Chapter XLIII
As Vinicius approached the walls, he found it easier to reach Rome thanpenetrate to the middle of the city. It was difficult to push along theAppian Way, because of the throng of people. Houses, fields, cemeteries,gardens, and temples, lying on both sides of it, were turned intocamping places. In the temple of Mars, which stood near the Porta Appia,the crowd had thrown down the doors, so as to find a refuge withinduring night-hours. In the cemeteries the larger monuments were seized,and battles fought in defence of them, which were carried to bloodshed.Ustrinum with its disorder gave barely a slight foretaste of that whichwas happening beneath the walls of the capital. All regard for thedignity of law, for family ties, for difference of position, had ceased.Gladiators drunk with wine seized in the Emporium gathered in crowds,ran with wild shouts through the neighboring squares, scattering,trampling, and robbing the people. A multitude of barbarians, exposedfor sale in the city, escaped from the booths. For them the burning andruin of Rome was at once the end of slavery and the hour of revenge; sothat when the permanent inhabitants, who had lost all they owned in thefire, stretched their hands to the gods in despair, calling for rescue,these slaves with howls of delight scattered the crowds, draggedclothing from people's backs, and bore away the younger women. Theywere joined by slaves serving in the city from of old, wretches who hadnothing on their bodies save woollen girdles around their hips, dreadfulfigures from the alleys, who were hardly ever seen on the streets in thedaytime, and whose existence in Rome it was difficult to suspect. Men ofthis wild and unrestrained crowd, Asiatics, Africans, Greeks, Thracians,Germans, Britons, howling in every language of the earth, raged,thinking that the hour had come in which they were free to rewardthemselves for years of misery and suffering. In the midst of thatsurging throng of humanity, in the glitter of day and of fire, shonethe helmets of pretorians, under whose protection the more peaceablepopulation had taken refuge, and who in hand-to-hand battle had to meetthe raging multitude in many places. Vinicius had seen captured cities,but never had his eyes beheld a spectacle in which despair, tears, pain,groans, wild delight, madness, rage, and license were mingled togetherin such immeasurable chaos. Above this heaving, mad human multituderoared the fire, surging up to the hill-tops of the greatest city onearth, sending into the whirling throng its fiery breath, and coveringit with smoke, through which it was impossible to see the blue sky. Theyoung tribune with supreme effort, and exposing his life every moment,forced his way at last to the Appian Gate; but there he saw that hecould not reach the city through the division of the Porta Capena, notmerely because of the throng, but also because of the terrible heat fromwhich the whole atmosphere was quivering inside the gate. Besides, thebridge at the Porta Trigenia, opposite the temple of the Bona Dea, didnot exist yet, hence whoso wished to go beyond the Tiber had to pushthrough to the Pons Sublicius, that is, to pass around the Aventinethrough a part of the city covered now with one sea of flame. Thatwas an impossibility. Vinicius understood that he must return towardUstrinum, turn from the Appian Way, cross the river below the city, andgo to the Via Portuensis, which led straight to the Trans-Tiber. Thatwas not easy because of the increasing disorder on the Appian Way. Hemust open a passage for himself there, even with the sword. Vinicius hadno weapons; he had left Antium just as the news of the fire had reachedhim in Caesar's villa. At the fountain of Mercury, however, he saw acenturion who was known to him. This man, at the head of a few tens ofsoldiers, was defending the precinct of the temple; he commanded him tofollow. Recognizing a tribune and an Augustian, the centurion did notdare to disobey the order.
