Chapter XVI
The Rubicon
I
It was growing late, but the proconsul apparently was manifesting noimpatience. All the afternoon he had been transacting the routinebusiness of a provincial governor--listening to appeals to hisjudgment seat, signing requisitions for tax imposts, making outcommissions, and giving undivided attention to a multitude of seemingtrifles. Only Decimus Mamercus, the young centurion,--elder son of theveteran of Praeneste,--who stood guard at the doorway of the publicoffice of the praetorium, thought he could observe a hidden nervousnessand a still more concealed petulance in his superior's manner thatbetokened anxiety and a desire to be done with the routine of the day.Finally the last litigant departed, the governor descended from thecurule chair, the guard saluted as he passed out to his own privaterooms, and soon, as the autumn darkness began to steal over thecantonment, nothing but the call of the sentries broke the calm of theadvancing night.
Caesar was submitting to the attentions of his slaves, who wereexchanging his robes of state for the comfortable evening _synthesis_.But the proconsul was in no mood for the publicity of the eveningbanquet. When his chief freedman announced that the invited guests hadassembled, the master bade him go to the company and inform them thattheir host was indisposed, and wished them to make merry without him.The evening advanced. Twice Caesar touched to his lips a cup of spicedwine, but partook of nothing else. Sending his servants from hischamber, he alternately read, and wrote nervously on his tablets, thenerased all that he had inscribed, and paced up and down the room.Presently the anxious head-freedman thrust his head into theapartment.
"My lord, it is past midnight. The guests have long departed. Therewill be serious injury done your health, if you take no food andrest."
"My good Antiochus," replied the proconsul, "you are a faithfulfriend."
The freedman--an elderly, half-Hellenized Asiatic--knelt and kissedthe Roman's robe.
"My lord knows that I would die for him."
"I believe you, Antiochus. The gods know I never needed a friend morethan now! Do not leave the room."
The general's eyes were glittering, his cheeks flushed with anunhealthy colour. The freedman was startled.
"Domine, domine!" he began, "you are not well--let me send forCalchas, the physician; a mild sleeping powder--"
For the first time in his long service of Caesar, Antiochus met with aburst of wrath from his master.
"Vagabond! Do you think a sleeping potion will give peace to _me_?Speak again of Calchas, and I'll have you crucified!"
"Domine, domine!" cried the trembling freedman; but Caesar swept on:--
"Don't go from the room! I am desperate to-night. I may lay violenthands on myself. Why should I not ask you for a poisoned dagger?"
Antiochus cowered at his master's feet.
"Yes, why not? What have I to gain by living? I have won some littlefame. I have conquered all Gaul. I have invaded Britain. I have madethe Germans tremble. Life is an evil dream, a nightmare, a frightfuldelusion. Death is real. Sleep--sleep--forever sleep! No care, noambition, no vexation, no anger, no sorrow. Cornelia, the wife of mylove, is asleep. Julia is asleep. All that I loved sleep. Why not Ialso?"
"Domine, speak not so!" and Antiochus clasped the proconsul's knees.
Caesar bent down and lifted him up by the hand. When he spoke again,the tone was entirely changed.
"Old friend, you have known me; have loved me. You were my_pedagogue_[151] when I went to school at Rome. You taught me to rideand fence and wrestle. You aided me to escape the myrmidons of Sulla.You were with me in Greece. You shared my joy in my politicalsuccesses, my triumphs in the field. And now what am I to do? You knowthe last advices from Rome; you know the determination of the consulsto work my ruin. To-day no news has come at all, and for us no news isthe worst of news."
[151] Slave who looked after the welfare and conduct of a schoolboy.
"Domine," said Antiochus, wiping his eyes, "I cannot dream that theSenate and Pompeius will deny you your right to the secondconsulship."
"But if they do? You know what Curio reports. What then?"
Antiochus shook his head.
"It would mean war, bloody war, the upturning of the whole world!"
"War, or--" and Caesar paused.
"What, my lord?" said the freedman.
"I cease either to be a care to myself or my enemies."
"I do not understand you, domine," ventured Antiochus, turning pale.
"I mean, good friend," said the proconsul, calmly, "that when Iconsider how little life often seems worth, and how much disaster thecontinuance of my act of living means to my fellow-men, I feel oftenthat I have no right to live."
Antiochus staggered with dread. Caesar was no longer talking wildly;and the freedman knew that when in a calm mood the proconsul wasalways perfectly serious.
"Domine, you have not rashly determined this?" he hinted.
"I have determined nothing. I never rashly determine anything. Hark!Some one is at the door."
There was a loud military knock, and the clang of armour.
"Enter," commanded Caesar.
Decimus Mamercus hastened into the room. So great was his excitementthat his Roman discipline had forsaken him. He neglected to salute.
"News! news! Imperator! from Rome! News which will set all Italyafire!"
Whereupon the man who had but just before been talking of suicide,with the greatest possible deliberation seated himself on acomfortable chair, arranged his dress, and remarked with perfectcoldness:--
"No tidings can justify a soldier in neglecting to salute hisgeneral."
