CHAPTER V.
THE CAMPUS.
Eques ipso melior Bellerophonte, Neque pugno neque segni pede victus, Simul unctos Tiberinis humeros lavit in undis. HORACE. OD. III. 12.
"What ho! my noble Paullus," exclaimed a loud and cheerful voice, "whitherafoot so early, and with so grave a face?"
Arvina started; for so deep was the impression made on his mind by thelast words of Cicero, that he had passed out into the Sacred Way, andwalked some distance down it, toward the Forum, in deep meditation, fromwhich he was aroused by the clear accents of the merry speaker.
Looking up with a smile as he recognised the voice, he saw two young menof senatorial rank--for both wore the crimson laticlave on the breast oftheir tunics--on horseback, followed by several slaves on foot, who hadovertaken him unnoticed amid the din and bustle which had drowned theclang of their horses' feet on the pavement.
"Nay, I scarce know, Aurelius!" replied the young man, laughing; "Ithought I was going home, but it seems that my back is turned to my ownhouse, and I am going toward the market-place, although the Gods know thatI have no business with the brawling lawyers, with whom it is alive bythis time."
"Come with us, then," replied the other; "Aristius, here, and I, have madea bet upon our coursers' speed. He fancies his Numidian can outrun myGallic beauty. Come with us to the Campus; and after we have settled thisgrave matter, we will try the _quinquertium_,(7) or a foot race in armor,if you like it better, or a swim in the Tiber, until it shall be time togo to dinner."
"How can I go with you, seeing that you are well mounted, and I afoot, andencumbered with my gown? You must consider me a second Achilles to keep upwith your fleet coursers, clad in this heavy toga, which is a worse garbfor running than any panoply that Vulcan ever wrought."
"We will alight," cried the other youth, who had not yet spoken, "and giveour horses to the boys to lead behind us; or, hark you, why not send Getaback to your house, and let your slaves bring down your horse too? If theymake tolerable speed, coming down by the back of the Coelian, and thencebeside the _Aqua Crabra_(8) to the Carmental gate, they may overtake useasily before we reach the Campus. Aurelius has some errand to performnear the Forum, which will detain us a few moments longer. What say you?"
"He will come, he will come, certainly," cried the other, springing downlightly from the back of his beautiful courser, which indeed merited theeulogium, as well as the caresses which he now lavished on it, patting hisfavorite's high-arched neck, and stroking the soft velvet muzzle, whichwas thrust into his hand, with a low whinnying neigh of recognition, as hestood on the raised foot path, holding the embroidered rein carelessly inhis hand.
"I will," said Arvina, "gladly; I have nothing to hinder me this morning;and for some days past I have been detained with business, so that I havenot visited the campus, or backed a horse, or cast a javelin--by Hercules!not since the Ides, I fancy. You will all beat me in the field, that iscertain, and in the river likewise. But come, Fuscus Aristius, if it is tobe as you have planned it, jump down from your Numidian, and let your Getaride him up the hill to my house. I would have asked Aurelius, but he willlet no slave back his white NOTUS."
"Not I, by the twin horsemen! nor any free man either--plebeian, knight, ornoble. Since first I bought him of the blue-eyed Celt, who wept in hisbarbarian fondness for the colt, no leg save only mine has crossed hisback, nor ever shall, while the light of day smiles on Aurelius Victor."
Without a word Fuscus leaped from the back of the fine blood-bay barb hebestrode, and beckoning to a confidential slave who followed him, "Here,"he said, "Geta, take Nanthus, and ride straightway up the Minervium to thehouse of Arvina; thou knowest it, beside the Alban Mansions, and do as heshall command you. Tell him, my Paullus."
"Carry this signet, my good Geta," said the young man, drawing off thelarge seal-ring which adorned his right hand, and giving it to him, "toThrasea, my trusty freedman, and let him see that they put the housingsand gallic wolf-bit on the black horse Aufidus, and bring him thou, withone of my slaves, down the slope of Scaurus, and past the Great Circus, tothe Carmental Gate, where thou wilt find us. Make good speed, Geta."
