CHAPTER XVI.
AN ECSTASY.
"I have come, dear Domitia, with a petition," said the widow of FlaviusClemens. "And it is one you will wound me if you refuse."
"But who would wound so gentle a breast?" answered Domitia, kissing hervisitor. "He must be heartless who draws a bow against a dove."
"Hearken first to what I ask. I am bold--but my very feebleness inspires mewith audacity."
"What is it, then?"
"That you come with me to my villa for a little change of scene, air andsociety. It will do you good."
"And I cannot refuse. It is like your sweet spirit to desire nothing savewhat is kindly intended and does good to others."
"As you have assented so graciously, I will push my advance a littlefurther and say--Return with me to-day. Let us travel together. If youwill--I have a double litter--and we can chatter as two magpies together."
"Magpies bring sorrow."
"Nay, two--mirth--we have cast our sorrows behind us. You said I was a dove,so be it--a pair of doves, perhaps wounded, lamed--but we coo into eachother's ear, and lay our aching hearts together and so obtain solace."
"I will refuse you nothing," said Domitia, again kissing her visitor.
Accordingly, a couple of hours later the two ladies started, Domitiataking with her some attendants, but travelling, as was proposed, in thelarge litter of Domitilla.
This latter lady was, as already mentioned, the widow of Clemens, one ofthe two sons of Flavius Sabinus, praefect of the city, who had held theCapitol against the Praetorians of Vitellius and had been murdered but afew hours before Rome was entered by the troops that favored his brotherVespasian. On that occasion his sons had escaped, and the elder wasmarried to Julia, daughter of Titus, but had been put to death byDomitian. The younger brother, Clemens, a quiet, inoffensive man, who tookno part in public affairs, had been executed as well, shortly beforeDomitian himself perished.
And now Flavia Domitilla lived quietly on her estate not far from theArdeatine Gate of Rome.
"How!" said Flavia, suddenly, as she espied the little cornelian suspendedon the bosom of Domitia, "you have the Fish!"
"Yes, Glyceria gave it me--long ago."
"Do you know what it means?"
"Glyceria told me--but it is a dream, a beautiful fancy, nothing more.There is no evidence."
"Domitia, you have not sought for it."
"My cousin, Rome is full of religions. Some say the truth is in Sabazius,some in Isis, some in the stars, some in Mithras--a new importation--andsome will go back to the old Gods of our Latin ancestors. But one andanother all are naught."
"How know you that?"
"By the spirit that is within me. It can discern between what is true andfalse. Not that which promises best is the most real."
"You are right, Domitia--that is truest and most real which meets andsatisfies the seeking, aching heart."
"And where is that?"
"Where you have not sought for it."
"If I were sure I would seek. But I am weary of disillusionings anddisappointments."
"Well--will you hear?"
"I am not sure. I have met with too many disappointments to desireanother."
Nothing further was said on this topic till the villa was reached. Domitiashowed that she did not desire to have it pursued.
As Flavia alighted from her litter, a young man approached, handed hersomething and asked for an answer.
The widow of Clemens opened a tied diptych and read some words writtentherein.
She seemed disconcerted and doubtful. She looked questioningly at Domitia,and then asked leave of the latter to say a word in private to Euphrosyne.Leave was granted and a whispered communication passed between them.
Again Flavia looked inquiringly at Domitia, and it was with considerablehesitation that she signed to the young man to approach, and said:--"Be itso. The Collect shall be here."
That evening before she and her guest parted for the night, Flavia tookDomitia by the hand and said:--"You are right--the faculty of determinationis seated in every breast. Inquire and choose."
A few days passed, and then the hostess became uneasy. Evidently she hadsomething that she desired to say, but was afraid of broaching thesubject.
At length, abruptly, she began on it.
"Domitia, I show you the utmost confidence. I must tell you something. Youknow how that the Christians have been persecuted under--I mean of late,and how we have suffered. My dear husband shed his blood for the cause,and he was but one among many. Now there is a respite granted, but howlong it will last we know not. The laws against us stand unrepealed andany one who wishes us ill can set them in motion for our destruction."