Decimus turned red with mortification, and saluted.
"Now," said Caesar, icily, "what have you to report?"
"Imperator," replied Decimus, trying to speak with unimpassionedpreciseness, "a messenger has just arrived from Rome. He reports thatthe Senate and consuls have declared the Republic in peril, that theveto of your tribunes has been over-ridden, and they themselves forcedto flee for their lives."
Caesar had carelessly dropped a writing tablet that he was holding, andnow he stooped slowly and picked it up again.
"The messenger is here?" he inquired, after a pause.
"He is," replied the centurion.
"Has he been duly refreshed after a hard ride?" was the next question.
"He has just come."
"Then let him have the best food and drink my butler and cellarer canset before him."
"But his news is of extreme importance," gasped Decimus, only halfbelieving his ears.
"I have spoken," said the general, sternly. "What is his name?"
"He is called Quintus Drusus, Imperator."
"Ah!" was his deliberate response, "send him to me when he will eatand drink no more."
Decimus saluted again, and withdrew, while his superior opened theroll in his hands, and with all apparent fixity and interest studiedat the precepts and definitions of the grammar of Dionysius Thrax, thenoted philologist.
At the end of some minutes Quintus Drusus stood before him.
The young Praenestian was covered with dust, was unkempt, ragged; hisstep was heavy, his arms hung wearily at his side, his head almostdrooped on his breast with exhaustion. But when he came into theImperator's presence, he straightened himself and tried to make agesture of salutation. Caesar had risen from his chair.
"Fools!" he cried, to the little group of slaves and soldiers, whowere crowding into the room, "do you bring me this worn-out man, whoneeds rest? Who dared this? Has he been refreshed as I commanded?"
"He would take nothing but some wine--" began Decimus.
"I would have waited until morning, if necessary, before seeing him.Here!" and while Caesar spoke he half led, half thrust, the messengerinto his own chair, and, anticipating the nimblest slave, unclaspedthe travel-soiled paenula from Drusus's shoulders. The young man triedto rise and shake off these ministrations, but the proconsul gentlyrestrained him. A single look sufficed to s
end all the curious retinuefrom the room. Only Antiochus remained, sitting on a stool in adistant corner.
"And now, my friend," said Caesar, smiling, and drawing a chair closeup to that of Drusus, "tell me when it was that you left Rome."
"Two days ago," gasped the wearied messenger.
"_Mehercle!_" cried the general, "a hundred and sixty miles in twodays! This is incredible! And you come alone?"
"I had Andraemon, the fastest horse in Rome. Antonius, Caelius, Cassius,Curio, and myself kept together as far as Clusium. There was no longerany danger of pursuit, no need for more than one to hasten." Drusus'ssentences were coming in hot pants. "I rode ahead. Rode my horse dead.Took another at Arretium. And so I kept changing. And now--I am here."And with this last utterance he stopped, gasping.
Caesar, instead of demanding the tidings from Rome, turned toAntiochus, and bade him bring a basin and perfumed water to washDrusus's feet. Meantime the young man had recovered his breath.
"You have heard of the violence of the new consuls and how Antoniusand Cassius withstood them. On the seventh the end came. The vetoeswere set aside. Our protests were disregarded. The Senate has clothedthe consuls and other magistrates with dictatorial power; they areabout to make Lucius Domitius proconsul of Gaul."
"And I?" asked Caesar, for the first time displaying any personalinterest.
"You, Imperator, must disband your army and return to Rome speedily,or be declared an outlaw, as Sertorius or Catilina was."
"Ah!" and for a minute the proconsul sat motionless, while Drususagain kept silence.
"But you--my friends--the tribunes?" demanded the general, "you spokeof danger; why was it that you fled?"
"We fled in slaves' dresses, O Caesar, because otherwise we should longago have been strangled like bandits in the Tullianum. Lentulus Crusdrove us with threats from the Senate. On the bridge, but for thefavour of the gods, his lictors would have taken us. We were chased byPompeius's foot soldiers as far as Janiculum. We ran away from hiscavalry. If they hate us, your humble friends, so bitterly, how muchthe more must they hate you!"
"And the tribunes, and Curio, and Caelius are on their way hither?"asked Caesar.
"They will be here very soon."
"That is well," replied the proconsul; then, with a totally unexpectedturn, "Quintus Drusus, what do you advise me to do?"
"I--I advise, Imperator?" stammered the young man.
"And who should advise, if not he who has ridden so hard and fast inmy service? Tell me, is there any hope of peace, of reconciliationwith Pompeius?"
"None."
"Any chance that the senators will recover their senses, and propose areasonable compromise?"
"None."
"Will not Cicero use his eloquence in the cause of peace and commonjustice?"
"I have seen him. He dare not open his mouth."
"Ah!" and again Caesar was silent, this time with a smile, perhaps ofscorn, playing around his mouth.
"Are the people, the equites, given body and soul over to the warparty?"
Drusus nodded sadly. "So long as the consuls are in the ascendant,they need fear no revolution at home. The people are not at heart yourenemies, Imperator; but they will wait to be led by the winning side."
