CHAPTER TEN.
THE TRIAL OF THE VESTAL.
The vestal Coelia was summoned to undergo her trial before the collegeof pontiffs seated in council.
She stood looking pale but undaunted in their presence. The pontiffCoecus was her judge, and at the same time one of her accusers. Withthe others she was not allowed to be confronted.
She acknowledged without hesitation that the sacred fire had gone outwhile under her charge, and she condescended so far to defend herself asto remind Coecus that it was in consequence of his holding her for solong a time in conversation. She confessed also that she had beenreading a book held in respect by the Nazarenes, and she claimed theright of a free-born Roman to peruse the work, which was one well knownto be approved of by the emperor.
"You may have a right to read that or any other work, but not to imbibethe principles of that accursed sect which it advocates," answeredCoecus; "and that you do hold them you have acknowledged to me."
"And I pray for grace that I may hold them to the end," replied Coelia,looking the pontiff calmly in the face as she held her hands claspedhanging down before her.
"She admits that the sacred fire was extinguished in consequence of hercarelessness," exclaimed Coecus, turning to the other pontiffs; "nordoes she express the slightest regret at her horrible sin. One guiltyof so terrible a crime is capable of committing any other wickedness,however odious; and that she has done so, and that she has broken hervows, has been proved by the witnesses we have examined. That she is nolonger worthy of being numbered among the vestals of Rome, I havealready placed sufficient evidence before you."
Coecus read over the false accusation which had been brought against thevestal. The guilty participator of her crime had escaped, he observed,but would undoubtedly be captured. Still, from the oaths of the severalwitnesses--which he named--her guilt was evident.
A flush mantled on the brow of the young vestal as she heard herselfaccused of a crime so foreign to her nature; yet she did not quailbefore that of her stern judge and accuser.
"You know, and these my other judges know, that I am innocent," shesaid, in a voice which trembled but slightly. "If I am to be put todeath, I am ready to die, if you have a right to destroy me, as a Romanmaiden, with fame unsullied; I am guilty only of no longer believing inthe goddess to whom in my childhood and ignorance my vows were made. Iconfess myself a Christian, and confess also that I desire to escapefrom longer serving the false goddess in whom you pretend to believe.But I indignantly deny the terrible accusation brought against me, whichyou yourself know to be utterly false."
"Away with the girl: terror has made her mad!" cried the enragedpontiff, forgetting the dignity of his position, and shaking his fistsfiercely at the accused maiden.
Coelia did not reply, but raising her hands to heaven--the only time shehad altered the position which she had from the first maintained--sheimplored that protection which He in whom she believed was able andwilling to afford.
She did not deign to plead to her cruel judges. She saw clearly that,for some object of their own, they had pre-determined on herdestruction. She calmly waited to hear what more they had to say.
Coecus, standing up, pronounced her doom--that which from timeimmemorial had been inflicted on vestals who had been guilty of breakingtheir vows.
Her garments--worn by the vestals--and badges of office were to be takenfrom her, and she was to be habited as a corpse, placed in a litter, andborne through the Forum, attended by her relatives and friends, with allthe ceremony of a real funeral. Then she was to be carried to theCampus Sceleratus, situated close to the Colline Gate, just within thecity walls. In this spot a small vault underground, as in other cases,would have been prepared. It would contain a couch, a lamp, and atable, with a jar of water and a small amount of food.
Had the Pontifex Maximus been in Rome, it would have been his duty totake a chief part in the ceremony. Having lifted up his hands, he wouldhave opened the litter, led forth the culprit, and placed her on thesteps of the ladder by which she would be compelled to descend to thesubterranean cell, and he would there have delivered her over to thecommon executioner and his assistants. They would lead her down intoher living tomb, draw up the ladder, and then fill in the passage to thevault with earth so as to make the surface level with the surroundingground.
Here the hapless vestal, deprived of all marks of respect ordinarilypaid to the spirits of the departed, would be left to perish miserablyby starvation, should terror not have previously deprived her of life.
Such was the doom pronounced on Coelia.
She heard it unmoved, and walked with unfaltering steps between two ofthe officers of the pontiff, to be delivered back to Fausta, theVestalis Maxima, who was in waiting to receive her. Not an expressionof pity escaped the lips of the old vestal, although she knew as well asCoecus that Coelia was innocent of the graver crime of which she wascharged. But her heart had become hardened and scathed; not a grain ofsympathy for her fellow-creatures remained in her bosom.
She believed she was acting in a way pleasing to the goddess she served;and she would have been ready to sacrifice her nearest relatives, if byso doing she would have advanced the cause of idolatry. She was awarethat she no longer retained the affection of any of the vestals underher charge. Marsh and irritable, she ruled them with a rod of iron; andbelieved that the service of the temple was never so faithfullyperformed as it had been since she became its principal priestess.Fausta has since had countless imitators, most of whom have been ascompletely deceived as she was.
