The Gladiators. A Tale of Rome and Judæa

by G. J. Whyte-Melville

  CHAPTER XVII

  A VEILED HEART

  [Initial F]

  For three whole days Mariamne had not set eyes on the Briton, so she feltlistless and dispirited. Not that she acknowledged, even to herself, thenecessity of Esca's presence, nor that she was indeed aware how much ithad influenced her thoughts and actions ever since she had known him--aperiod that seemed now of indefinite length. She found herself perpetuallyrecalling the origin and growth of their acquaintance; she dwelt with astrange pleasure on the gross insult offered her by Spado, which scarceseemed an agreeable subject of contemplation; nor, be sure, did she forgetits prompt and satisfactory redress. She remembered every step of hersubsequent walk home, and every syllable of their conversation in thathasty and agitated progress; nay, every look and gesture of hercompanion's and of her own. It pleased her to think of the favourableimpression made on her father and his brother by their guest; and theearthen pitcher, from which she gave the latter to drink, assumed a newand unaccountable value in her eyes. Also she strolled to Tiber-side,whenever she had a spare half-hour, and sat her down under the shadow of abroken column, with a strange persistency, and a vague expectation ofsomething, she knew not what. For the first day this dreamy imaginativeexistence was delightful. Then came a feeling of want; a consciousnessthat there was a void, which it would be a great happiness to fill. Soonthis grew to a thirst--a craving for a repetition of those hours which hadglided by so sweetly and so fast. At rare intervals arose the startlingthought, "suppose she should never see him again," and her heart stoppedbeating, and her cheek paled with the bare possibility; yet was theresomething not wholly painful in a consciousness of the sorrow such aprivation would create.

  Though young, Mariamne was no foolish and inexperienced girl. Her life hadbeen calculated to elicit and bring to perfection some of woman's loftiestqualities. She had early learned the nobility of self-sacrifice, thenecessity of self-reliance and self-denial. Like the generality of hernation she possessed considerable pride of race; suppressed, indeed, andkept down by the exigencies in which the Jews had so often foundthemselves, but none the weaker nor the less cherished on that account.Notwithstanding his many chastisements and reverses,--from his pilgrimagethrough the wilderness to his different captivities by the great Orientalpowers, and final subjection under Rome,--the Jew never forgot that hesprang from a stem more especially planted by the hand of the Almighty;that he could trace his lineage back, unbroken and unstained, to those whoheld converse with Moses under the shadow of Mount Sinai; nay, to thePatriarch himself, who held his authority direct from Heaven, and who wasthought worthy to entertain angels at his tent door on the plains ofMamre. Such a conviction imparted a secret pride to every one of hisdescendants. Man, woman, and child, were persuaded that to them belongedof right the dominion of the earth.

  It may be supposed that one of Eleazar's disposition was not likely tobring up his family in any humble notions of their privileges and theirimportance. Mariamne had been early taught to consider her nationality asthe first and dearest of her advantages; and, womanlike, she clung to itall the closer that her people had been forced to submit to the Romanyoke. Habits of patience, of reflection and endurance, had been engenderedby the everyday life of the Jewish maiden, witnessing her father'scontinued impatience of the existing state of things, and his energetic,though secret, efforts to change the destinies of his countrymen; whilstall that such an education might have created of hard, cunning, andunfeminine in his daughter's mind, the society and counsels of Calchaswere eminently qualified to counteract. Losing no opportunity of sowingthe good seed; of teaching, both by precept and example, the lessons hehad learned from those who had them direct from the Fountain-head; it wasimpossible to remain long uninfluenced by the constant kindliness andgentle bearing of one who understood Christianity to signify, not onlyfaith, and purity, and devotion even to the death, but also that peace andgoodwill amongst men, which its first teachers inculcated as itsfundamental principle and essential element. Calchas, indeed, lacked notthe fiery energy and the tameless instincts of his race. His nature,perhaps, was originally fierce and warlike as his brother's, but it hadbeen subdued, softened, exalted by his religion; and, while his heart waspitiful and kindly, nothing remained of the warrior but his loyalty, hiscourage, and his zeal.