"And you advise?"--pressed Caesar, returning to the charge.
"War!" replied Drusus, with all the rash emphasis of youth.
"Young man," said Caesar, gravely, half sadly, "what you have said iseasy to utter. Do you know what war will mean?"
Drusus was silent.
"Let us grant that our cause is most just. Even then, if we fight, wedestroy the Republic. If I conquer, it must be over the wreck of theCommonwealth. If Pompeius--on the same terms. I dare not harbour anyillusions. The state cannot endure the farce of another Sullianrestoration and reformation. A permanent government by one strong manwill be the only one practicable to save the world from anarchy. Haveyou realized that?"
"I only know, Imperator," said Drusus, gloomily, "that no future statecan be worse than ours to-day, when the magistrates of the Republicare the most grievous despots."
Caesar shook his head.
"You magnify your own wrongs and mine. If mere revenge prompts us, weare worse than Xerxes, or Sulla. The gods alone can tell us what isright."
"The gods!" cried Drusus, half sunken though he was in a wearylethargy, "do you believe there are any gods?"
Caesar threw back his head. "Not always; but at moments I do not_believe_ in them, I _know_! And now I _know_ that gods are guidingus!"
"Whither?" exclaimed the young man, starting from his wearydrowsiness.
"I know not whither; neither do I care. Enough to be conscious thatthey guide us!"
And then, as though there was no pressing problem involving the peaceof the civilized world weighing upon him, the proconsul stood by inkind attention while Antiochus and an attendant bathed the weariedmessenger's feet before taking him away to rest.
After Drusus had been carried to his room, Caesar collected themanuscripts and tablets scattered about the apartment, methodicallyplaced them in the proper cases and presses, suffered himself to beundressed, and slept late into the following morning, as sweetly andsoundly as a little child.
II
On the next day Caesar called before him the thirteenth legion,--theonly force he had at Ravenna,--and from a pulpit in front of thepraetorium he told them the story of what had happened at Rome; of howthe Senate had outraged the tribunes of the plebs, whom even theviolent Sulla had respected; of how the mighty oligarchy had outragedevery soldier in insulting their commander. Then Curio, just arrived,declaimed with indignant fervour of the violence and fury of theconsuls and Pompeius; and when he concluded, the veterans couldrestrain their ardour and devotion no more, five thousand martialthroats roared forth an oath of fealty, and as many swords were wavedon high in mad defiance to the Senate and the Magnus. Then cohortafter cohort cried out that on this campaign they would accept no pay;and the military tribunes and centurions pledged themselves, thisofficer for the support of two recruits, and that for three.
It was a great personal triumph for Caesar. He stood receiving thepledges and plaudits, and repaying each protestation of loyalty with afew gracious words, or smiles, that were worth fifty talents to eachacclaiming maniple. Drusus, who was standing back of the proconsul,beside Curio, realized that never before had he seen such outgoing ofmagnetism and personal energy from man to man, one mind holding invassalage five thousand. Yet it was all very quickly over. Almostwhile the plaudits of the centuries were rending the air, Caesar turnedto the senior tribune of the legion.
"Are your men ready for the march, officer?"
The soldier instantly fell into rigid military pose. "Ready thisinstant, Imperator. We have expected the order."
"March to Ariminum, and take possession of the town. March rapidly."
The tribune saluted, and stepped back among his cohort. And as if someconjurer had flourished a wand of magic, in the twinkling of an eyethe first century had formed in marching order; every legionary hadflung over his shoulder his shield and pack, and at the harsh blare ofthe military trumpet the whole legion fell into line; the aquiliferwith the bronze eagle, that had tossed on high in a score ofhard-fought fights, swung off at the head of the van; and away wentthe legion, a thing not of thinking flesh and blood, but of brass andiron--a machine that marched as readily and carelessly against theconsuls of the Roman Republic as against the wretched Gallicinsurgents. The body of troops--cohort after cohort--was vanishingdown the road in a cloud of dust, the pack train following after,almost before Drusus could realize that the order to advance had beengiven.
Caesar was still standing on the little pulpit before the praetorium.Except for Curio and Drusus, almost all the vast company that had butjust now been pressing about him with adulation and homage weredisappearing from sight. For an instant the Imperator seemed alone,stripped of all the panoply of his high estate. He stood watching thelegion until its dust-cloud settled
behind some low-lying hills. Thenhe stepped down from the pulpit. Beyond a few menials and Drusus andthat young man's late comrade in danger, no one else was visible. Thetransaction had been so sudden as to have something of thephantasmagoric about it.
Caesar took his two friends, one by each hand, and led them back to hisprivate study in the praetorium.
"The army is yours, Imperator," said Curio, breaking a ratheroppressive silence. "The newest recruit is yours to the death."
