Perpetua. A Tale of Nimes in A.D. 213

by S. Baring-Gould

  CHAPTER XX

  IN THE BASILICA

  The Quatuorvir Petronius Atacinus, who was on duty, occupied his chair inthe stately Plotinian Basilica, or court of justice, that had been erectedby Hadrian, in honor of the lady to whose ingenious and unscrupulousmaneuvers he owed his elevation to the throne of the Caesars. Of thismagnificent structure nothing remains at present save some scraps of thefrieze in the museum.

  When the weather permitted, Petronius or his colleagues liked to hear acase in the open air, from a tribune in the forum. But this was impossibleto-day, in the howling wind and lashing rain. The court itself wascomparatively deserted. A very few had assembled to hear the trials. Nonewho had a warmed home that day left it uncalled for. Some market women settheir baskets in the doorway and stepped inside, but it was rather becausethey were wet and out of breath than because they were interested in theproceedings. Beside the magistrate sat the chief _pontifex_ who was alsoAugustal _flamen_. Of _pontifices_ there were three in the city, but oneof these was a woman, the priestess of Nemausus.

  Throughout the south of Gaul the worship of Augustus had becomepredominant, and had displaced most of the ancestral cults. The templesdedicated to Augustus exceeded in richness all others, and were crowdedwhen the rest were deserted.

  Jupiter was only not forgotten because he had borrowed some of theattributes of the Gallic solar deity, and he flourished the golden wheelin one hand and brandished the lightnings in the other. Juno had lent hername to a whole series of familiar spirits of the mountains and of thehousehold, closely allied to the _Proxumes_, a set of domestic Brownies orKobolds, who were chiefly adored and propitiated by the women, and who hadno other temple than the hearth. At Tarasconum, the Phoenician goddessBritomartis reigned supreme, and her worship was stimulated by a grandannual procession and dramatic representation of her conquest over adragon. At Nemausus the corresponding god of war was called MarsBritovius. But the Volcae Arecomici were a peaceably-disposed people, andpaid little devotion to the god of battles. The cult of the founderNemausus did not flag, but that of Augustus was in the ascendant. All thefreedmen were united in one great sodality under his invocation, and thisguild represented an important political factor in the land. It had itsreligious officers, its _flamines_ and _seviri_, attended by lictors, andthe latter had charge of all the altars at the crossroads, and sat next tothe civic functionaries in the courts, at banquets, in the theater. Richcitizens bequeathed large sums to the town and to the sodalities to beexpended in public feasts, in largesses, and in gladiatorial shows. Thecharge of these bequests, as also their distribution, was in the hands ofthe _flamines_ and _seviri_. The priesthood was, therefore, provided withthe most powerful of all means for gaining and moving the multitude, whichdesired nothing better than bread and games.

  "Have that door shut!" called the magistrate. "It bangs in this evil wind,and I cannot even hear what my excellent friend Lucius Smerius is sayingin my ear; how then can I catch what is said in court?" Then, turning tothe pontiff, he said: "I detest this weather. Last year, about this time,I was struck with an evil blast, and lost all sense of smell and taste fornine months. I had pains in my loins and an ache in all my bones. I doubtif even the jests of Baubo could have made me laugh; I was in lower dumpsthan even Ceres. Even now, when seated far too long in this marble chair,I get an ache across my back that assures me I am no longer young. But Icould endure that if my sense of taste had been fully restored. I do notrelish good wine as of old, and that is piteous, and I really at timesthink of suicide."

  "It was the work of enchantment," said the pontiff. "These Christians, intheir orgies, stick pins into images to produce pains in those the figuresrepresent."

  "How do you know this? Have you been initiated into their mysteries?"

  "I----! The Immortals preserve me therefrom."