"You do not think, Cousin----"
"Nay, hear me out, Domitia. You saw a young man approach me as we arrivedhere. He is what we term a deacon, and he came to announce that, if I sawfit, the Church would assemble in my house next first day of the week,that is the day after the Jewish Sabbath. It is customary with us toassemble together for prayer on that day, early, before dawn, sometimes inone house, then in another, so as to escape observation. And now, on themorrow--this assembly, which we term the Collect, will take place. Do thoutarry in thy chamber, and thou shalt be summoned when all have dispersed."
"Nay, I would see and hear what takes place."
"That may not be, Domitia, that is only for the initiated."
"But why secrecy if there be naught of which to be ashamed?"
"Our Master said, Give not that which is holy unto dogs, neither cast yeyour pearls before swine. Tell me, Domitia, how would you endure were yourfather made a mock of, his sayings and acts parodied on the stage, andturned into a matter of low buffoonery?"
Domitia's brow flamed and her eyes flashed.
"I see your answer in your face. So with our Great Master. His mysteriesare holy, and we would preserve them from outrage. Now you understand whyyou cannot be present."
"But I would not mock."
"It is our rule, to avoid the chance of profanity."
"As you will."
"There is one thing more," said Flavia. "You will not be angry if I havesent to have poor Glyceria brought here. Owing to her infirmity she hasnot been able to be present at a gathering of the Church for a long time,and nothing could give her greater consolation and happiness."
"I am willing for anything that can cheer her," answered Domitia; then ina tone of vexation, "So--a freedwoman, and Euphrosyne, a slave, will beadmitted where I am shut out--I, who was Empress----"
"Do not be offended. Is it not so in every sodality, that the members ofthe Club alone attend the gatherings of the Club."
"You are a Club then?"
"We are the worshippers of God."(16)
Domitia was silent, then Flavia started up. "I hear them--they have comewith Glyceria. I must see that she be cared for. The long journey to thatfrail and broken frame will have exhausted her slender powers."
"And I will go, too"--with a tinge of jealousy in her manner. Domitialittle liked that another should interest herself about the poor woman,and should stand to her in a more intimate relation than herself.
On going forth, all feeling of envy disappeared at once before a sense ofalarm.
An accident had occurred on the way. Owing to some fault in the paving ofthe road, one of the bearers had stumbled and, in falling, the litter hadbeen thrown down and the woman within injured.
Domitia saw by the ashen face and the green hue about the mouth andtemples that Glyceria was in great pain. But her eyes were bright andsought her at once and a world of love flowed out of them, she put forthher thin hand to lay hold of the great lady. Domitia at once flashed intoanger. "This comes of bringing her here. Had she been left at Gabii itwould never have happened. Where is the fellow who threw her down?--Flavia!have him whipped with the scorpion."
Glyceria caught her hand. "It was an accident. He was not in fault. I amhappy. It i
s the will of God--that is everything to me."
"You suffer."
The paralyzed woman could not speak more. She was being lifted out of thelitter, and fainted as she was moved. She was conveyed, in a condition ofunconsciousness, to the room she was to occupy, a room opening out of thesame corridor as that given up to Domitia.
The family physician was summoned; he gave little hopes of the poor womanrecovering from the shock, her natural strength and recuperative power hadlong ago been exhausted.
All that evening Domitia remained silent, apparently in ill humor, orgreat distress, and Flavia Domitilla was unable to get many words fromher.
She retired early to rest, but could not sleep. Before going to her bed,she had visited the sick woman, and she convinced herself with her owneyes that the flame of the lamp of life was flickering to extinction.
Domitia loved the actor's widow with all the passion of her stormy heart;and the thought of losing her was to her unendurable.
The night was still, balmy, and the heavens star-besprent. She looked fromthe corridor at the lights above, and then dropped the curtains over herdoor. She threw herself on her cushions, but her thoughts turned andtossed in her head.
She pressed her knuckles to her eyeballs to close her eyes, but could notforce on sleep.
It was to her as though every person whom she loved was taken from her;till she had no one left to whom her heart could cling.
"I vow a pig to AEsculapius!" she said, "if he will recover her!" and thenimpatiently turned to the wall. "What can AEsculapius do? Whom has hesuccored at any time? He is but a name." To whom could she cry? What godof Olympus would stoop to care for--even to look at an actor's widow, apoor Greek freedwoman.
The gods! They revelled and drank Ambrosia; made love and deceived thesimple, and lied and showed themselves to be arrant knaves. They weregreedy of sacrifices, they accepted all that was given--but they gavenothing in return. Their ears were open to flattery, not to prayer. Theywere gods for the merry and rich, not for the miserable and poor.