"Yes, to the death," replied the general, abstractedly; and his keeneyes wandered down upon the mosaic, seemingly penetrating the stoneand seeking something hidden beneath. "The thirteenth legion," hecontinued, "will do as a test of the loyalty of the others. They willnot fail me. The eighth and the twelfth will soon be over the Alps.Fabius is at Narbo with three. They will check Pompeius's Spaniards. Imust send to Trebonius for his four among the Belgae; he is sendingFabius one." And then, as if wearied by this recapitulation, Caesar'seyes wandered off again to the pavement.
Drusus had an uneasy sensation. What was this strange mingling ofenergy and listlessness? Why this soliloquy and internal debate, whenthe moment called for the most intense activity? The general beingstill silent, his friends did not venture to disturb him. ButAntiochus passed in and out of the study, gathering up writingmaterials, tablets, and books; and presently Drusus heard the freedmanbidding an underling have ready and packed the marble slabs used forthe tessellated floor of the Imperator's tent--a bit of luxury thatCaesar never denied himself while in the field. Presently the proconsulraised his eyes. He was smiling; there was not the least cloud on hisbrow.
"There will be some public games here this afternoon," he remarked, asthough the sole end in view was to make their stay pleasant to hisguests: "I have promised the good people of the town to act as_editor_,[152] and must not fail to honour them. Perhaps the sportwill amuse you, although the provincials cannot of course get suchgood lanista-trained men as you see at Rome. I have a new fencingschool in which perhaps we may find a few _threces_[153] and_retiarii_,[154] who will give some tolerable sword and net play."
[152] President of the games.
[153] Buckler and cutlass men.
[154] Net and trident men.
"_Hei!_" groaned Curio, with a lugubrious whisper, "to think of it, Ihave never a sesterce left that I can call my own, to stake on thestruggle!"
"At least," laughed Drusus, "I am a companion of your grief; alreadyLentulus and Ahenobarbus have been sharing my forfeited estate."
But the proconsul looked serious and sad.
"_Vah_, my friends! Would that I could say that your loyalty to mycause would cost you nothing! It is easy to promise to win back foryou everything you have abandoned, but as the poets say, 'All thatlies in the lap of the gods.' But you shall not be any longer the mererecipients of my bounty. Stern work is before us. I need not ask youif you will play your part. You, Curio, shall have a proper place onmy staff of legates as soon as I have enough troops concentrated; butyou, my dear Drusus, what post would best reward you for your loyalty?Will you be a military tribune, and succeed your father?"
"Your kindness outruns your judgment, Imperator," replied Drusus."Save repelling Dumnorix and Ahenobarbus, I never struck a blow inanger. Small service would I be to you, and little glory would I winas an officer, when the meanest legionary knows much that I maylearn."
"Then, amice," said Caesar, smiling, perhaps with the satisfaction of aman who knows when it is safe to make a gracious offer which he isaware will not be accepted, though none the less flattering, "if youwill thus misappraise yourself, you shall act as centurion for thepresent, on my corps of _praetoriani_,[155] where you will be amongfriends and comrades of your father, and be near my person if I haveany special need of you."
[155] General's body-guard of picked veterans.
Drusus proffered the best thanks he could; it was a great honour--onealmost as great as a tribuneship, though hardly as responsible; and hefelt repaid for all the weariness of his desperate ride to Ravenna.
And then, with another of those strange alternations of behaviour,Caesar led him and Curio off to inspect the fencing-school; then showedthem his favourite horse, pointed out its peculiar toelike hoofs, andrelated merrily how when it was a young colt, a soothsayer hadpredicted that its owner would be master of the world, and howhe--Caesar,--had broken its fiery spirit, and made it perfectly docile,although no other man could ride the beast.
The afternoon wore on. Caesar took his friends to the games, andwatched with all apparent interest the rather sanguinary contestsbetween the gladiators. Drusus noticed the effusive loyalty of theRavenna citizens, who shouted a tumultuous welcome to the illustrious_editor_, but Caesar acted precisely as though the presidency of thesports were his most important office. Only his young admirer observedthat as often as a gladiator brought his opponent down and appealed tothe _editor_ for a decision on the life or death of the vanquished,Caesar invariably waved his handkerchief, a sign of mercy, rather thanbrutally turned down his thumb, the sentence of death. After thegames, the proconsul interchanged personal greetings with the moreprominent townspeople. Drusus began to wonder whether the whole dayand evening were to pass in this manner; and indeed so it seemed, forthat night the Imperator dispensed his usual open-handed hospitality.His great banqueting hall contained indeed no army officers, but therewere an abundance of the provincial gentry. Caesar dined apart with histwo friends. The courses went in and out. The proconsul continued anunceasing flow of light conversation: witty comments on Roman societyand fashion, scraps of literary lore, now and then a bit of personalreminiscence of Gaul. Drusus forgot all else in the agreeable pleasureof the moment. Presently Caesar arose and mingled with his less exaltedguests; when he returned to the upper table the attendants werebringing on the beakers, and the Cisalpine provincials were pledgingone another in draughts of many _cyathi_, "prosperity to theproconsul, and confusion to his enemies." Caesar took a shallow glassof embossed blue and white bas-relief work,--a triumph of Alexandrianart,--poured into it a few drops of undiluted Caecuban liquor, dasheddown the potion, then dropped the priceless beaker on to the floor.