Vinicius took command of the detachment himself, and, forgetting forthat moment the teaching of Paul touching love for one's neighbor, hepressed and cut the throng in front with a haste that was fatal to manywho could not push aside in season. He and his men were followed bycurses and a shower of stones; but to these he gave no heed, caringonly to reach freer spaces at the earliest. Still he advanced with thegreatest effort. People who had encamped would not move, and heapedloud curses on Caesar and the pretorians. The throng assumed in places athreatening aspect. Vinicius heard voices accusing Nero of burningthe city. He and Poppaea were threatened with death. Shouts of "Sanio,""Histrio" (buffoon, actor), "Matricide!" were heard round about. Someshouted to drag him to the Tiber; others that Rome had shown patienceenough. It was clear that were a leader found, these threats could bechanged into open rebellion which might break out any moment. Meanwhilethe rage and despair of the crowd turned against the pretorians, who foranother reason could not make their way out of the crowd: the roadwas blocked by piles of goods, borne from the fire previously, boxes,barrels of provisions, furniture the most costly, vessels, infants'cradles, beds, carts, hand-packs. Here and there they fought hand tohand; but the pretorians conquered the weaponless multitude easily.After they had ridden with difficulty across the Viae Latina, Numitia,Ardea, Lavinia, and Ostia, and passed around villas, gardens,cemeteries, and temples, Vinicius reached at last a village called VicusAlexandri, beyond which he crossed the Tiber. There was more open spaceat this spot, and less smoke. From fugitives, of whom there was no lackeven there, he learned that only certain alleys of the Trans-Tiberwere burning, but that surely nothing could resist the fury of theconflagration, since people were spreading the fire purposely, andpermitted no one to quench it, declaring that they acted at command. Theyoung tribune had not the least doubt then that Caesar had given commandto burn Rome; and the vengeance which people demanded seemed to him justand proper. What more could Mithridates or any of Rome's most inveterateenemies have done? The measure had been exceeded; his madness had grownto be too enormous, and the existence of people too difficult becauseof him. Vinicius believed that Nero's hour had struck, that those ruinsinto which the city was falling should and must overwhelm the monstrousbuffoon together with all those crimes of his. Should a man be found ofcourage sufficient to stand at the head of the despairing people, thatmight happen in a few hours. Here vengeful and daring thoughts began tofly through his head. But if he should do that? The house of Vinicius,which till recent times counted a whole series of consuls, was knownthroughout Rome. The crowds needed only a name. Once, when four hundredslaves of the prefect Pedanius Secundus were sentenced, Rome reached theverge of rebellion and civil war. What would happen to-day in view of adreadful calamity surpassing almost everything which Rome had undergonein the course of eight centuries? Whoso calls the Quirites to arms,thought Vinicius, will overthrow Nero undoubtedly, and clothe himselfin purple. And why should he not do this? He was firmer, more active,younger than other Augustians. True, Nero commanded thirty legionsstationed on the borders of the Empire; but would not those legions andtheir leaders rise up at news of the burning of Rome and its temples?And in that case Vinicius might become Caesar. It was even whisperedamong the Augustians that a soothsayer had predicted the purple to Otho.In what way was he inferior to Otho? Perhaps Christ Himself would assisthim with His divine power; maybe that inspiration was His? "Oh, wouldthat it were!" exclaimed Vinicius, in spirit. He would take vengeance onNero for the danger of Lygia and his own fear; he would begin thereign of truth and justice, he would extend Christ's religion from theEuphrates to the misty shores of Britain; he would array Lygia in thepurple, and make her mistress of the world.
But these thoughts which had burst forth in his head like a bunch ofsparks from a blazing house, died away like sparks. First of all was theneed to save Lygia. He looked now on the catastrophe from near by; hencefear seized him again, and before that sea of flame and smoke, beforethe touch of dreadful reality, that confidence with which he believedthat Peter would rescue Lygia died in his heart altogether. Despairseized him a second time when he had come out on the Via Portuensis,which led directly to the Trans-Tiber. He did not recover till he cameto the gate, where people repeated what fugitives had said before, thatthe greater part of that division of the city was not seized by theflames yet, but that fire had crossed the river in a number of places.
Still the
Trans-Tiber was full of smoke, and crowds of fugitives made itmore difficult to reach the interior of the place, since people, havingmore time there, had saved greater quantities of goods. The main streetitself was in many parts filled completely, and around the NaumachiaAugusta great heaps were piled up. Narrow alleys, in which smoke hadcollected more densely, were simply impassable. The inhabitants werefleeing in thousands. On the way Vinicius saw wonderful sights. Morethan once two rivers of people, flowing in opposite directions, met in anarrow passage, stopped each other, men fought hand to hand, struck andtrampled one another. Families lost one another in the uproar; motherscalled on their children despairingly. The young tribune's hair stoodon end at thought of what must happen nearer the fire. Amid shouts andhowls it was difficult to inquire about anything or understand what wassaid. At times new columns of smoke from beyond the river rolled towardthem, smoke black and so heavy that it moved near the ground, hidinghouses, people, and every object, just as night does. But the windcaused by the conflagration blew it away again, and then Vinicius pushedforward farther toward the alley in which stood the house of Linus. Thefervor of a July day, increased by the heat of the burning parts of thecity, became unendurable. Smoke pained the eyes; breath failed in men'sbreasts. Even the inhabitants who, hoping that the fire would not crossthe river, had remained in their houses so far, began to leave them;and the throng increased hourly. The pretorians accompanying Viniciusremained in the rear. In the crush some one wounded his horse witha hammer; the beast threw up its bloody head, reared, and refusedobedience. The crowd recognized in Vinicius an Augustian by his richtunic, and at once cries were raised round about: "Death to Nero and hisincendiaries!" This was a moment of terrible danger; hundreds of handswere stretched toward Vinicius; but his frightened horse bore him away,trampling people as he went, and the next moment a new wave of blacksmoke rolled in and filled the street with darkness. Vinicius, seeingthat he could not ride past, sprang to the earth and rushed forwardon foot, slipping along walls, and at times waiting till the fleeingmultitude passed him. He said to himself in spirit that these were vainefforts. Lygia might not be in the city; she might have saved herselfby flight. It was easier to find a pin on the seashore than her in thatcrowd and chaos. Still he wished to reach the house of Linus, evenat the cost of his own life. At times he stopped and rubbed his eyes.Tearing off the edge of his tunic, he covered his nose and mouth withit and ran on. As he approached the river, the heat increased terribly.Vinicius, knowing that the fire had begun at the Circus Maximus, thoughtat first that that heat came from its cinders and from the Forum Boariumand the Velabrum, which, situated near by, must be also in flames. Butthe heat was growing unendurable. One old man on crutches and fleeing,the last whom Vinicius noticed, cried: "Go not near the bridge ofCestius! The whole island is on fire!" It was, indeed, impossible tobe deceived any longer. At the turn toward the Vicus Judaeorum, on whichstood the house of Linus, the young tribune saw flames amid clouds ofsmoke. Not only the island was burning, but the Trans-Tiber, or at leastthe other end of the street on which Lygia dwelt.