  "Then, by Pluto, you speak what you have heard of the gossips--old wives'babble. I will tell you what my opinion is, Smerius. If you were to thrustyour nose into the mysteries of the Bona Dea you would find--what? No morethan did Clodius--nothing at all. My wife, she attends them, and comes homewith her noddle full of all the tittle-tattle of Nemausus. It is so withthe Christian orgies. I would not give a snap of the fingers for all thesecrets confided to the initiated--neither in Eleusis nor in the Serapium,nor among the Christians."

  "These men are not like others; they are unsociable, brutish, arrogant."

  "Unsociable I allow. Brutish! The word is inapt; for, on the contrary, Ifind them very simple, soft-headed, pulp-hearted folk. They abstain fromall that is boisterous and cruel. Arrogant they may be. There I am at onewith you. 'Live and let live' is my maxim. We have a score of gods, homemade and foreign, and they all rub and tumble together without squabbling.Of late we have had Madame Isis over from Egypt, and the White Ladies,(11)and the Proxumes, Victoria Augusta, Venus, and Minerva, make room for herwithout even a frown on their divine faces. And imperial Rome sanctionsall these devotions. Why, did not the god Augustus build a temple here toNemausus and pay him divine honors, though he had never heard him namedbefore? Now this Christian sect is exclusive. It will suffer no gods tostand beside Him whom they adore. He must reign alone. That I callilliberal, narrow-minded, against the spirit of the age and the principleof Roman policy. That is the reason why I dislike these Christians."

  "Here come the prisoners. My good friend, do not be too easy with them. Itwill not do. The temper of the people is up. The sodality of Augustusswear that they will not decree you a statue, and will oppose yournomination to the knighthood. They have joined hands with the CultoresNemausi, and insist that proper retribution be administered to thetransgressors, and that the girl be surrendered."

  "It shall be done; it shall be so," said the Quatuorvir. Then, raising hishand to his mouth, and speaking behind it--not that in the roar of the windsuch a precaution was necessary--he said to the pontiff: "My dear man, amagistrate has other matters to consider than pleasing the clubs. There isthe prince over all, and he is on the way to Narbonese Gaul. It iswhispered that he is favorably disposed towards this Nazarene sect."

  "The Augustus would not desire to have the laws set at naught, and thesodalities are rich enough to pay to get access to him and make theircomplaint."

  "Well, well, well! I cannot please all. I have to steer my course amongshoals and rocks. Keep the question of Christianity in the background andcharge on other grounds. That is my line. I will do my best to please allparties. We must have sport for the games. The rabble desire to have someone punished for spoiling their pet image. But, by the Twins, could notthe poor god hold his own head on his shoulders? If he had been worth anas, he would have done so. But there, I nettle you. You shall be satisfiedalong with the rest. Bring up the prisoners: Quincta, widow of AulusHarpinius Laeto, first of all."

  The mother of Perpetua was led forward in a condition of terror thatrendered her almost unconscious, and unable to sustain herself.

  "Quincta," said the magistrate, "have no fear for yourself. I have nodesire to deal sharply with you; if you will inform us where is yourdaughter, you shall be dismissed forthwith."

  "I do not know----" The poor woman could say no more.

  "Give her a seat," ordered Petronius. Then to the prisoner: "Composeyourself. No doubt that, as a mother, you desire to screen your daughter,supposing that her life is menaced. No such thing, madame. I have spokenwith the priestess, and with my good friend here, Lucius Smerius, chiefpontiff, Augustal _flamen_, and public haruspex." He bowed to the priestat his side. "I am assured that the god, when he spoke, made no demand fora sacrifice. That is commuted. All he desires is that the young virginshould pass into his service, and be numbered among his priestesses."

  "She will not consent," gasped Quincta.

  "I hardly need to point out the honor and advantage offered her. Thepriestesses enjoy great favor with the people, have seats of honor at thetheater, take a high position in all public ceremonies, and are maintai
nedby rich endowments."

  "She will never consent," repeated the mother.

  "Of that we shall judge for ourselves. Where is the girl?"

  "I do not know."

  "How so?"

  "She has been carried away from me; I know not whither."