"An offering to Fortuna!" he cried, springing from his couch. "Myfriends, let us go!" And quietly leaving the table on the dais, thethree found themselves outside the banqueting hall, while theprovincials, unconscious that their host had departed, continued theirnoisy revelry.
Drusus at once saw that everything was ready for departure. Antiochuswas at hand with travelling cloaks, and assured the young man that duecare had been taken to send in advance for him a complete wardrobe andoutfit. The proconsul evidently intended to waste no time in starting.Drusus realized by the tone of his voice that Caesar the host hadvanished, and Caesar the imperator was present. His words were terseand to the point.
"Curio, you will find a fast horse awaiting you. Take it. Bide at fullspeed after the legion. Take command of the rear cohorts and of theothers as you come up with them. Lead rapidly to Ariminum."
And Curio, who was a man of few words, when few were needed, salutedand disappeared in the darkness. Drusus followed the general out afterhim. But no saddle-horses were prepared for Caesar. Antiochus and oneor two slaves were ready with lanterns, and led the general and Drususout of the gloomy cantonment, along a short stretch of road, to a millbuilding, where in the dim light of the last flickers of day could beseen a carriage with mules.
"I have hired this as you wished," said the freedman, briefly.
"It is well," responded his patron.
Antiochus clambered upon the front seat; a stout German serving-manwas at the reins. Caesar motioned to Drusus to sit beside him behind.There were a few necessaries in the carriage, but no other attendants,no luggage cart. The German shook the reins over the backs of the twomules, and admonished them in his barbarous native dialect. The dimshadow of the mill faded from sight; the lights of the praetorium grewdimmer and dimmer: soon nothing was to be seen outside the narrowcircle of pale light
shed on the ground ahead by the lantern.
The autumn season was well advanced. The day however had been warm.The night was sultry. There were no stars above, no moon, no wind. Asickening miasmic odour rose from the low flat country sloping offtoward the Adriatic--the smell of overripe fruit, of decayingvegetation, of the harvest grown old. There had been a drought, andnow the dust rose thick and heavy, making the mules and travellerscough, and the latter cover their faces. Out of the darkness came notthe least sound: save the creaking of the dead boughs on trees, whosedim tracery could just be distinguished against the sombre backgroundof the sky.
No one spoke, unless the incoherent shouts of the German to the mulesbe termed speech. Antiochus and Caesar were sunk in stupor or reverie.Drusus settled back on the cushions, closed his eyes, and bade himselfbelieve that it was all a dream. Six months ago he had been a studentat Athens, wandering with his friends along the trickling Cephissus,or climbing, in holiday sport, the marble cone of Hymettus. Andnow--he was a proscribed rebel! Enemies thirsted for his blood! He wasriding beside a man who made no disclaimer of his intention to subvertthe constitution! If Caesar failed, he, Drusus, would share in "thatbad eminence" awarded by fame to the execrated Catilinarians. Wasit--was it not all a dream? Connected thought became impossible. Nowhe was in the dear old orchard at Praeneste playing _micare_[156] withCornelia and AEmilia; now back in Athens, now in Rome. Poetry, prose,scraps of oratory, philosophy, and rules of rhetoric,--Latin and Greekinextricably intermixed,--ideas without the least possible connection,raced through his head. How long he thus drifted on in his reverie hemight not say. Perhaps he fell asleep, for the fatigue of hisextraordinary riding still wore on him. A cry from Antiochus, a cursefrom the German, startled him out of his stupor. He stared about. Itwas pitch dark. "The gods blast it!" Antiochus was bawling. "Thelantern has jolted out!"
[156] A finger-guessing game.
To relight it under existing circumstances, in an age when frictionmatches were unknown, was practically impossible.
"Fellow," said the proconsul's steady voice, "do you know the road toAriminum?"
The driver answered in his broken Latin that he was the slave of thestable keeper who had let the carriage, and had been often over theroad, but to go safely in the dark was more than he could vouch for.The only thing the German saw to be done was to wait in the road untilthe morning, or until the moon broke out through the clouds.
"Drusus," remarked the proconsul, "you are the youngest. Can your eyesmake out anything to tell us where we are?"
The young man yawned, shook off his drowsiness, and stared out intothe gloomy void.
"I can just make out that to our left are tall trees, and I imagine athicket."
"Very good. If you can see as much as that here, it is safe toproceed. Let us change places. I will take the reins. Do you, Drusus,come and direct me."
"Oh! domine!" entreated Antiochus, "don't imperil yourself to-night!I'm sure some calamity impends before dawn. I consulted a soothsayerbefore setting out, and the dove which he examined had no heart--acertain sign of evil."
"Rascal!" retorted his patron, "the omens will be more favourable whenI please. A beast wants a heart--no very great prodigy! men losetheirs very often, and think it slight disgrace. Change your seat,sirrah!"