She thought she heard hasty steps in the passage, then voices. "And He!the God of Glyceria--why had not He saved her from this fall? Was He aspowerless, as regardless, of His votaries as those of Olympus?"Yes--something was the matter--there was a stir in the house--at that hour--atdead of night--Domitia's heart bounded. Was Glyceria passing away?
She threw a mantle about her, and barefooted as she was, ran forth intothe gallery.
She saw at the further end a light at the door of the sick room, andsounds issued thence.
Instantly she flew thither, plucked aside the curtain, and stood in thedoorway, arrested by the sight.
Euphrosyne was seated on the bed, and had raised her sister in her arms;the sick woman rested against her in a sitting posture; Flavia Domitillawas there as well. Directly she saw Domitia she signed to her to approach.
But Glyceria!--she was at once transfigured. Her face seemed to shine witha supernatural light--it had acquired a loveliness and transparency as ofan angel--her eyes were upraised and fixed as in a trance, and her armswere outspread. She seemed not to weigh on Euphrosyne, but to be raisedand sustained by supernatural power.
The joy, the rapture in that sublimated countenance were beyonddescription. She saw, she knew, she felt none of those things that usuallymeet the senses. And yet Domitia, Flavia, were convinced that thoseillumined happy eyes looked on some One--were gazing into a light tothemselves unseen.
From her lips poured rapturous prayer.
"I see Thee! Thou--the joy of my heart, my hope and my portion forever!Thee whom I have loved and longed for! I hold Thee--I clasp Thy feet! Ogive her to me--the dear mistress! Take me, take me to Thyself--but ere Igo--by Thy wounded hands--by Thy thorn-crowned head--by Thy piercedside--bring her to the light! To the light! To the light!" Andsuddenly--with an instantaneous eclipse the illumination died off from herface, the tension was over, the arms, the entire body sank heavily againstthe bosom of Euphrosyne, the eyes closed; she heaved a long sigh, but asmile lingered about her lips.
Awed, not daring to draw nearer, unwilling to go back, Domitia stoodlooking. Neither did Flavia Domitilla stir.
After a little while, however, the latter signed to Domitia to depart, andmade as though she also would go.
"She sleeps," she said.
Then Glyceria's bright eyes opened, and she said:--
"Not till after the Collect--at that I must be--bear me down--then only----"
CHAPTER XVII.
HAIL, GLADSOME LIGHT!
Before the day began to break, from various quarters came men and women,in twos and threes to the house of Flavia Domitilla.
The visitor to Rome may see the very spot where stood her house andgarden. For this good woman converted the latter into a place of sepulturefor the Christians, and the catacomb that bears her name is one of themost interesting of those about Rome. Not only so, but the ruins of hervilla remain, on the farm of Tor Marancia, or the Ardeatine Way. Herelived the widow of the martyr Clemens, with her sister-in-law, Plautilla,and her niece, of the same name as herself, all three holy women, servingGod and ministering to the necessities of the poor.
The Collect, or assembly of the Faithful, was to take place in the atriumor hall of the villa. Domitilla had only Christian slaves with her in hercountry residence, and could trust them.
In the large mansions of the Roman nobility there were grand receptionhalls, called basilicas, with rows of pillars down the sides dividing theminto a nave and aisles, with an apse, or _bema_ as it was termed, at theend, in which the master of the house sat to receive his visitors. Here heand his clients, his parasites and friends walked, talked, declaimed,listened to readings, when the weather was wet or cold. At a later period,when the nobility became Christian, many of them gave up their basilicasto be converted into churches, and such is the origin of several churchesof Rome. They never were, as some have erroneously supposed, halls ofjustice--they were, as described, the halls attached to the great Romanpalaces.
But at the time I am speaking of, no such surrenders had been made. Thegreat families had not been converted, only here and there, at rareintervals, some of their members had embraced the Gospel. But smallerpeople had become Christian, and these did temporarily give up the morepublic portion of the house, the atrium and tablinum for Christianworship. It was dangerous to thus assemble, and it would have beeninfinitely more dangerous had the assemblies taken place always at thesame house. Accordingly it was contrived to vary the place of meeting andto give secret notice to the faithful where the gathering would be on theensuing Lord's day.