Vinicius remembered that the house of Linus was surrounded by a garden;between the garden and the Tiber was an unoccupied field of no greatsize. This thought consoled him. The fire might stop at the vacantplace. In that hope he ran forward, though every breeze brought not onlysmoke, but sparks in thousands, which might raise a fire at the otherend of the alley and cut off his return.
At last he saw through the smoky curtain the cypresses in Linus'sgarden.
The houses beyond the unoccupied field were burning already like pilesof fuel, but Linus's little "insula" stood untouched yet. Viniciusglanced heavenward with thankfulness, and sprang toward the house thoughthe very air began to burn him. The door was closed, but he pushed itopen and rushed in.
There was not a living soul in the garden, and the house seemedquite empty. "Perhaps they have fainted from smoke and heat," thoughtVinicius. He began to call,--
"Lygia! Lygia!"
Silence answered him. Nothing could be heard in the stillness there savethe roar of the distant fire.
"Lygia!"
Suddenly his ear was struck by that gloomy sound which he had heardbefore in that garden. Evidently the vivarium near the temple ofEsculapius, on the neighboring island, had caught fire. In this vivariumevery kind of wild beast, and among others lions, began to roar fromaffright. A shiver ran through Vinicius from foot to head. Now, a secondtime, at a moment when his whole being was concentrated in Lygia, theseterrible voices answered, as a herald of misfortune, as a marvellousprophecy of an ominous future.
But this was a brief impression, for the thunder of the flames, moreterrible yet than the roaring of wild beasts, commanded him to think ofsomething else. Lygia did not answer his calls; but she might be in afaint or stifled in that threatened building. Vinicius sprang to theinterior. The little atrium was empty, and dark with smoke. Feeling forthe door which led to the sleeping-rooms, he saw the gleaming flame ofa small lamp, and approaching it saw the lararium in which was a crossinstead of lares. Under the cross a taper was burning. Through the headof the young catechumen, the thought passed with lightning speed thatthat cross sent him the taper with which he could find Lygia; hence hetook the taper and searched for the sleeping-rooms. He found one, pushedaside the curtains, and, holding the taper, looked around.
There was no one there, either. Vinicius was sure that he had foundLygia's sleeping-room, for her clothing was on nails in the wall, andon the bed lay a capitium, or close garment worn by women next the body.Vinicius seized that, pressed it to his lips, and taking it on his armwent farther. The house was small, so that he examined every room, andeven the cellar quickly. Nowhere could he find a living soul. It wasevident that Lygia, Linus, and Ursus, with other inhabitants of thatpart, must have sought safety in flight.
"I must seek them among the crowd beyond the gates of the city," thoughtVinicius.
He was not astonished greatly at not meeting them on the Via Portuensis,for they might have left the Trans-Tiber through the opposite side alongthe Vatican Hill. In every case they were safe from fire at least. Astone fell from his breast. He saw, it is true, the terrible danger withwhich the flight was connected, but he was comforted at thought of thepreterhuman strength of Ursus. "I must flee now," said he, "and reachthe gardens of Agrippina through the gardens of Domitius, where I shallfind them. The smoke is not so terrible there, since the wind blows fromthe Sabine Hill."