Caesar took the reins, smote the mules, and went off at so furious apace that the worthy Antiochus was soon busy invoking first one, thenanother, member of the pantheon, to avert disaster. Drusus speedilyfound that the general's vision was far more keen than his own.Indeed, although the road, he knew, was rough and crooked, they metwith no mishaps. Presently a light could be seen twinkling in thedistance.
"We must get a guide," remarked the Imperator decisively, and hestruck the mules again.
They at last approached what the owl-like discernment of Caesarpronounced to be a small farmhouse with a few out-buildings. But itwas no easy matter to arouse the drowsy countrymen, and a still moredifficult task to convince the good man of the house that hisnocturnal visitors were not brigands. At last it was explained thattwo gentlemen from Ravenna were bound for Ariminum, on urgentbusiness, and he must furnish a guide for which he would be amplypaid. As a result, the German driver at last resumed the reins, andsped away with a fresh lantern, and at his side a stupid peasant boy,who was almost too shy to make himself useful.
But more misfortune was in store. Barely a mile had they traversed,before an ominous crack proclaimed the splitting of an axletree. Thecheap hired vehicle could go no farther.
"'Tis a sure sign the gods are against our proceeding this night,"expostulated Antiochus; "let us walk back to the farmhouse, my lord."
Caesar did not deign to give him an answer. He deliberately descended,clasped his paenula over his shoulders, and bade the German make thebest of his way back to Ravenna. The peasant boy, he declared, couldlead them on foot until dawn.
The freedman groaned, but he was helpless. The guide, bearing thelantern, convoyed them out of the highroad, to strike what he assuredthem was a less circuitous route; and soon had his travellers, nowplunged in quagmires that in daylight would have seemed impassable,now clambering over stocks and stones, now leaping broad ditches. Atlast, after thoroughly exhausting the patience of his companions, thewretched fellow confessed that he had missed the by-path, and indeeddid not know the way back.
Antiochus was now too frightened to declare his warnings confirmed.Drusus liked the prospect of a halt on these swampy, miasmic fieldslittle enough, But again the proconsul was all resources. With almostomniscience he led his companions through blind mazes of fallow landand stubble fields: came upon a brook at the only point where thereappeared to be any stepping-stones; and at length, just as the murkyclouds seemed about to lift, and the first beams of the moon struggledout into the black chaos, the wanderers saw a multitude of firestwinkling before them, and knew that they had come upon the rearcohort of the thirteenth legion, on its way to Ariminum.
The challenge of the sentry was met by a quick return of thewatchword, but the effusively loyal soldier was bidden to hold hispeace and not disturb his comrades.
"What time is it?" inquired his general. The fellow replied it lackedone hour of morn. Caesar skirted the sleeping camp, and soon came outagain on the highroad. There was a faint paleness in the east; asingle lark sang from out the mist of grey ether overhead; an ox ofthe baggage train rattled his tethering chain and bellowed. A soft,damp river fog touched on Drusus's face. Suddenly an early horseman,coming at a moderate gallop, was heard down the road. In thestillness, the pounding of his steed crept slowly nearer and nearer;then, as he was almost on them, came the hollow clatter of the hoofsupon the planks of a bridge. _Caesar stopped._ Drusus felt himselfclutched by the arm so tightly that the grasp almost meant pain.
"Do you hear? Do you see?" muttered the Imperator's voice in his ear."The bridge, the river--we have reached it!"
"Your excellency--" began Drusus, sorely at a loss.
"No compliments, this is the Rubicon; the boundaries of Cisalpine Gauland Italy. On this side I am still the Proconsul--not as yet rightlydeposed. On the other--Caesar, the Outlaw, the Insurgent, the Enemy ofhis Country, whose hand is against every man, every man's hand againsthim. What say you? Speak! speak quickly! Shall I cross? Shall I turnback?"
"Imperator," said the young man, struggling to collect his wits andrealize the gravity of his own words, "if you did not intend to cross,why send the legion over to commence the invasion? Why harangue them,if you had no test to place upon their loyalty?"
"Because," was his answer, "I would not through my own indecisionthrow away my chance to strike. But the troops can be recalled. It isnot too late. No blood has been shed. I am merely in a position tostrike if so I decide. No,--nothing is settled."
Drusus had never felt greater embarrassment. Before he could makereply, Caesar had bidden Antiochus and the peasant boy remain in theroadway, and had led the young man down the embankment that ransloping toward the river. The light was growing st
ronger every moment,though the mist still hung heavy and dank. Below their feet theslender stream--it was the end of the season--ran with a monotonousgurgle, now and then casting up a little fleck of foam, as it rolledby a small boulder in its bed.
"Imperator," said Drusus, while Caesar pressed his hand tighter andtighter, "why advise with an inexperienced young man like myself? Whydid you send Curio away? I have no wisdom to offer; nor dare profferit, if such I had."
"Quintus Drusus," replied Caesar, sinking rather wearily down upon thedry, dying grass, "if I had needed the counsel of a soldier, I shouldhave waited until Marcus Antonius arrived; if I had needed that of apolitician, I was a fool to send away Curio; if I desire the counselof one who is, as yet, neither a man of the camp, nor a man of theForum, but who can see things with clear eyes, can tell what may beneither glorious nor expedient, but what will be the will,"--and herethe Imperator hesitated,--"the will of the gods, tell me to whom Ishall go."