The danger of these Collects was further reduced by their being heldsometimes in the churches underground in the catacombs, or in the _cellae_near the tombs; and these gatherings passed uncommented on, as it wascustomary for the pagans to meet for a solemn banquet in the decoratedchambers attached to their places of interment on the anniversaries of thedeath of their friends.
The various guilds also had their meeting for the transaction of business,a sacred meal, and a sacrifice to the gods, and the early Christians wereable so to copy the customs of the guilds or sodalities, as to carry ontheir worship undetected by the authorities, who supposed their assemblieswere mere guild gatherings.
The hour was so early that lights were necessary, and lamps were suspendedin the tablinum, which was raised a couple of steps above the floor of thehall.
Round the arc of the chamber, which was semi-circular, seats had beenarranged, and in the centre against the wall one of more dignity than therest, covered with white linen. In the midst of the tablinum at the top ofthe two steps was a table, and on one side a desk on legs.
Great care was taken at the door to admit none but such as could give thesign that they were Christians. The _ostiarius_ or porter in the earlyChurch held a very important office, on his discretion much of the safetyof the Church depended. He had to use the utmost caution lest a spy shouldsl
ip in.
The hall rapidly filled.
Before the steps into the apse lay Glyceria on a sort of bier, her handsfolded, and her earnest eyes upraised! She had been gently, carefullyconveyed thither, to be for the last time united in worship with theChurch on earth, before she passed into the Church beyond.
On each side of the tablinum were curtains, that could be easily andrapidly drawn along a rod and so close the apse.
In the atrium itself there were few lights. They were not needed, daywould soon break.
In the tablinum, against the wall, sat the presbyters with Clement, thebishop, in the centre. He was an old man, with a gentle face, full oflove. He had been a freedman of the Flavians, and it was out of respect tothem that he had taken the name of Clement, which was one of those in usein their family.
At his side, on the right hand, was one far more aged than he--one we haveseen before, Luke the Physician and Evangelist.
Now one with a pair of clappers gave a signal and all rose who had beenseated.
A deacon standing at the top of the step said:--"Let us pray for theEmperor."
Whereupon all the congregation responded as with a single voice: "Lord,have mercy."
Then Clement, the Bishop, prayed:--"We beseech Thee, O Father, to look downupon the Emperor and to strengthen him against his foes, and to illuminehis mind that he may rule in Justice, and be Thou his defence and strongtower."
Thereupon the deacon called again:--"Let us pray for the magistrates." Towhich the people responded in the same manner, and the Bishop prayed infew terse words for the magistrates. In precisely similar manner wasprayer made for the bishops and clergy, for all the faithful, for those inchains, working in mines, for the sick and the sorrowful, for the widowsand orphans; it was as though a flood of all-embracing charity flowedforth.
Then the intercessions ended, Luke came to the desk, and a deacon broughtthe roll of the Law and unfolded it before him, and another held aloft atorch.
He read as follows:--"This commandment which I command thee this day, it isnot hidden from thee neither is it far off.... But the word is very nighthee in thy heart and in thy mouth, that thou mayest do it. See, I haveset before thee life and good, and death and evil.... I call heaven andearth to record this day that I have set before you life and death,blessing and cursing; therefore choose life ... that thou mayest love theLord thy God, and that thou mayest obey His voice, and that thou mayestcleave unto Him."
Then the Evangelist closed the roll and returned it to the deacon, and hespake some words of exhortation thereon.
Next came another deacon and unfolded the roll of the Prophets; and Lukeread:--"The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hathanointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; He hath sent me to bindup the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and theopening of the prison to them that are bound. To proclaim the acceptableyear of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all thatmourn.... To give to them that mourn beauty for ashes, the oil of joy formourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that theymight be called Trees of Righteousness, the Planting of the Lord, that Hemight be glorified."
Then again Luke spoke a few simple words and declared how that theprophecy of old was fulfilled in Christ who was the healer of all sicksouls, and the strengthener of all who were feeble, the restorer of thehalt, the comforter of all that mourn, and the planter in the field of theChurch of such as would grow up plants of righteousness to bear theirfruit in due season.
And when he ceased, the congregation sang a psalm: "Praise the Lord, O mysoul: and all that is within me praise His holy name."