"Ay, do so," interposed his master, "but see that thou dost not blowNanthus; thou wert better be a dead slave, Geta, than let me find one dropof sweat on his flank. Nay! never grin, thou hang-dog, or I will have theegiven to my Congers(9); the last which came out of the fish pond were butill fed; and a fat German, such as thou, would be a rare meal for them."
The slave laughed, knowing well that his master was but jesting, mountedthe horse, and rode him at a gentle trot, up the slope of the Caelian hill,from which Arvina had but a little while before descended. In the meantime, Aristius gave the rein of his dappled grey to one of his followers,desiring him to be very gentle with him, and the three young men saunteredslowly on along the Sacred Way toward the Forum, conversing merrily andinterchanging many a smile and salutation with those whom they met ontheir road.
Skirting the base of the Palatine hill, they passed the old circulartemple of Remus to the right hand, and the most venerable relic of Rome'sinfancy, the Ruminal Fig tree, beneath which the she-wolf was believed tohave given suck to the twin progeny of Mars and the hapless Ilia. A littlefarther on, the mouth of the sacred grotto called Lupercal, surroundedwith its shadowy grove, the favourite haunt of Pan, lay to their left; andfronting them, the splendid arch of Fabius, surnamed Allobrox for hisvictorious prowess against that savage tribe, gave entrance to the greatRoman Forum.
Immediately at their left hand as they entered the archway, was the superbComitium, wherein the Senate were wont to give audience to foreignembassies of suppliant nations, with the gigantic portico, three columnsof which may still be seen to testify to the splendor of the old city, inthe far days of the republic. Facing them were the steps of the Asylum,with the Mamertine prison and the grand facade of the temple of Concord tothe right and left; and higher above these the portico of the gallery ofrecords, and higher yet the temple of the thundering Jupiter, andglittering above all, against the dark blue sky, the golden dome, andwhite marble columns of the great capitol itself. Around in all directionswere basilicae, or halls of justice; porticoes filled with busy lawyers;bankers' shops glittering with their splendid wares, and bedecked with thegolden shields taken from the Samnites; statues of the renowned of ages,Accius Naevius, who cut the whetstone with the razor; Horatius Cocles onhis thunderstricken pedestal, halting on one knee from the wound which hadnot hindered him from swimming the swollen Tiber; Claelia the hostage onher brazen steed; and many another, handed down inviolate from the days ofthe ancient kings. Here was the rostrum, beaked with the prows of ships, afluent orator already haranguing the assembled people from itsplatform--there, the seat of the city Praetor, better known as the _PutealLibonis_, with that officer in session on his curule chair, his sixlictors leaning on their fasces at his back, as he promulgated hisirrevocable edicts.
It was a grand sight, surely, and one to gaze on which men of the presentday would do and suffer much; and judge themselves most happy if blessedwith one momentary glance of the heart, as it were, of the old world'smistress. But these young men, proud as they were, and boastful of theglories of their native Rome, had looked too often on that busy scene tobe attracted by the gorgeousness of the place, crowded with buildings, thelike of which the modern world knows not, and thronged with nations ofevery region of the earth, each in his proper dress, each seeking justice,pleasure, profit, fame, as it pleased him, free, and fearless, and secureof property and person. Casting a brief glance over it, they turned shortto the left, by a branch of the Sacred Way, which led, skirting the marketplace, between the Comitium, or hall of the ambassadors, and the abruptdeclivity of the Palatine, past the end of the Atrium of Liberty, and thecattle mart, toward the Carmental gate.
"Methought you said, my Fuscus, that our Aurelius had some errand toperform in the Forum; how is this, is it a secret?" inquired Paullus,laughing.
<
br /> "No secret, by the Gods!" said Aurelius, "it is but to buy a pair of spursin Volero's shop, hard by Vesta's shrine."
"He will need them," cried Fuscus, "he will need them, I will swear, inthe race."
