by Felix Dahn
CHAPTER IX.
With less cheerfulness than the Tribune, had his confederate Zenoreceived the news of the appearance of the Germans before the town.
He owned many estates outside the gates, managed by slaves andslave-women, who might take this opportunity, as the oppressed often doin such cases, to run away to the barbarians, and with them make goodtheir escape.
Although he was no patron of art, and was too prudent to leavetreasures outside the fortress, yet his villas contained much valuablefurniture and other household goods. There were also herds of cattle,sheep, and swine, which he would very unwillingly have bestowed on therobbers.
Therefore, in the early hours of the morning, when Severus went out toreconnoitre and to take possession of the bridge over the Ivarus, Zenosent out, under the protection of this troop, his slave-master, himselfan emancipated slave, with a gang of armed men, to bring in from thehouses which lay, at all events, on this side of the river, the mostvaluable effects. The slaves especially belonging to those propertieswere to be led into the town--if necessary by force. These peasants andherdsmen, always rougher, wilder, more insubordinate than the townservants, had only obeyed with reluctance; on two estates the unhappycreatures had resisted, but were overpowered by superior numbers andbound with chains to each other. The slave-master swung incessantlyover them the many-lashed leather scourge, urging them to haste, and toburden themselves with still heavier loads, which they balanced ontheir heads.
In a long train, those that were chained in the centre, cattle andsheep forward, armed slaves at each side, the overseers at the head andend of the line, they now came back through the Vindelician gate, whichwas immediately closed behind them.
"Forward, Thrax, thou old dog!" cried Calvus, the overseer--he wasconsidered Zeno's son by a slave-woman--to a white-haired old man whostaggered under a load of bronze vessels; and as from feebleness hecould not hasten his steps, Calvus struck him a severe blow on the backwith the flat of his sword-blade.
The old man cried aloud and stumbled to the ground.
A gigantic neatherd, who was very heavily chained--he had resistedfuriously, and still bled from several wounds--then halted; he therebystopped the progress of all who were chained to him.
"I pray thee, Calvus, spare my father! Give his basket to me."
"Wait, Keix, thou cursed Thracian, I will give thee that which is thydue," cried Calvus, and struck him with the edge of the sword over headand shoulder, so that the blood spouted out. He was silent; not a cryof pain escaped his tightly-pressed lips. But Calvus continued: "Thouhast risen in open rebellion; we might have thee quartered for it. Butit would be losing too much capital to kill such a beast, that we havefed for thirty years. Patience, my little son! I shall try on thee thenew torture instrument which the master has procured from Byzantium.That shall be my refreshing evening's amusement."
The strong Thracian grew pale; but with anger, not fear. He only cast alook at his persecutor, and again strode forwards.
While some of the servants distributed the herds in the town stabling,the chained slaves were taken by Calvus to the court of the master'shouse in the Via Augustana, to receive their punishment.
"Do with them as thou wilt," said Zeno in his writing-chamber, readingthrough the list of the rescued property, "only take care that the lifeand value, that means the power to work of these wretches, does notsuffer thereby. Previous to mutilation, we must, according to the lawof the pious Constantine, obtain the sentence of the Judge. I will askmy son-in-law. Mucius," and he smiled; "but, with a slight modificationof the law, _afterwards_. Now I shall go to the Bath of Amphitrite toinquire the news."
While he, accompanied by Calvus, was passing through the court, hiseyes fell on old Thrax, who lay in the comer on some straw; quiteexhausted, he had sunk into a deep sleep; by him, leaning against thewall, was his giant son, heavily chained; blood still trickled from hiswounds. Zeno thrust at the sleeper with his staff; the old man openedhis tired eyes:
"Ah, am I still alive? I dreamt that the Lord had called me! I walkedin Paradise! But on the earth also I belong to the Lord Christ!"
"Then thy Lord Christ shall feed thee," mocked Zeno. "Calvus, that oldman is good for nothing. Withdraw from him the wine and bacon. It isuseless to feed him." His look then met the eye of the son, who graspedhis chains in rage.
Zeno was alarmed.
"Listen, Calvus," whispered he; "that one there, after he has beentortured, let him be sold. He makes me uneasy. He has the look of ourblack bull immediately before it went mad. Away with him to the minesof the Fiscus! They need there such strong scoundrels, and the leadsoon poisons. Now to the bath!"
With that he went out of the court. He had hardly crossed the thresholdof his house, when a lame slave hobbled in, who very much resembled thepowerful-limbed Keix; it was his elder brother. But he did not seem tonotice either the old father or the brother streaming with blood; helimped towards Calvus, and said, deeply bending:
"My master, Mucius the Judge, sends you this writing. Zeno and thou,you are accused before him, by Johannes the priest, of having scourgedthe Syrian woman, so that the unborn child died. He says he can thistime only with difficulty acquit you."
The writing was long; while Calvus read it with a knitted brow, thelame man glided silently to his brother and pressed a file into hishand; it was wrapped in a strip of papyrus. Keix read: "After themid-day meal." With his chained hand he lifted the small strip to hismouth and swallowed it.
The lame man stood again behind Calvus. "What answer, sir?"
Highly displeased, Calvus gave him back the indictment. "May Orkusswallow up this priest! He knows everything that does not concern him.I must myself speak with thy master. Go on! Thou limpest horribly,Kottys," laughed he. "But the expedient has been successful. We soldthee to the Judge as incorrigible. But since thy new master has cut thysinews for thee, thou hast not again attempted to escape, and artbecome tame, quite tame." They then both left the court.