Callista : a Tale of the Third Century

by John Henry Newman

  CHAPTER V.

  JUCUNDUS AT SUPPER.

  The house of Jucundus was closed for the night when Juba reached it, oryou would see, were you his companion, that it was one of the most showyshops in Sicca. It was the image-store of the place, and set out for sale,not articles of statuary alone, but of metal, of mosaic work, and ofjewellery, as far as they were dedicated to the service of paganism. Itwas bright with the many colours adopted in the embellishment of images,and the many lights which silver and gold, brass and ivory, alabaster,gypsum, talc, and glass reflected. Shelves and cabinets were laden withwares; both the precious material, and the elaborated trinket. All tasteswere suited, the popular and the refined, the fashion of the day and thelove of the antique, the classical and the barbarian devotion. There youmight see the rude symbols of invisible powers, which, originating indeficiency of art, had been perpetuated by reverence for the past: themysterious cube of marble sacred among the Arabs, the pillar which was theemblem of Mercury or Bacchus, the broad-based cone of Heliogabalus, thepyramid of Paphos, and the tile or brick of Juno.

  There, too, were the unmeaning blocks of stone with human heads, whichwere to be dressed out in rich robes, and to simulate the human form.There were other articles besides, as portable as these were unmanageable:little Junos, Mercuries, Dianas, and Fortunas, for the bosom or thegirdle. Household gods were there, and the objects of personal devotion:Minerva or Vesta, with handsome niches or shrines in which they mightreside. There, too, were the brass crowns, or _nimbi_ which were intendedto protect the heads of the gods from bats and birds. There you might buy,were you a heathen, rings with heads on them of Jupiter, Mars, the Sun,Serapis, and above all Astarte. You would find there the rings and signetsof the Basilidians; amulets too of wood or ivory: figures of demons,preternaturally ugly; little skeletons, and other superstitious devices.It would be hard, indeed, if you could not be pleased, whatever yourreligious denomination--unless indeed you were determined to reject all theappliances and objects of idolatry indiscriminately--and in that case youwould rejoice that it was night when you arrived there, and, inparticular, that darkness swallowed up other appliances and objects ofpagan worship, which to darkness were due by a particular title, and bydarkness were best shrouded, till the coming of that day when all things,good and evil, shall be made light.

  The shop, as we have said, was closed, concealed from view by largelumbering shutters, and made secure by heavy bars of wood. So we mustenter by the passage or vestibule on the right side, and that will conductus into a modest _atrium_, with an _impluvium_ on one side, and on theother the _triclinium_ or supper-room, backing the shop. Jucundus had beenpleasantly engaged in a small supper-party; and, mindful that a_symposium_ should lie within the number of the Graces and of the Muses,he had confined his guests to two, the young Greek Aristo, who was one ofhis principal artists, and Cornelius the son of a freedman of a Roman ofdistinction, who had lately got a place in one of the _scrinia_ of theproconsular _officium_, and had migrated into the province from theimperial city where he had spent his best days.

  The dinner had not been altogether suitable to modern ideas of goodliving. The grapes from Tacape, and the dates from the lake Tritonis, thewhite and black figs, the nectarines and peaches, and the watermelons,address themselves to the imagination of an Englishman, as well as of anAfrican of the third century. So also might the liquor derived from thesap or honey of the Getulian palm, and the sweet wine, called _melilotus_,made from the poetical fruit found upon the coast of the Syrtis. He wouldhave been struck, too, with the sweetness of the mutton; but he would haveasked what the sheep's tails were before he tasted them, and found howlike marrow the firm substance ate of which they consisted. He would havefelt he ought to admire the roes of mullets, pressed and dried, fromMauritania; but he would have thought twice before he tried the lioncutlets though they had the flavour of veal, and the additional _gout_ ofbeing imperial property, and poached from a preserve. But when he saw theindigenous dish, the very haggis and cock-a-leekie of Africa, in the shapeof--(alas! alas! it _must_ be said, with whatever apology for itsintroduction)--in shape, then, of a delicate puppy, served up withtomatoes, with its head between its fore-paws, we consider he would haverisen from the unholy table, and thought he had fallen upon thehospitality of some sorceress of the neighbouring forest. However, to thatfestive board our Briton was not invited, for he had some previousengagement that evening, either of painting himself with woad, or ofhiding himself to the chin in the fens; so that nothing occurred todisturb the harmony of the party, and the good humour and easyconversation which was the effect of such excellent cheer.

  Cornelius had been present at the Secular Games in the foregoing year, andwas full of them, of Rome, and of himself in connection with it, as becameso genuine a cockney of the imperial period. He was full of the highpatriotic thoughts which so solemn a celebration had kindled within him."O great Rome!" he said, "thou art first, and there is no second. In thatwonderful pageant which these eyes saw last year was embodied her majesty,was promised her eternity. We die, she lives. I say, _let_ a man die. It'swell for him to take hemlock, or open a vein, after having seen theSecular Games. What was there to live for? I felt it; life was gone; itsbest gifts flat and insipid after that great day. Excellent--Tauromenian, Isuppose? We know it in Rome. Fill up my cup. I drink to the genius of theemperor."