  Cherishing a true attachment for that brother, it was doubtless a cause ofdaily sorrow to observe how totally Eleazar's principles and conduct wereopposed to the meek and holy precepts of the new faith. It seemed to humanreasoning impossible to convert the Jew from his grand and simple creed,to modify or to explain it, to add to it, or to take away from it, in theslightest degree to alter his belief in that direct thearchy, to which hewas bound by the ties of gratitude, of tradition, of national isolationand characteristic pride of race. A religion which accepts the first greatprinciples of truth, the omnipotence and eternity of the Deity, theimmortality of souls, and the rewards and punishments of a life to come,stands already upon a solid basis from which it has little inclination tobe removed; and in all ages, the Jew, as in a somewhat less degree theMahometan, has been most unwilling to add to his own stern tenets the mildand loving doctrines of our revealed religion. Eleazar's was a characterto which the outward and tangible ceremonials of his worship wereessentially acceptable. To him the law, in its severest and most literalsense, was the only true guide for political measures as for privateconduct; and where its burdens were multiplied or its severities enhancedby tradition, he upheld the latter gladly and inflexibly. To offer thesacrifices ordained by Divine command; to exact and rigidly fulfil theminutest points of observance which the priests enjoined; to keep theSabbath inviolate by word and deed; also, when opportunity offered, tosmite the heathen hip-and-thigh with the edge of the sword; these were thepoints of faith and practice on which Eleazar took his stand, and fromwhich no consideration of affection, no temptation of ambition, noexigency of the times, would have induced him to waver one hair's-breadth.The fiercest soldier, the wildest barbarian, the most frivolous anddissolute patrician of the Imperial Court, would have been a morepromising convert than such a man as this. Yet did not Calchas despair:well he knew that there is a season of seed-time and a season of harvest,that the soil once choked with weeds, or sown with tares, may thereafterproduce a good crop; that waters have been known to flow freely from thebare rock, and that nothing is impossible under heaven. So he loved hisbrother and prayed for him, and took that brother's daughter to his heartas though she had been his own child.

  It must have required no small patience, no small amount of self-controland humility, to engraft in Mariamne the good fruit, which her father heldin such hatred and disdain. These, too, were difficulties with which theearly Christians had to contend, and of which we now make small account.We read of their privations, their persecutions, their imprisonments, andtheir martyrdoms, with a thrill of mingled horror and indignation--we pityand admire, we even glorify them as the heroic leaders of that forlornhope which was destined to head the armies of the only true conqueror, butwe never consider the daily and harassing warfare in which they must havebeen engaged, the domestic dissensions, the insults of equals, thealienation of friends; above all, the cold looks and estranged affectionsof those whom they loved best on earth; whom they must give up here, andwhom, with the new light that had broken in on them, they could scarcehope to see hereafter. So-called heroic deeds are not always deserving ofthat superiority which they claim over mortal weakness, when emblazoned onthe glowing page of history. Many a man is capable, so to speak, ofwinding himself up for one great effort, even though it be to perish onthe scaffold or the breach; but day after day, and year after year, towage unceasing war against our nearest and dearest, our own comforts, ourown prosperity, nay, our own weaknesses and inclinations, requires the aidof a sustaining power that is neither without nor within, nor anywherebelow on earth, but must reach the suppliant directly and continuouslyfrom a
bove.

  Nevertheless the example of a true Christian, in the real acceptation ofthe word, is never without its effect on those who live under its constantinfluence. Even Eleazar loved and respected his brother more than anythingon earth, save his ambition and his creed; while Mariamne, whose trustingand gentle disposition rendered her a willing recipient of those truthswhich Calchas lost no opportunity of imparting, gradually, and almostinsensibly, imbibed the opinions and the belief of one whose everydaypractice was so pure, so elevated, and so kindly; to whom, moreover, shewas accustomed to look as her counsellor in difficulty, and her refuge indistress.

