consent inmy interest to that whereto he was averse; and thereafter, ardentlythough I loved her, I sought not to commingle with her as a lover, but asa husband, nor closed with her, until, as she herself by her true witnessmay assure you, I had with apt words and with the ring made her my lawfulwife, asking her if she would have me to husband, whereto she answered,yes. Wherein if she seem to have been tricked, 'tis not I that am toblame, but she, for that she asked me not who I was.
"This, then, is the great wrong, sin, crime, whereof for love andfriendship's sake Gisippus and I are guilty, that Sophronia is privilybecome the wife of Titus Quintius: 'tis for this that you harass him withyour menaces and hostile machinations. What more would you do, had hegiven her to a villein, to a caitiff, to a slave? Where would you findfetters, dungeons, crosses adequate to your vengeance? But enough of thisat present: an event, which I did not expect, has now happened; my fatheris dead; and I must needs return to Rome; wherefore, being fain to takeSophronia with me, I have discovered to you that which otherwise I had,perchance, still kept close. Whereto, if you are wise, you will gladlyreconcile yourselves; for that, if I had been minded to play you false,or put an affront upon you, I might have scornfully abandoned her to you;but God forefend that such baseness be ever harboured in a Roman breast.Sophronia, then, by the will of the Gods, by force of law, and by my ownlove-taught astuteness, is mine. The which it would seem that you,deeming yourselves, peradventure, wiser than the Gods, or the rest ofmankind, do foolishly set at nought, and that in two ways alike mostoffensive to me; inasmuch as you both withhold from me Sophronia, in whomright, as against me, you have none, and also entreat as your enemyGisippus, to whom you are rightfully bounden. The folly whereof I purposenot at present fully to expound to you, but in friendly sort to counselyou to abate your wrath and abandon all your schemes of vengeance, andrestore Sophronia to me, that I may part from you on terms of amity andalliance, and so abide: but of this rest assured, that whether this,which is done, like you or not, if you are minded to contravene it, Ishall take Gisippus hence with me, and once arrived in Rome, shall inyour despite find means to recover her who is lawfully mine, and pursuingyou with unremitting enmity, will apprise you by experience of the fullmeasure and effect of a Roman's wrath."
Having so said, Titus started to his feet, his countenance distorted byanger, and took Gisippus by the hand, and with manifest contempt for allthe rest, shaking his head at them and threatening them, led him out ofthe temple. They that remained in the temple, being partly persuaded byhis arguments to accept his alliance and friendship, partly terrified byhis last words, resolved by common consent that 'twas better to have thealliance of Titus, as they had lost that of Gisippus, than to add to thatloss the enmity of Titus. Wherefore they followed Titus, and having comeup with him, told him that they were well pleased that Sophronia shouldbe his, and that they should prize his alliance and the friendship ofdear Gisippus; and having ratified this treaty of amity and alliance withmutual cheer, they departed and sent Sophronia to Titus. Sophronia,discreetly making a virtue of necessity, transferred forthwith to Titusthe love she had borne Gisippus, and being come with Titus to Rome, wasthere received with no small honour. Gisippus tarried in Athens, held inlittle account by well-nigh all the citizens, and being involved incertain of their broils, was, not long afterwards, with all hishousehold, banished the city, poor, nay, destitute, and condemned toperpetual exile. Thus hard bested, and at length reduced to mendicancy,he made his way, so as least discomfortably he might, to Rome, beingminded to see whether Titus would remember him: and there, learning thatTitus lived, and was much affected by all the Romans, and having foundout his house, he took his stand in front of it, and watched until Tituscame by; to whom, for shame of the sorry trim that he was in, he venturedno word, but did his endeavour that he might be seen of him, hoping thatTitus might recognize him, and call him by his name: but Titus passingon, Gisippus deeming that he had seen and avoided him, and calling tomind that which aforetime he had done for him, went away wroth anddesperate. And fasting and penniless, and--for 'twas now night--knowingnot whither he went, and yearning above all for death, he wandered bychance to a spot, which, albeit 'twas within the city, had much of theaspect of a wilderness, and espying a spacious grotto, he took shelterthere for the night; and worn out at last with grief, on the bare ground,wretchedly clad as he was, he fell asleep.