  "When the old ewe baas the lamb will bleat," said the Quatuorvir. "Weshall find the means to make you produce her. Lady Quincta, my dutycompels me to send you back to prison. You shall be allowed two days'respite. Unless, by the end of that time, you are able and willing to giveus the requisite information, you will be put to the question, and I doubtnot that a turn of the rack will refresh your memory and relax yourtongue."

  "I cannot tell what I do not know."

  "Remove the woman."

  The magistrate leaned back, and turning his head to the pontiff, said:"Did not your worthy father, Spurius, die of a surfeit of octopus? I had asupper off the legs last night, and they made me sleep badly; they are nobetter than marine leather." Then to the _vigiles_: "Bring forwardFalerius Marcianus."

  The deacon was conducted before the magistrate. He was pale, and his lipsashen and compressed. His dark eyes turned in every direction. He waslooking for kinsmen and patron.

  "You are charged, Falerius, with having broken the image of the god whomNemausus delights to honor, and who is the reputed founder of the city.You conveyed his head to the house of Baudillas, and several witnesseshave deposed that you made boast that you had committed the sacrilegiousact of defacing the statue. What answer make you to this?"

  Marcianus replied in a low voice.

  "Speak up," said the magistrate; "I cannot hear thee, the wind blustersand bellows so loud." Aside to the pontiff Smerius he added: "And eversince that evil blast you wot of, I have suffered from a singing in myears."

  "I did it," said the deacon. Again he looked about him, but saw none tosupport him.

  "Then," said the magistrate, "we shall at once conclude this matter. Theoutrage is too gross to be condoned or lightly punished. Even thy friendsand kinsfolk have not appeared to speak for thee. Thy family has been oneof dignity and authority in Nemausus. There have been members who havebeen clothed with the Quatuorvirate _de aerario_ and have been accordedthe use of a horse at public charge. Several have been decurions wearingthe white toga and the purple stripe. This aggravates the impiety of youract. I sentence Cneius Falerius Marcianus, son of Marius Audolatius, ofthe Voltinian tribe, to be thrown to the beasts in the approaching show,and that his goods be confiscated, and that out of his propertyrestitution be made, by which a new statue to the god Nemausus beprovided, to be set up in the place of that injured by the same CneiusFalerius Marcianus."

  The deacon made an attempt to speak. He seemed overwhelmed withastonishment and dismay at the sentence, so utterly unexpected in itsseverity. He gesticulated and cried out, but the Quatuorvir was cold andweary. He had pronounced a sentence that would startle all the town, andhe thought he had done enough.

  "Remove him at once," said he.

  Then Petronius turned to the pontiff and said: "Now, my Smerius, what sayyou to this? Will not this content you and all the noisy rag-tag at yourback?"

  Next he commanded the rest of the prisoners to be brought forwardtogether. This was a mixed number of poor persons, some women, some oldmen, boys, slaves and freedmen; none belonged to the upper class or evento that of the manufacturers and tradesmen.

  "You are all dismissed," said the magistrate. "The imprisonment you haveundergone will serve as a warning to you not to associate with image-breakers, not to enter into sodalities which have not received thesanction of Caesar, and which are not compatible with the well-being andquiet of the city and are an element of disturbance in the empire. Let ushear no more of this pestilent nonsense. Go--worship what god ye will--onlynot Christos."

  Then the lictors gathered around the Quatuorvir and the pontiff, who alsorose, and extended his hand to assist the magistrate, who made wry facesas rheumatic twinges nipped his back.

  "Come with me, Smerius," said the Quatuorvir, "I have done the best foryou that lay in my power. I hate unnecessary harshness. But this fellow,Falerius Marcianus, has deserved the worst. If the old woman be put on therack and squeak out, and Marcianus be devoured by beasts, the people willhave their amusement, and none can say that I have acted with excessiverigor--and, my dear man--not a word has been said about Christianity. Thecases have been tried on other counts, do you see?" he winked. "Will youbreakfast with me? There are mullets from the Satera, stewed in whitewine--confound those octopi!--I feel them still."