  It was Calchas, then, whose studies she interrupted as he sat with thescroll before him, that was seldom out of his hand, perusing those Syriaccharacters again and again, as a mariner consults his chart, never wearyof storing information for his future course, and verifying the progresshe has already made. It was to Calchas she had determined to apply forcomfort because Esca came not, and for assistance to see him again--notthat she admitted, even to herself, that this was her intention or herwish. Nevertheless, she hovered about the old man's seat, more caressinglythan usual, and finding his attention still riveted on his employment, shelaid one hand lightly on his shoulder, and with the other parted the thingrey hair that strayed across his forehead. He looked up with a pleasantsmile.

  "What is it, little one?" said he, with the endearing diminutive he hadused in addressing her from her childhood. "You seem unusually busy withyour household affairs to-day. Is this room to be decorated for a guest?My brother makes no acquaintances here in Rome; and we have given nostranger so much as a mouthful of food since we arrived, save that goodlybarbarian you brought home with you the other evening. Is he coming againto-night?"

  A bright blush swept over her face, yet when it faded, Calchas could notbut remark that she was paler than her wont; and her manner, usually sogentle and composed, was now restless, anxious, and ill at ease.

  "Nay," she replied, "what should I know of the barbarian's movements? Itwas but a chance meeting that led him to our quiet dwelling in the firstinstance; and save by the merest accident we are never likely to see himmore."

  She turned away while she spoke, trying to steady her voice and give it atone of cold indifference, but failing utterly in the attempt.

  "There is no such power as chance," said Calchas, looking her keenly inthe face.

  "I know it," replied Mariamne, smiling sadly; "and I know, too, thatwhatever befalls us is for the best. Yet some things are hard to bear,nevertheless. Not that I have aught to complain of," she added, shrinkinginstinctively from the very topic she wanted to bring on, "save myconstant anxiety for my father in these tumultuous times."

  "He is in God's hand," said Calchas, "who will bring him safe through allhis perils, though they seem now to environ him as the breakers boil rounda stranded galley, when the wild Adriatic is leaping and dashing for itsprey. Take comfort, little one; I cannot bear to see your step so listlessand your cheek so pale."

  "How can they be otherwise?" returned the girl, not very candidly. "It isa weary lot to be a soldier's daughter. I could even find it in my heartto wish we had never left Judaea; never come to Rome."

  He tried his best to soothe and comfort her--his best such as it was, forthe good old man knew but little of a woman's heart--its wild hopes, itsindefinite aims, its wayward feelings, and its inexplicable tendency toself-torture. He thought in his simplicity the real grievance was thatwhich she avowed, and he strove to remove it in his own kind hopeful way.

  "My child," said he, "the evils that are raging in Italy, the horrors thatwe hear of every day, cannot but make Eleazar's position more importantand less hazardous, as they increase the difficulties of the imperialcouncils. It is, indeed, no child's play to bridle such a nation as ourswith one hand, and to grasp at the imperial diadem with the other. Ittakes a bold heart to draw the sword against Judah, and a long arm tobuffet Caesar across the seas. Vespasian will have little leisure topersecute our race; and the Emperor, sore beset as he is, will surely lenda favourable ear to my brother's proposals for peace. Even now the legionsare declaring, far and wide, against Vitellius; and civil war, the mostdreadful of all scourges, is desolating the provinces and entering Italyherself. It was but yesterday that news reached Rome of the revolt of thewhole fleet at Ravenna--and ere this Cremona has perhaps fallen into thepower of Antonius, that soldier-orator, with the iron arm and the silvertongue. Well we know, for we have been told by One whose words shall neverbe forgotten, that a house divided against itself cannot stand; and isthis a time, think you, my child, for the worn-out sensualist who wearsthe purple here, to make conditions with such a man as your father? It isall in God's hand, as I never cease to insist; yet I cannot but feel thata better day must at last be dawning upon Judaea, that her enemies will beconfounded, her armies victorious, and her chiefs--but what have we to dowith the sword?" he broke off abruptly, while his kindling eye andanimated gestures bore witness to the ardent spirit that would flash outhere and there even now. "Our weapon is the Cross, our warfare is not ofthis world, our triumph is in our humility, and when most we are broughtlow, then are we most exalted. Oh, that the time were come, as come itsurely will, when Caesar shall be content to take only that which isCaesar's, and men shall be gathered under one banner, and in onebrotherhood, from all corners of the world!"