"Not to beat Nanthus," said Aurelius; "but oh! Jove! walk quickly, Ibeseech you; how hot a steam of cooked meats and sodden cabbage, reeksfrom the door of yon cook-shop. Now, by the Gods! it well nigh sickenedme! Ha! Volero," he exclaimed, as they reached the door of a booth, orlittle shop, with neat leathern curtains festooned up in front, glitteringwith polished cutlery and wares of steel and silver, to a middle aged man,who was busy burnishing a knife within, "what ho! my Volero, some spurs--Iwant some spurs; show me some of your sharpest and brightest."
"I have a pair, noble Aurelius, which I got only yesterday in trade with aturbaned Moor from the deserts beyond Cyrenaica. By Mulciber, my patrongod! the fairest pair my eyes ever looked upon. Right loath was the swartbarbarian to let me have them, but hunger, hunger is a great tamer of yoursavage; and the steam of good Furbo's cook-shop yonder was suggestive ofsavory chops and greasy sausages--and--and--in short, Aurelius, I got them ata bargain."
While he was speaking, he produced the articles in question, from a strongbrass-bound chest, and rubbing them on his leather apron held them up forthe inspection of the youthful noble.
"Truly," cried Victor, catching them out of his hand, "truly, they aregood spurs."
"Good spurs! good spurs!" cried the merchant, half indignantly, "I callthem splendid, glorious, inimitable! Only look you here, it is all virginsilver; and observe, I beseech you, this dragon's neck and the sibilanthead that holds the rowels; they are wrought to the very life with horrentscales, and erected crest; beautiful! beautiful!--and the rowels too of thebest Spanish steel that was ever tempered in the cold Bilbilis. Good spursindeed! they are well worth three _aurei_.(10) But I will keep them, as Imeant to do at first, for Caius Caesar; he will know what they are worth,and give it too."
"Didst ever hear so pestilent a knave?" said Victor, laughing; "one wouldsuppose I had disparaged the accursed things! But, as I said before, theyare good spurs, and I will have them; but I will not give thee threeaurei, master Volero; two is enough, in all conscience; or sixty denariiat the most. Ho! Davus, Davus! bring my purse, hither, Davus," he calledto his slaves without; and, as the purse-bearer entered, he continuedwithout waiting for an answer, "Give Volero two aurei, and ten denarii,and take these spurs."
"No! no!" exclaimed Volero, "you shall not--no! by the Gods! they cost memore than that!"
"Ye Gods! what a lie! cost thee--and to a barbarian! I dare be sworn thoudidst not pay him the ten denarii alone."
"By Hercules! I did, though," said the other, "and thou shouldst not havethem for three _aurei_ either, but that it is drawing near the Calends ofNovember, and I have moneys to pay then."
"Sixty-five I will give thee--sixty-five denarii!"
"Give me my spurs; what, art thou turning miser in thy youth, Aurelius?"
"There, give him the gold, Davus; he is a regular usurer. Give him three_aurei_, and then buckle these to my heel. Ha! that is well, my Paullus,here come your fellows with black Aufidus, and our friend Geta on theNumidian. They have made haste, yet not sweated Nanthus either. Aristius,your groom is a good one; I never saw a horse that shewed his keeping orcondition better. Now then, Arvina, doff your toga, you will not surelyride in that."
"Indeed I will not," replied Paullus, "if master Volero will suffer me toleave it here till my return."
"Willingly, willingly; but what is this?" exclaimed the cutler, as Arvinaunbuckling his toga and suffering it to drop on the ground, stood clad inhis succinct and snow-white tunic only, girded about him with a zone ofpurple leather, in which was stuck the sheathless dirk of Cataline. "Whatis this, noble Paullus? that you carry at your belt, with no scabbard? Ifyou go armed, you should at least go safely. See, if you were to bend yourbody somewhat quickly, it might well be that the keen point would rendyour groin. Give it me, I can fit it with a sheath in a moment."
"I do not know but it were as well to do so," answered Paullus,extricating the dagger from his belt, "if you will not detain us a longtime."