Now two men that had that night gone out a thieving, having committed thetheft, came towards morning to the grotto, and there quarrelled, and thestronger slew the other, and took himself off. Aroused by the noise,Gisippus witnessed the murder, and deeming that he had now the means ofcompassing, without suicide, the death for which he so much longed,budged not a jot, but stayed there, until the serjeants of the court,which had already got wind of the affair, came on the scene, and laidviolent hands upon him, and led him away. Being examined, he confessedthat he had slain the man, and had then been unable to make his escapefrom the grotto. Wherefore the praetor, Marcus Varro by name, sentencedhim to death by crucifixion, as was then the custom. But Titus, whohappened at that moment to come into the praetorium, being told the crimefor which he was condemned, and scanning the poor wretch's face,presently recognized him for Gisippus, and marvelled how he should cometo be there, and in such a woeful plight. And most ardently desiring tosuccour him, nor seeing other way to save his life except to exoneratehim by accusing himself, he straightway stepped forward, and said with aloud voice:--"Marcus Varro, call back the poor man on whom thou hastpassed sentence, for he is innocent. 'Tis enough that I have incurred thewrath of the Gods by one deed of violence, to wit, the murder of him whomyour serjeants found dead this morning, without aggravating my offence bythe death of another innocent man." Perplexed, and vexed that he shouldhave been heard by all in the praetorium, but unable honourably to avoidcompliance with that which the laws enjoined, Varro had Gisippus broughtback, and in presence of Titus said to him:--"How camest thou to be somad as, though no constraint was put upon thee, to confess a deed thounever didst, thy life being at stake? Thou saidst that 'twas thou by whomthe man was slain last night, and now comes this other, and says that'twas not thou but he that slew him." Gisippus looked, and seeing Titus,wist well that, being grateful for the service rendered by him in thepast, Titus was now minded to save his life at the cost of his own:wherefore, affected to tears, he said:--"Nay but, Varro, in very sooth Islew him, and 'tis now too late, this tender solicitude of Titus for mydeliverance." But on his part:--"Praetor," quoth Titus, "thou seest thisman is a stranger, and was found unarmed beside the murdered man; thoucanst not doubt that he was fain of death for very wretchedness:wherefore discharge him, and let punishment light on me who have meritedit."
Marvelling at the importunity of both, Varro readily surmised thatneither was guilty. And while he was casting about how he might acquitthem, lo, in came a young man, one Publius Ambustus, a desperatecharacter, and known to all the Romans for an arrant thief. He it wasthat had verily committed the murder, and witting both the men to beinnocent of that of which each accused himself, so sore at heart was heby reason of their innocence, that, overborne by an exceeding greatcompassion, he presented himself before Varro, and:--"Praetor," quoth he,"'tis destiny draws me hither to loose the knot of these men'scontention; and some God within me leaves me no peace of his whips andstings, until I discover my offence: wherefore know that neither of thesemen is guilty of that of which each accuses himself. 'Tis verily I thatslew the man this morning about daybreak; and before I slew him, while Iwas sharing our plunder with him, I espied this poor fellow asleep there.Nought need I say to clear Titus: the general bruit of his illustriousrenown attests that he is not a man of such a sort. Discharge him,therefore, and exact from me the penalty prescribed by the laws."
The affair had by this time come to the ears of Octavianus, who causedall three to be brought before him, and demanded to know the causes bywhich they had been severally moved to accuse themselves; and, eachhaving told his story, Octavianus released the two by rea
son of theirinnocence, and the third for love of them. Titus took Gisippus home,having first chidden him not a little for his faint-heartedness anddiffidence, and there, Sophronia receiving him as a brother, did himmarvellous cheer; and having comforted him a while, and arrayed him inapparel befitting his worth and birth, he first shared with him all hissubstance, and then gave him his sister, a young damsel named Fulvia, towife, and said to him:--"Choose now, Gisippus, whether thou wilt tarryhere with me, or go back to Achaia with all that I have given thee."
Partly perforce of his banishment from his city, partly for that thesweet friendship of Titus was justly dear to him, Gisippus consented tobecome a Roman. And so, long and happily they lived together at Rome,Gisippus with his Fulvia, and Titus with his Sophronia, in the samehouse,
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