  It was no exaggerated account Calchas thus gave of the dilemma in whichthe empire was placed at this juncture. Vespasian, with great politicaltalents, with coolness, patience, and audacity, was playing a game againstwhich the besotted brains of Vitellius were powerless to compete. Theformer, adored by the army, who saw in him a successful general, anintrepid soldier, and a man of simple virtuous habits, contrasting noblywith the luxurious gluttony and sensuality of his rival, lost none of hisinfluence by the moderation he displayed, and the modesty, real oraffected, with which he declined the purple. Not afraid to wait tilladvantage ripened into opportunity, he could seize it when the time camewith a bold and tenacious grasp, could turn it deftly to his own profitand guide those circumstances of which he seemed to be the mere puppet,with a master-hand. Though at a distance from the scene of warfare, and toall appearance little more than an unwilling observer of the disturbancescarried on in his name, he directed as it were from behind a curtain theoperations of his generals, and pulled the strings that set in motion hisnumerous partisans with a clear head, a delicate touch, and that tenacityof purpose which is the essential element of success. Vitellius, on theother hand, whose natural abilities had been weakened, nay destroyed, byan unceasing course of sensual gratification, wavered in council andhesitated in action; now determined to abdicate the diadem and retire intoobscurity; anon persuaded to fight for dominion to the death; and everparalysing the energies of his warmest partisans by the distrust heentertained for honest advisers, and the reliance he placed on thecounsels of those traitors who surrounded him.

  The empire was, perhaps, at this period in a more disheartening positionthan even under the ferocious sway of Nero. Monster as the latter was, heat least held the reins with a firm hand; and tyranny, however oppressive,is doubtless one degree better than anarchy and confusion. Now, the mightyfabric, of which Romulus laid the first stone and Augustus completed thepinnacle--the work of seven centuries, to which every generation had addedits labours and its enterprise, till it embraced the confines of the knownworld--was beginning perceptibly to sink and crumble from its own enormoussize and weight. The legions (and it must never be forgotten that thedominion of Rome was essentially that of the sword) were now recruitedfrom natives of her distant colonies. The Syrian and the Ethiop guardedthe eagles as well as the tall turbulent sons of Germany, and the ever-changing, ever-faithless Gaul. Armies thus gathered under one standardfrom such various climates could have but little in common save a certainprofessional ferocity, and an ardent liking for plunder, no less than pay.Mercenaries have in all ages been easily bought by the one and seduced bythe other. Each legion graduall
y came to consider itself a separate andindependent power, to be sold to the highest bidder. Perhaps the fairestvision of all was a march upon Rome, and a ten hours' sack of the citythey were sworn to defend. A great and good man, backed by the glory ofname, race, and illustrious actions, could alone have ruled suchdiscordant elements, and united these conflicting interests for the commongood; but fate ordained that the weak, worn-out, besotted Vitellius shouldbe seated on the throne of the Caesars, and that the cool, unflinching, andfar-seeing Vespasian should be watching with sleepless eye and ready handto snatch the diadem from his bewildered predecessor, and place it firmlyon his own head.

  While the destinies of the world were thus trembling in the balance, whileher own nation was fighting for its very existence, and the stormgathering all around, obviously to burst in its greatest fury on theImperial City, the care that weighed heaviest at Mariamne's heart was thatshe had that day noticed a barbarian slave walk into the training-schoolof a Roman gladiator.

  "Is it true, then," asked the girl, "that civil war is indeed raging here,as we have seen it at home? That we shall have an enemy ere long at thevery gates of the city?"

  "Too true, my child," replied Calchas; "and the Roman people seem, asusual, to make light of the emergency, to eat, drink, buy, sell, and feasttheir eyes on bloodshed in the circus, as though their idolatrous temple,where Janus overlooks the usurers and money-changers of the city, wereshut up once for all, never to be opened again."

  She turned pale and shuddered at the mention of the circus.