  He was full of his subject, and soon resumed it. "Fancy the Campus Martiuslighted up from one end to the other. It was the finest thing in theworld. A large plain, covered, not with streets, not with woods, butbroken and crossed with superb buildings in the midst of groves, avenuesof trees, and green grass, down to the water's edge. There's nothing thatisn't there. Do you want the grandest temples in the world, the mostspacious porticoes, the longest racecourses? there they are. Do you want_gymnasia_? there they are. Do you want arches, statues, obelisks? youfind them there. There you have at one end the stupendous mausoleum ofAugustus, cased with white marble, and just across the river the hugetowering mound of Hadrian. At the other end you have the noble Pantheon ofAgrippa, with its splendid Syracusan columns, and its dome glittering withsilver tiles. Hard by are the baths of Alexander, with their beautifulgroves. Ah! my good friend! I shall have no time to drink if I go on.Beyond are the numerous chapels and fanes which fringe the base of theCapitoline hill; the tall column of Antoninus comes next, with itsadjacent basilica, where is kept the authentic list of the provinces ofthe empire, and of the governors, each a king in power and dominion, whoare sent out to them. Well, I am now only beginning. Fancy, I say, thismagnificent region all lighted up; every temple to and fro, every bath,every grove, gleaming with innumerable lamps and torches. No, not even thegods of Olympus have anything that comes near it. Rome is the greatest ofall divinities. In the dead of night all was alive; then it was, whennature sleeps exhausted, Rome began the solemn sacrifices to commemorateher thousand years. On the banks of the Tiber, which had seen AEneas land,and Romulus ascend to the gods, the clear red flame shot up as the victimsburned. The music of ten thousand horns and flutes burst forth, and thesacred dances began upon the greensward. I am too old to dance; but, Iprotest, even I stood up and threw off. We danced through three nights,dancing the old millenary out, dancing the new millenary in. We were allRomans, no strangers, no slaves. It was a solemn family feast, the feastof all the Romans."

  "Then we came in for the feast," said Aristo; "for Caracalla gave Romancitizenship to all freemen all over the world. We are all of us Romans,recollect, Cornelius."

  "Ah! that was another matter--a condescension," answered Cornelius. "Yes,in a certain sense, I grant it; but it was a political act."

  "I warrant you," retorted Aristo, "most political. We were to be fleeced,do you see? so your imperial government made us Romans, that we might havethe taxes of Romans, and that in addition to our own. You've taxed usdouble; and as for the privilege of citizenship, much it is, by Hercules,when every snob has it who
can wear a _pileus_ or cherish his hair."

  "Ah! but you should have seen the procession from the Capitol," continuedCornelius, "on, I think, the second day; from the Capitol to the Circus,all down the Via Sacra. Hosts of strangers there, and provincials from thefour corners of the earth, but not in the procession. There you saw, allin one _coup-d'oeil_, the real good blood of Rome, the young blood of thenew generation, and promise of the future; the sons of patrician andconsular families, of imperators, orators, conquerors, statesmen. Theyrode at the head of the procession, fine young fellows, six abreast; andstill more of them on foot. Then came the running horses and the chariots,the boxers, the wrestlers, and other combatants, all ready for thecompetition. The whole school of gladiators then turned out, boys and all,with their masters, dressed in red tunics, and splendidly armed. Theyformed three bands, and they went forward gaily, dancing and singing thePyrrhic. By-the-bye, a thousand pair of gladiators fought during thegames--a round thousand, and such clean-made, well-built fellows, and theycame against each other so gallantly! You should have see it; _I_ can't gothrough it. There was a lot of satyrs, jumping and frisking, in burlesqueof the martial dances which preceded them. There was a crowd of trumpetersand horn-blowers; ministers of the sacrifices with their victims, bullsand rams, dressed up with gay wreaths; drivers, butchers, haruspices,heralds; images of gods with their cars of ivory or silver, drawn by tamelions and elephants. I can't recollect the order. O! but the grandestthing of all was the Carmen, sung by twenty-seven noble youths, and asmany noble maidens, taken for the purpose from the bosoms of theirfamilies to propitiate the gods of Rome. The flamens, augurs, colleges ofpriests, it was endless. Last of all came the emperor himself."

  "That's the late man," observed Jucundus, "Philip; no bad riddance hisdeath, if all's true that's said of him."

  "All emperors are good in their time and way," answered Cornelius; "Philipwas good then, and Decius is good now;--whom the gods preserve!"

  "True," said Aristo, "I understand; an emperor cannot do wrong, except indying, and then everything goes wrong with him. His death is his first baddeed; he ought to be ashamed of it; it somehow turns all his great virtuesinto vices."