Drusus was silent; the other continued;--
"Listen, Quintus Drusus. I do not believe in blind fate. We were notgiven wills only to have them broken. The function of a limb is not tobe maimed, nor severed from the body. A limb is to serve a man; justso a man and his actions are to serve the ends of a power higher andnobler than he. If he refuse to serve that power, he is like themortifying limb,--a thing of evil to be cut off. And this is true ofall of us; we all have some end to serve, we are not created for nopurpose." Caesar paused. When he began again it was in a different toneof voice. "I have brought you with me, because I know you areintelligent, are humane, love your country, and can make sacrificesfor her; because you are my friend and to a certain extent share mydestiny; because you are too young to have become overprejudiced, andcalloused to pet foibles and transgressions. Therefore I took you withme, having put off the final decision to the last possible instant.And now I desire your counsel."
"How can I counsel peace!" replied Drusus, warming to a sense of thesituation. "Is not Italy in the hand of tyrants? Is not Pompeius thetool of coarse schemers? Do they not pray for proscriptions andconfiscations and abolition of debt? Will there be any peace, anyhappiness in life, so long as we call ourselves freemen, yet endurethe chains of a despotism worse than that of the Parthians?"
"Ah! amice!" said Caesar, twisting the long limp grass, "every enemy isa tyrant, if he has the upper hand. Consider, what will the war be?Blood, the blood of the noblest Romans! The overturning oftime-honoured institutions! A shock that will make the world totremble, kings be laid low, cities annihilated! East, west, north,south--all involved--so great has our Roman world become!"
"And are there not wrongs, abuses, Imperator, which cry for vengeanceand for righting?" replied Drusus, vehemently. "Since the fall ofCarthage, have not the fears of Scipio AEmilianus almost come true:Troy has fallen, Carthage has fallen; has not Rome almost fallen,fallen not by the might of her enemies, but by the decay of hermorals, the degeneracy of her statesmen? What is the name of liberty,without the semblance! Is it liberty for a few mighty families toenrich themselves, while the Republic groans? Is it liberty for thelaw courts to have their price, for the provinces to be the farms of ahandful of nobles?"
Caesar shook his head.
"You do not know what you say. This is no moment for declamation.Every man has his own life to live, his own death to die. Ourintellects cannot assure us of any consciousness the instant thatbreath has left our bodies. It is then as if we had never hoped, hadnever feared; it is rest, peace. Quintus Drusus, I have dared manythings in my life. I defied Sulla; it was boyish impetuosity. I tookthe unpopular and perilous side when Catilina's confederates were sentto their deaths; it was the ardour of a young politician. I defied therage of the Senate, while I was praetor; still more hot madness. Ifaced death a thousand times in Gaul, against the Nervii, in thecampaign with Vercingetorix; all this was the mere courage of thecommon soldier. But it is not of death I am afraid; be it death on thefield of battle, or death at the hands of the executioner, should Ifall into the power of my enemies, I fear myself.
"You ask me to explain?" went on the general, without pausing for aquestion. "Hearken! I am a man, you are a man, our enemies are men. Ihave slain a hundred thousand men in Gaul. Cruel? No, for had theylived the great designs which the deity wills to accomplish in thatcountry could not be executed! But then my mind was at rest. I said,'Let these men die,' and no Nemesis has required their blood at myhands. What profit these considerations? The Republic is nothing but aname, without substance or reality. It is doomed to fall. Sulla was afool to abdicate the dictatorship. Why did he not establish adespotism, and save us all this turmoil of politics? But LentulusCrus, Pompeius, Cato, Scipio--they are men with as much ambition, asmuch love of life, as myself. The Republic will fall into their hands.Why will it be worse off than in mine? Why shed rivers of blood? Afterdeath one knows no regrets. If I were dead, what would it matter to meif obloquy was imputed to my name, if my enemies triumphed, if theworld went to chaos over my grave. It would not mean so much as asingle evil dream in my perpetual slumber."
Caesar was no longer resting on the bank. He was pacing to and fro,with rapid, nervous steps, crushing the dry twigs under his shoes,pressing his hands together behind his back, knitting and unknittinghis fingers.
Drusus knew enough to be aware that he was present as a spectator ofthat most terrible of all conflicts--a strong man's wrestle with hisown misgivings. To say something, to say anything, that would ease theshock of the contest--that was the young man's compelling desire; buthe felt as helpless as though he, single handed, confronted tenlegions.
"But your friends, Imperator," he faltered, "think of them! They havemade sacrifices for you. They trust in you. Do not abandon them totheir enemies!"
Caesar stopped in his impetuous pacings.