  "Are they making no preparations?" she asked timidly. "Did I not hear myfather say they were collecting the gladiators, and--and--some of the nobleshad enrolled their German and British slaves, and were arming them againstan attack?"

  "It may be so," answered Calchas; "but a slave can scarcely be expected tofight very stoutly for a cause which only serves to rivet his chains. Asfor the gladiators, those tigers in human form, it were surely better forthem to perish in open warfare, than to tear one another to pieces in thearena, like the very beasts against which I have seen them pitted. Yetthese, too, have souls to be saved."

  "Surely have they," exclaimed Mariamne, with kindling eyes, "and none tohelp them; none to show them so much as a glimpse of the true light. Thesemen go out to die as the citizen goes to his business or his bath; and whois answerable to man for their blood? who is answerable to God for theirsouls?"

  His eye brightened while she spoke, and he raised his head like a soldierwho hears the trumpet summoning him to the front.

  "If I have a well in my court," said he, "and a man fall down and die ofthirst at my gate, who is answerable? Surely I am guilty of my brother'sblood, that I never so much as reached him the pitcher to drink. Shallthese men go down daily to death, and shall I not stretch out a fingerlest they perish everlastingly? Mariamne, it seems there is a task set tomy hand, and I must accomplish it."

  She was far from wishing to hinder him. Actuated as human nature too oftenis by mixed motives, she could yet respond, in her womanly generosity ofheart, to that noble self-sacrifice which was so distinguishing acharacteristic of the new religion; and could appreciate the devotion ofCalchas, while she hoped through his intervention to obtain somealleviation of her anxiety on Esca's behalf. She had caught a glimpse ofthe slave's figure that very day as it entered the portals of thetraining-school; and this rapid glance had not served to quiet hermisgivings on his account.

  If Calchas should now think it right to interest himself about a class ofmen the most reckless and desperate of the whole Roman population, it wasprobable that he would at the same time learn something of Esca'smovements; perhaps be able to dissuade him from joining the fierce band inwhich she now feared he was about to be enrolled. "It may be that he hassome wild hope of thus obtaining his liberty," thought the girl; and herheart throbbed while she reflected that it was for her sake liberty hadnow become so dear to the barbarian. "It may be that he has extorted somevague promise from his lord, and, in his pride of strength and courage, henever dreams of danger or defeat; but oh! if he should come to harm for mysake, what will become of me? I would rather die a thousand times thanthat his white skin should be disfigured with a scratch!"

  "They are practising for their deadly pastime in the next street," saidshe; "I can hear the blows as I go down to draw water. Blows dealt, as itwere, in sport; what must they be in earnest?"

  "There is no time to be lost," said Calchas. "The games of Ceres are to besoon celebrated, and the Roman crowd will think it but a poor show if somehundreds of gladiators are not slaughtered at the least. Child, I willvisit these men to-morrow; they will revile me, but after a time they willlisten. If I can even gain over one, be he the lowest and most degraded ofthe band, it will be a triumph greater than a thousand victories; a gaininfinitely more precious than all the treasures of Rome."

  "To-morrow may be too late," she returned, moving across the room at thesame time so as to hide her face. "The school is full to-day. I--I think Isaw that barbarian who was here lately go into it an hour or two ago."

  "The Briton!" exclaimed Calchas, starting from his seat. "Why did you nottell me so before? Quick, girl, fetch me my gown and sandals. I will gothere without delay."

  She helped him, nothing loth. In a few minutes Calchas was ready to goforth, and as she watched him from the door, and saw him turn the cornerof the street, Mariamne clasped her hands and muttered a thanksgiving forthe success of her well-meant artifice; while the old man strode boldly tohis destination, confident in the integrity of his purpose, and rejoicingin the breastplate of proof which covers a good heart bound on a piousmission. "It is no business of mine," was a maxim unknown to the earlyChristian. Fresh in his memory was the parable of the Good Samaritan; andit never occurred to him that, like the Pharisee, he might pass by on theother side. The world is some centuries older, yet is that tale of thefriendless wounded wayfarer less suggestive now than it was then?