In the first age of the Church the liturgical service grew out of that ofthe synagogue. As in the latter there were the two lessons from Law andProphet, so was there in the Church, but after the Psalm there were addedto these, two more lessons, one from an Epistle by an Apostle and one froma Gospel.
At the time of our narrative the service was in process of formation andwas not yet formed; and the sequence of Epistle and Gospel had not as yetbeen established. However, now Luke stood forward and said:--
"Beloved, we have a letter written by the Blessed John--the Disciple thatJesus loved, and therefrom I will read a few words."
Then he unfolded a short roll and read as follows:--
"Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that weshould be called the sons of God! therefore the world knoweth us not,because it knew Him not. Beloved, now are we the sons of God; and it dothnot yet appear what we shall be; but we know that, when He shall appear,we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And every man thathath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure."
He ceased, for a strange sound reached the ears of all--a sound thatswelled and rose and then fell away and became all but inaudible.
Once again he began to read--and again this sound was heard.
"This is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should loveone another."
Again he ceased, and looked round, and listened. For once more thisstrange wailing sound arose.
But as it declined, he resumed his reading.
"Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you. We know that we havepassed from death unto life, because we love the brethren."
He was constrained to cease.
Then at a signal, two deacons went in the direction of the sound. And thewhole congregation was hushed. But Glyceria, on her bed, lifted her handsand her eyes shone with expectation.
Presently the deacons returned:--"A woman--a weeping woman in a dark room."
Then Luke descended from the _bema_, and attended by them went in thedirection of the voice, and came, where crouching, concealed, Domitia layon the ground, sobbing as if her heart would break--they could not stayher--they did not try--they waited.
And presently she raised her face, streaming with tears, and said--"Thelight! the glorious light!"
And the sun rose over the roof, and shone down into the atrium, on theface of Glyceria.
Then Flavia Domitilla stooped over her, laid her hand on her eyes andsaid:--"In the Joy of thy Lord, Face to Face!"
"THE LIGHT! THE GLORIOUS LIGHT!" _Page 348._]
FOOTNOTES
1 Double-dyed Tyrian wool cost over L40 in English money per lb.
2 The term used of St. Paul by the wise men of Athens. It means a picker up of unconsidered trifles which he strings together into an unintelligible system.
3 A laurel on the Palatine, planted by the wife of Augustus. It died suddenly just before the end of Nero.
4 The statuette of the Good Shepherd, of beautiful art, 2d century, in the Lateran Museum. It is an error to suppose in early Christians a complete emancipation from old usages and modes of thought.
5 Probably _Dictamnus Fraxinella_. For properties of these plants see Pliny, H. N. _lib._ xxv., xxvi., xxvii.
6 Our word _nuptial_ comes from the veil wherewith the bride's head was covered.
7 The reference was to the "Peace" of Aristophanes. Trygdeus was carried up to the Gods on the back of a dung-beetle.
8 The allusion was to the death of Claudius attributed to poisoned mushrooms administered to him by his wife-niece Agrippina.
9 The left was lucky with the Romans, the reverse with the Greeks.
10 Informers were so termed, because they obtained a quarter of the goods of such as they denounced and who were condemned. The Latin word is _quadruplator_.
11 On another occasion, a show of gladiators, this savage order was actually given and carried out under the eyes of Domitian.
12 The titles of lord and god were given to Domitian by his flatterers, and accepted and used by him, as of right.
13 There are mosaic pavements at Rome representing a floor after a dinner, with crawfish heads, oyster shells, nuts, picked bones, fl
ower leaves, strewn about.
14 Calvisius Sabinus, a rich and ignorant man, made one of his slaves learn Homer by heart, another Hesiod and others the nine Greek lyric poets. When he gave a dinner, he concealed them under the table to prompt him with quotations.
15 A scourge of leather thongs and nails knotted in them.
16 The Roman benefit Clubs were under the invocation of some god or goddess, and the members were called Cultores Apollinis, or Jovi, as the case might be.
TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE
Variations in hyphenation ("reception room", "reception-room") andspelling have not been changed. In several places, punctuation andquotation marks have been silently corrected.
Other changes, which have been made to the text:
page 65, "Gautists" changed to "flautists" page 66, "mournners" changed to "mourners" page 123, "Antenines" changed to "Antonines" page 186, "Clivius" changed to "Clivus" page 187, "learn" changed to "learned" page 196, "Domitia" changed to "Domitian" page 267, "beween" changed to "between"
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