"Not even a short time!" said the cutler, "give it to me, I can fit itimmediately." And he stretched out his hand and took it; but hardly hadhis eye dwelt on it, for a moment, when he cried, "but this is notyours--this is--where got you this, Arvina?"
"Nay, it is nought to thee; perhaps I bought it, perhaps it was given tome; do thou only fit it with a scabbard."
"Buy it thou didst not, Paullus, I'll be sworn; and I think it was nevergiven thee; and, see, see here, what is this I--there has been blood on theblade!"
"Folly!" exclaimed the young man, turning first very red and then pale, sothat his comrades gazed on him with wonder, "folly, I say. It is notblood, but water that has dimmed its shine;--and how knowest thou that Idid not buy it?"
"How do I know it?--thus," answered the artizan, drawing from a cupboardunder his counter, a weapon precisely the facsimile in every respect ofthat in his hand: "There never were but two of these made, and I madethem; the scabbard of this will fit that; see how the very chased workfits! I sold this, but not to you, Arvina; and I do not believe that itwas given to you."
"Filth that thou art, and carrion!" exclaimed the young man fiercely,striking his hand with violence upon the counter, "darest thou brave anobleman? I tell thee, I doubt not at all that there be twenty such inevery cutler's shop in Rome!--but to whom did'st thou sell this, that thouart so certain?"
"Paullus Caecilius," replied the mechanic gravely but respectfully, "Ibrave no man, least of all a patrician; but mark my words--I did sell thisdagger; here is my own mark on its back; if it was given to thee, thoumust needs know the giver; for the rest, this _is_ blood that has dimmedit, and not water; you cannot deceive me in the matter; and I would warnyou, youth,--noble as you are, and plebeian I,--that there are laws in Rome,one of them called CORNELIA DE SICARIIS, which you were best take carethat you know not more nearly. Meantime, you can take this scabbard if youwill," handing to him, as he spoke, the sheath of the second weapon; "theprice is one sestertium; it is the finest silver, chased as you see, andoverlaid with pure gold."
"Thou hast the money," returned Paullus, casting down on the counterseveral golden coins, stamped with a helmed head of Mars, and an eagle onthe reverse, grasping a thunderbolt in its talons--"and the sheath is mine.Then thou wilt not disclose to whom it was sold?"
"Why should I, since thou knowest without telling?"
"Wilt thou, or not?"
"Not to thee, Paullus."
"Then will I find some one, to whom thou wilt fain disclose it!" heanswered haughtily.
"And who may that be, I beseech you?" asked the mechanic, half sneeringly."For my part, I fancy you will let it rest altogether; some one was hurtwith it last night, as you and _he_, we both know, can tell if you will!But I knew not that you were one of his men."
There was an insolent sneer on the cutler's face that galled the youngnobleman to the quick; and what was yet more annoying, there was anassumption of mutual intelligence and equality about him, that almostgoaded the patrician's blood to fury. But by a mighty effort he subduedhis passion to his will; and snatching up the weapon returned it to hisbelt, left the shop, and springing to the saddle of his beautiful blackhorse, rode furiously away. It was not till he reached the Carmental Gate,giving egress from the city through the vast walls of Cyclopeanarchitecture, immediately at the base of the dread Tarpeian rock,overlooked and commanded by the outworks and turrets of the capitol, thathe drew in his eager horse, and looked behind him for his friends. Butthey were not in sight; and a moment's reflection told him that, beingabout to start their coursers on a trial of speed, they would doubtlessride gently over the rugged pavement of the crowded streets.
He doubted for a minute, whether he should turn back to meet them, or waitfor their arrival at the gate, by which they must pass to gain the campus;but the fear
of missing them, instantly induced him to adopt the lattercourse, and he sat for a little space motionless on his well-bitted andobedient horse beneath the shadow of the deep gate-way.
Here his eye wandered around him for awhile, taking note indeed of thesurrounding objects, the great temple of Jupiter Stator on the Palatine;the splendid portico of Catulus, adorned with the uncouth and grislyspoils of the Cimbric hordes slaughtered on the plains of Vercellae; thehouse of Scaurus, toward which a slow wain tugged by twelve powerful oxenwas even then dragging one of the pondrous columns which rendered his hallfor many years the boast of Roman luxury; and on the other tall buildingsthat stood every where about him; although in truth he scarce observedwhat for the time his eye dwelt upon.