"Look here," he exclaimed, almost fiercely, "you wish to be happy. Youare still very young; life is sweet. You have just forsaken wealth,friends, love, because you have a fantastic attachment for my cause.You will live to repent of your boyish decision. You will wish to winback all you have lost. Well, I will give you the chance; do what Itell you, and you shall ride into Rome the hero of Senate and people!The consuls will be to you all smiles. Pompeius will canvass for youif you desire to become a candidate for curule office before you reachthe legal age limit. Cicero will extol your name in an immortaloration, in which he will laud your deed above the slaying of thedangerous demagogue Maelius by Servilius Ahala. Will you do as I shallbid you?"
Drusus's eyes had been riveted on those of the general. He saw that atCaesar's side was girded a long slender dagger in an embossed silversheath. He saw the Imperator draw out the blade halfway, then pointoff into the river where the water ran sluggishly through a singledeep mist-shaded pool.
"Do you understand?" went on Caesar, as calmly as though he had beenexpounding a problem of metaphysics. "You can take this ring of mine,and by its aid go through the whole legion, and obtain the best horsesfor flight, before anything is discovered. Your conscience need nottrouble you. You will only have done as I earnestly requested."
The cold sweat started to Drusus's forehead, his head swam; he knewthat it was more than the mist of the river-fog that drifted beforehis eyes. Then, filled with a sudden impulse, he sprang on the generaland wrenched the dagger from its sheath.
"Here!" cried Caesar, tearing back the mantle from his breast.
"There!" cried Drusus, and the bright blade glinted once in the air,and splashed down into the dark ripple. He caught the Imperator aboutthe arms, and flung his head on the other's neck.
"Oh! Imperator," he cried, "do not desert us. Do not desert theCommonwealth! Do not hand us back to new ruin, new tyrants, new wars!Strike, strike, and so be merciful! Surely the gods have not led youthus far, and no farther! But yesterday you said they were leading us.To-day they still must guide! To you it has been given to pull downand to build up. Fail not! If there be gods, trust in them! If therebe none slay me first, then do whatever you will!"
"Unhand me! I must accomplish my own fate!" and then, in a totallydifferent tone, "Quintus Drusus, I have been a coward for the firsttime in my life. Are you ashamed of your general?"
"I never admired you more, Imperator."
"Thank you. And will you go aside a little, please? I will need a fewmoments for meditation."
Drusus hesitated. His eyes wandered off to the river. In one spot itwas quite deep.
"_Phui!_" said the proconsul, carelessly, "I am too brave for such aventure now. Leave me on my embankment, like Diogenes and his tub."
Drusus clambered part way up the slope, and seated himself under astunted oak tree. The light was growing stronger. The east wasovershot with ripples of crimson and orange, here blending into lineseach more gorgeous than a moment before. The wind was chasing in fromthe bosom of Adria, and driving the fleeting mists up the littlevalley. The hills were springing out of the gloom, the thrushes wereswinging in the boughs overhead, and pouring out their morning song.Out from the camp the bugles were calling the soldiers for the march;the baggage trains were rumbling over the bridge. But still below onthe marge lingered the solitary figure; now walking, now motionless,now silent, now speaking in indistinct monologue. Drusus overheardonly an occasional word, "Pompeius, poor tool of knaves! I pity him! Imust show mercy to Cato if I can! Sulla is not to be imitated! TheRepublic is fallen; what I put in its place must not fall." Then,after a long pause, "So this was to be my end in life--to destroy theCommonwealth; what is destined, is destined!" And a moment laterDrusus saw the general coming up the embankment.
"We shall find horses, I think, a little way over the bridge," saidCaesar; "the sun is nearly risen. It is nine miles to Ariminum; therewe can find refreshment."
The Imperator's brow was clear, his step elastic, the fatigues of thenight seemed to have only added to his vigorous good humour. Antiochusmet them. The good man evidently was relieved of a load of anxiety.The three approached the bridge; as they did so, a little knot ofofficers of the rear cohort, Asinius Pollio and others, rode up andsaluted. The golden rim of the sun was just glittering above theeastern lowlands. Caesar put foot upon the bridge. Drusus saw the bloodrecede from his face, his muscles contract, his frame quiver. Thegeneral turned to his officers.
"Gentlemen," he said quietly, "we may still retreat; but if we oncepass this little bridge, nothing is left for us but to fight it out inarms."
The group was silent, each waiting for the other to speak. At thisinstant a mountebank piper sitting by the roadway struck up his ditty,and a few idle soldiers and wayfaring shepherds ran up to him to catchthe music. The man flung down his pipe, snatched a trumpet from abugler, and, springing up, blew a shrill blast. It was the "advance."Caesar turned again to his officers.
"Gentlemen," he said, "let us go where the omens of the gods and theiniquity of our enemies call us! _The die is now cast!"_
And he strode over the bridge, looking neither to the right hand norto the left. As his feet touched the dust of the road beyond, the fullsun touched the horizon, the landscape was bathed with living,quivering gold, and the brightness shed itself over the steadfastcountenance, not of Caesar the Proconsul, but of Caesar the Insurgent.
The Rubicon was crossed!
A Friend of Cæsar: A Tale of the Fall of the Roman Republic. Time, 50-47 B.C. Page 17