The hour had come now in which he must think of his own safety, for theriver of fire was flowing nearer and nearer from the direction of theisland, and rolls of smoke covered the alley almost completely. Thetaper, which had lighted him in the house, was quenched from the currentof air. Vinicius rushed to the street, and ran at full speed toward theVia Portuensis, whence he had come; the fire seemed to pursue him withburning breath, now surrounding him with fresh clouds of smoke, nowcovering him with sparks, which fell on his hair, neck, and clothing.The tunic began to smoulder on him in places; he cared not, but ranforward lest he might be stifled from smoke. He had the taste of sootand burning in his mouth; his throat and lungs were as if on fire. Theblood rushed to his head, and at moments all things, even the smokeitself, seemed red to him. Then he thought: "This is living fire! Bettercast myself on the ground and perish." The running tortured him moreand more. His head, neck, and shoulders were streaming with sweat, whichscalded like boiling water. Had it not been for Lygia's name, repeatedby him in thought, had it not been for her capitium, which he woundacross his mouth, he would have fallen. Some moments later he failed torecognize the street along which he ran. Consciousness was leaving himgradually; he remembered only that he must flee, for in the open fieldbeyond waited Lygia, whom Peter had promised him. And all at once he wasseized by a certain wonderful conviction, half feverish, like a visionbefore death, that he must see her, marry her, and then die.
But he ran on as if drunk, staggering from one side of the street to theother. Meanwhile something changed in that mo
nstrous conflagrationwhich had embraced the giant city. Everything which till then had onlyglimmered, burst forth visibly into one sea of flame; the wind hadceased to bring smoke. That smoke which had collected in the streetswas borne away by a mad whirl of heated air. That whirl drove with itmillions of sparks, so that Vinicius was running in a fiery cloud as itwere. But he was able to see before him all the better, and in a moment,almost when he was ready to fall, he saw the end of the street. Thatsight gave him fresh strength. Passing the corner, he found himself in astreet which led to the Via Portuensis and the Codetan Field. The sparksceased to drive him. He understood that if he could run to the ViaPortuensis he was safe, even were he to faint on it.
At the end of the street he saw again a cloud, as it seemed, whichstopped the exit. "If that is smoke," thought he, "I cannot pass." Heran with the remnant of his strength. On the way he threw off histunic, which, on fire from the sparks, was burning him like the shirtof Nessus, having only Lygia's capitium around his head and before hismouth. When he had run farther, he saw that what he had taken for smokewas dust, from which rose a multitude of cries and voices.
"The rabble are plundering houses," thought Vinicius. But he ran towardthe voices. In every case people were there; they might assist him. Inthis hope he shouted for aid with all his might before he reached them.But this was his last effort. It grew redder still in his eyes, breathfailed his lungs, strength failed his bones; he fell.
They heard him, however, or rather saw him. Two men ran with gourdsfull of water. Vinicius, who had fallen from exhaustion but had not lostconsciousness, seized a gourd with both hands, and emptied one-half ofit.
"Thanks," said he; "place me on my feet, I can walk on alone."
The other laborer poured water on his head; the two not only placedhim on his feet, but raised him from the ground, and carried him to theothers, who surrounded him and asked if he had suffered seriously. Thistenderness astonished Vinicius.
"People, who are ye?" asked he.
"We are breaking down houses, so that the fire may not reach the ViaPortuensis," answered one of the laborers.
"Ye came to my aid when I had fallen. Thanks to you."
"We are not permitted to refuse aid," answered a number of voices.
Vinicius, who from early morning had seen brutal crowds, slaying androbbing, looked with more attention on the faces around him, and said,--
"May Christ reward you."
"Praise to His name!" exclaimed a whole chorus of voices.
"Linus?" inquired Vinicius.
But he could not finish the question or hear the answer, for he faintedfrom emotion and over-exertion. He recovered only in the Codetan Fieldin a garden, surrounded by a number of men and women. The first wordswhich he uttered were,--
"Where is Linus?"
For a while there was no answer; then some voice, known to Vinicius,said all at once,--
"He went out by the Nomentan Gate to Ostrianum two days ago. Peace bewith thee, O king of Persia!"
Vinicius rose to a sitting posture, and saw Chilo before him.
"Thy house is burned surely, O lord," said the Greek, "for the Carinaeis in flames; but thou wilt be always as rich as Midas. Oh, what amisfortune! The Christians, O son of Serapis, have predicted this longtime that fire would destroy the city. But Linus, with the daughter ofJove, is in Ostrianum. Oh, what a misfortune for the city!"
Vinicius became weak again.
"Hast thou seen them?" he inquired.
"I saw them, O lord. May Christ and all the gods be thanked that I amable to pay for thy benefactions with good news. But, O Cyrus, I shallpay thee still more, I swear by this burning Rome."
It was evening, but in the garden one could see as in daylight, for theconflagration had increased. It seemed that not single parts of the citywere burning, but the whole city through the length and the breadth ofit. The sky was red as far as the eye could see it, and that night inthe world was a red night.
Quo Vadis: A Narrative of the Time of Nero Page 43