At length an impatient motion of his horse caused him to turn his facetoward the black precipice of the huge rock at whose base he sat, and in amoment it fastened upon his mind with singular vividness--singular, for hehad paused fifty times upon that spot before, without experiencing suchfeelings--that he was on the very pavement, which had so often beenbespattered with the blood of despairing traitors. The noble Manlius,tumbled from the very rock, which his single arm had but a little whilebefore defended, seemed to lie there, even at his feet, mortally maimedand in the agony of death, yet even so too proud to mix one groan with thecurses he poured forth against Rome's democratic rabble. Then, by a notinapt transition, the scene changed, and Caius Marcius was at hand, withthe sword drawn in his right, that won him the proud name of Coriolanus,and the same rabble that had hurled Caius Manlius down, yelling andhooting "to the rock with him! to the rock!" but at a safe and respectfuldistance; their factious tribunes goading them to outrage and new riot.
It was strange that these thoughts should have occurred so clearly at thismoment to the excited mind of the young noble; and he felt that it wasstrange himself; and would have banished the ideas, but they would notaway; and he continued musing on the inconstant turbulence of theplebeians, and the unerring doom which had overtaken every one of theiridols, from the hands of their own partizans, until his companions atlength rode slowly up the street to join him.
There was some coldness in the manner of Aristius Fuscus, as they metagain, and even Aurelius seemed surprised and not well pleased; for theyhad in truth been conversing earnestly about the perturbation of theirfriend at the remarks of the artizan, and the singularity of his conductin wearing arms at all; and he heard Victor say just before they joinedcompany--
"No! that is not so odd, Fuscus, in these times. It was but two nightssince, as I was coming home something later than my wont from Terentia's,that I fell in with Clodius reeling along, frantically drunk and furious,with half a dozen torch-bearers before, and half a score wolfish lookinggladiators all armed with blade and buckler, and all half-drunk, behindhim. I do assure you that I almost swore I would go out no more withoutweapons."
"They would have done you no good, man," said Aristius, "if some nineteenor twenty had set upon you. But an they would, I care not; it is againstthe law, and no good citizen should carry them at all."
"Carry arms, I suppose you mean, Aristius," interrupted Paullus boldly."Ye are talking about me, I fancy--is it not so?"
"Ay, it is," replied the other gravely. "You were disturbed not a littleat what stout Volero said."
"I was, I was," answered Arvina very quickly, "because I could not tellhim; and it is not pleasant to be suspected. The truth is that the daggeris not mine at all, and that it _is_ blood that was on it; for lastnight--but lo!" he added, interrupting himself, "I was about to speak out,and tell you all; and yet my lips are sealed."
"I am sorry to hear it," said Aristius, "I do not like mysteries; and thisseems to me a dark one!"
"It is--as dark as Erebus," said Paullus eagerly, "and as guilty too; butit is not my mystery, so help me the god of good faith and honour!"
"That is enough said; surely that is enough for you, Aristius," exclaimedthe warmer and more excitable Aurelius.
"For you it may be," replied the noble youth, with a melancholy smile."You are a boy in heart, my Aurelius, and overflow so much with generosityand truth that you believe all others to be as frank and candid. I alas!have grown old untimely, and, having seen what I have seen, hold men'sassertions little worth."
The hot blood mounted fiercely into the cheek of Paullus; and, strikinghis horse's flank suddenly with his heel, he made him passage half acrossthe street, and would have seized Aristius by the throat, had not theircomrade interposed to hinder him.
"You are both mad, I believe; so mad that all the hellebore in both theAnticyras could not cure you. Thou, Fuscus, for insulting him withneedless doubts. Thou, Paullus, for mentioning the thing, or shewing thedagger at all, if you did not choose to explain."
