die on the way to the place of execution There is no doubt he was crucified, but he was only tied, not nailed It would have been perfectly siht-soive the substitute poppy juice to keep hi out to passers-by”
”Substitution has often been done, of course But it takes a lot of uard They are under the authority of a centurion, ould have to look out for informers And besides, you can't persuade ed, and crucified, if only for one day, could walk into Daphne two or three nights afterward and carry on a conversation Why should he visit Daphne? Why should he choose that place, of all places in the world, anddestroyed it, why did he then tell the slaves who he was? It sounds like a tale out of Egypt to -”
”Tchutt-tchutt! Priests say anything” ”Nevertheless, the priests are saying that Maternus, after he was captured,thely intervened in his behalf And they say he undoubtedly went to Daphne to return thanks at the teo to the baths You need to sweat the superstition out of you! Better leave here we are going, so that our factors will knohere to find us in case any important business turns up”
In the palace, in the office of the governor, where the lapping of water and irises could be heard through the opened s, Pertinax sat facing the governor of Antioch across a table heaped with parchment rolls A dozen secretaries labored in the next room, but the door betas closed; the only witnesses were leisurely, majestic swans, seen down a vista of well pruned shrubbery that flanked the narron An awning criovernor's face and suggesting color on his pale cheeks
He was a fatbald-an alh older Pertinax His se, fat hands and cold, dark calculating eyes
”I would feel more satisfied,” he said, ”if I could have Norbanus' evidence”
”Find him then!” Pertinax answered irritably ”What is the matter with your police? In Roht before overnor, ”as you would very soon discover if you occupied my office I sent a lictor and a dozenand has not been seen, although it is known, and you adht at Daphne He has no property worthHis house is under lien to money-lenders He is well known to have been sextus' friend, and thesextus I added to it the na, on the principle that treason keeps bad coiance to the ees estion of its presence in our rained, obstinate, quick-witted, proud young man-a lot too critical I a soainst the sacred person of our eestion of it makes me shudder! There is, of course, no doubt about sextus; the emperor's own proscription brands him as a miscreant unfit to live, and he was lucky to have died by accident instead of being torn apart by tongs It seeuilt and took care to escape before he could be seized and brought to justice What is in doubt, most noble Pertinax, is how you can excuse yourself to our sacred e let sextus escape from your clutches, after you had seen that letter! How can you excuse yourself for not pouncing the letter, to be used as evidence against rascally freedmen who forewarned the miscreant sextus about the e that Norbanus was undoubtedly in league with hiet away is soine”