  "Ah! no one was so good an emperor as our man, Gordianus," said Jucundus,"a princely old man, living and dead; patron of trade and of the arts;such villas! he had enormous revenues. Poor old gentleman! and his sontoo. I never shall forget the day when the news came that he was gone. Letme see, it was shortly after that old fool Strabo's death--I mean mybrother; a good thirteen years ago. All Africa was in tears; there was noone like Gordianus."

  "That's old world philosophy," said Aristo; "Jucundus, you must go toschool. Don't you see that all that is, is right; and all that was, iswrong? 'Te nos facimus, Fortuna, deam,' says your poet; well, I drink 'tothe fortunes of Rome,'--while it lasts."

  "You're a young man," answered Cornelius, "a very young man, and a Greek.Greeks never understand Rome. It's most difficult to understand us. It's ascience. Look at this medal, young gentleman; it was one of those struckat the games. Is it not grand? 'Novum saeculum,' and on the reverse,'AEternitati.' Always changing, always imperishable. Emperors rise andfall; Rome remains. The eternal city! Isn't this good philosophy?"

  "Truly, a most beautiful medal," said Aristo, examining it, and handing iton to his host. "You might make an amulet of it, Jucundus. But as toeternity, why, that is a very great word; and, if I mistake not, otherstates have been eternal before Rome. Ten centuries is a very respectableeternity; be content, Rome is eternal already, and may die withoutprejudice to the medal."

  "Blaspheme not," replied Cornelius: "Rome is healthier, more full of life,and promises more, than at any former time, you may rely upon it. 'Novumsaeculum!' she has the age of the eagle, and will but cast her feathers tobegin a fresh thousand."

  "But Egypt," interposed Aristo, "if old Herodotus speaks true, scarcelyhad a beginning. Up and up, the higher you go, the more dynasties ofEgyptian kings do you find. And we hear strange reports of the nations inthe far east, beyond the Ganges."

  "But I tell you, man," rejoined Cornelius, "Rome is a city of kings. Thatone city, in this one year, has as many kings at once as those of all thekings of all the dynasties of Egypt put together. Sesostris, and the restof them, what are they to imperators, prefects, proconsuls, _vicarii_, and_rationales_? Look back at Lucullus, Caesar, Pompey, Sylla, Titus, Trajan.What's old Cheops' pyramid to the Flavian amphitheatre? What is themany-gated Thebes to Nero's golden house, while it was? What the grandestpalace of Sesostris or Ptolemy but a second-rate villa of any one of tenthousand Roman citizens? Our houses stand on acres of ground, they ascendas high as the Tower of Babylon; they swarm with columns like a forest;they pullulate into statues and pictures. The walls, pavements, andceilings are dazzling from the lustre of the rarest marble, red andyellow, green and mottled. Fountains of perfumed water shoot aloft fromthe floor, and fish swim in rocky channels round about the room, waitingto be caught and killed for the banquet. We dine; and we feast on the headof the ostrich, the brains of the peacock, the liver of the bream, themilk of the murena, and the tongue of the flamingo. A flight of doves,nightingales, beccaficoes are concentrated into one dish. On greatoccasions we eat a phoenix. Our saucepans are of silver, our dishes ofgold, our vases of onyx, and our cups of precious stones. Hangings andcarpets of Tyrian purple are around us and beneath us, and we lie on ivorycouches. The choicest wines of Greece and Italy crown our goblets, andexotic flowers crown our heads. In come troops of dancers from Lydia, orpantomimes from Alexandria, to entertain both eye and mind; or our nobledames and maidens take a place at our tables; they wash in asses' milk,they dress by mirrors as large as fish-ponds, and they glitter from headto foot with combs, brooches, necklaces, collars, ear-rings, armlets,bracelets, finger-rings, girdles, stomachers, and anklets, all of diamondand emerald. Our slaves may be counted by thousands, and they come fromall parts of the world. Everything rare and precious is brought to Rome:the gum of Arabia, the nard of Assyria, the papyrus of Egypt, thecitron-wood of Mauretania, the bronze of AEgina, the pearls of Britain, thecloth of gold of Phrygia, the fine webs of Cos, the embroidery of Babylon,the silks of Persia, the lion-skins of Getulia, the wool of Miletus, theplaids of Gaul. Thus we live, an imperial people, who do nothing but enjoythemselves and keep festival the whole year; and at length we die--and thenwe burn: we burn--in stacks of cinnamon and cassia, and in shrouds of_asbestos_, making emphatically a good end of it. Such are we Romans, agreat people. Why, we are honoured wherever we go. There's my master,there's myself; as we came here from Italy, I protest we were nearlyworshipped as demi-gods."

  "And perhaps some fine morning," said Aristo, "Rome herself will burn incinnamon and cassia, and in all her burnished Corinthian brass and scarletbravery, the old mother following her children to the funeral pyre. Onehas heard something of Babylon, and its drained moat, and the soldiers ofthe Persian."

  A pause occurred in the conversation as one of Jucundus's slaves enteredwith fresh wine, larger goblets, and a vase of snow from the Atlas.