Coelia was conducted back to the cell in which she had before beenconfined, beneath the floor of the temple, where only the coarsestviands were allowed her to sustain nature. She was guarded night andday by two vestals, who were directed to summon assistance should theyrequire it. Coecus was satisfied that the death of the vestal wouldprove to the multitude that the ancient religion of Rome was stillparamount, notwithstanding the predilections of the emperor in favour ofChristianity, and the privileges he was inclined to grant to theNazarenes. He therefore hardened his heart against all feeling of pityat the terrible fate about to be inflicted on the innocent maiden, andnow prepared, with all the energy of his nature, to make arrangementsfor the grand procession about to take place, and which he had resolvedshould precede the cruel ceremony he had determined to carry out. Hewas well aware that the Emperor Constantine would forbid so barbarous anact; but as he was engaged in the East in building his new city, it wasimpossible for him to hear of it for a long time to come, and although,when he became cognisant of what had occurred, he would undoubtedlyblame the pontiffs, Coecus believed that he and the other members of thecollege had yet sufficient influence in Rome to set even Augustushimself at defiance.
The day broke bright and beautiful. All the altars in the temples andthe shrines in the streets were gaily decorated with wreaths andflowers; while banners and gaily-coloured cloths were hung out from thewindows, or over the walls of the private houses, in the streets throughwhich the procession was to pass. As usual, numbers of religiousmendicants--belonging to a brotherhood devoted to begging--with hugesatchels on their backs, and figures of gods or demigods in their hands,were on foot, eager to collect contributions from the multitudeassembled on the occasion. The members of several other heathenbrotherhoods also might have been seen hurrying through the city, totake their part in the spectacle.
Now the procession streamed forth from the temple of Flora, which formedone of a line of magnificent temples extending from the Flavianamphitheatre to the north of the Palatine and Capitoline hills--that ofRome and Venus being the most easterly, and nearest to the amphitheatre.As it appeared, shouts of joy and applause were raised by themultitude. There had been no lack of persons ready to perform the dutyof carrying the banners and figures of the gods and the goddesses.Coecus had also secured the assistance of as large a number of thefemale part of the population as he could collect, for he believed thatcould he keep them attached to
the old faith, there would be less dangerof their husbands becoming its opponents. Some hundreds of dames anddamsels dressed in white, their heads adorned with glittering jewels andbright wreaths, issued from the temple, scattering handfuls of flowersbefore and around them. Bands of musicians performed their most livelyairs suited to the occasion; vast numbers of young children, dressedlikewise in white, with floral ornaments, chanted at intervals hymns inhonour of the goddess. Priests also, of numerous temples, with shorncrowns, there were, carrying banners or figures of the gods they served,or sacred relics. The heathen magistrates and officers of state hadwillingly consented to attend and exhibit themselves in the procession,although the Christians had universally refused, under any pretence, totake a part in the idolatrous performance. Coecus, as he watched thepageant winding its enormous length along the streets, the banners andgilded statues glittering in the sun, before he took his accustomedplace with his brother pontiffs, felt satisfied that the larger portionof the population of Rome still sided with them.
Gaius alone, as he walked along, muttered not a few expressions ofdiscontent. "To say the least of it, these processions are a bore," hegrumbled. "They may please the mob, but sensible men ridicule them; andwe who superintend them, and have thus to parade through the streets,have become the laughing-stock of all the wise men and philosophers. Itwill in no way benefit us, notwithstanding the trouble we take in thematter: how completely I have failed of convincing my young nephew ofthe advisability of the worship of the immortal gods his running awayand refusing to return is strong evidence. As to putting to death thispoor girl Coelia, I do not half like it. The emperor will visit us withhis anger should her Christian friends prove her innocence, as they aresure to attempt doing. They are wonderfully active in defending theirown friends, when they can do so by means of the law, without havingrecourse to force. This may be on account of their mean and timidspirits; though it is said that they fight well in battle, and that theemperor places great dependence on their courage and fidelity. Well,well, `Times change, and we must change with them,' as one of our poetssings; but for my part I would rather have retained our old-fashionedways. What has endured so long must be the best. The oldest religioncannot but be the right one, at all events most suited to the multitude,while it has not failed to bring a copious revenue into our coffers, andthat, after all, is the matter of chief consequence to us. All theaccounts, however, which come from Byzantium show that Augustus isbecoming more and more inclined to favour these Christians. I wish thatCoecus hid not been so obstinate, and would at once have consented toabandon our failing cause."
When passing close to the Arch of Constantino, which had been erectedafter the visit of the emperor to Rome close to the Flavianamphitheatre, he glanced up at it with a look of contempt. "What can beexpected of our Romans nowadays, when the whole architectural talent ofour city can only produce a monstrosity like that!" he observed to abrother pontiff walking next to him. "`The times are changed, and wemust change with them,'" he repeated, "if we wish to retain ourposition."
The other pontiff only shook his head, and groaned.