"I do _choose_ to explain," replied Caecilius, "but I cannot; I haveexplained it all to Marcus Tullius."
"To Cicero," exclaimed Aristius. "Why did you not say so before? I waswrong, then, I confess my error; if Cicero be satisfied, it must needs beall well."
"That name of Cicero is like the voice of an oracle to Fuscus ever!" saidAurelius Victor, laughing. "I believe he thinks the new man from Arpinum avery god, descended from Olympus!"
"No! not a God," replied Aristius Fuscus, "only the greatest work of God,a wise and virtuous man, in an age which has few such to boast. But come,let us ride on and conclude our race; and thou, Arvina, forget what Isaid; I meant not to wrong thee."
"I have forgotten," answered Paullus; and, with the word, they gave theirhorses head, and cantered onward for the field of Mars.
The way for some distance was narrow, lying between the fortified rock ofthe Capitol, with its stern lines of immemorial ramparts on the righthand, and on the left the long arcades and stately buildings of thevegetable mart, on the river bank, now filled with sturdy peasants, fromthe Sabine country, eager to sell their fresh green herbs; and bloominggirls, from Tibur and the banks of Anio, with garlands of flowers, andcheeks that outvied their own brightest roses.
Beyond these, still concealing the green expanse of the level plain, andthe famous river, stood side by side three temples, sacred to Juno Matuta,Piety, and Hope; each with its massy colonnade of Doric or Corinthian, orIonic pillars; the latter boasting its frieze wrought in bronze; and thatof Piety, its tall equestrian statue, so richly gilt and burnished that itgleamed in the sunlight as if it were of solid gold.
Onward they went, still at a merry canter, their generous and high mettledcoursers fretting against the bits which restrained their speed, and theiryoung hearts elated and bounding quickly in their bosoms, with theexcitement of the gallant exercise; and now they cleared the last windingof the suburban street, and clothed in its perennial verdure, the widefield lay outspread, like one sheet of emerald verdure, before them, withthe bright Tiber flashing to the sun in many a reach and ripple, and thegay slope of the Collis Hortulorum, glowing with all its terraced gardensin the distance.
A few minutes more brought them to the Flaminian way, whereon, nearlymidway the plain, stood the _diribitorium_, or pay-office of the troops;the porticoes of which were filled with the soldiers of Metellus Creticus,and Quintus Marcius Rex, who lay with their armies encamped on the lowhills beyond the river, waiting their triumphs, and forbidden by the lawsto come into the city so long as they remained invested with theirmilitary rank. Around this stately building were many colonnades, and openbuildings adapted to the exercises of the day, when winter or bad weathershould prevent their performance in the open mead, and stored with allappliances, and instruments required for the purpose; and to these Paullusand his friends proceeded, answering merely with a nod or passing jest thesalutations of many a helmed centurion and gorgeous tribune of thesoldiery.
A grand Ionic gateway gave them admittance to the hippodrome, a vast ovalspace, adorned with groups of sculpture and obelisks and columns in themidst; on some of which were affixed inscriptions commemorative of greatfeats of skill or strength or daring; while others displayed placardsannouncing games
or contests to take place in future, and challenges ofcelebrated gymnasts for the cestus fight, the wrestling match, or thefoot-race.
Around the outer circumference were rows of seats, shaded by plane treesoverrun with ivy, and there were already seated many young men of noblebirth, chatting together, or betting, with their waxed tablets and their_styli_(11) in their hands, some waiting the commencement of the racebetween Fuscus and Victor, others watching with interest the progress of asham fight on horseback between two young men of the equestrian order,denoted by the narrow crimson stripes on their tunics, who were careeringto and fro, armed with long staves and circular bucklers, in all the swiftand beautiful movements of the mimic combat.
Among those most interested in this spectacle, the eye of Arvina fellinstantly on the tall and gaunt form of Catiline, who stood erect on oneof the marble benches, applauding with his hands, and now and thenshouting a word of encouragement to the combatants, as they wheeled by himin the mazes of their half angry sport. It was not long, however, beforetheir strife was brought to a conclusion; for, almost as the friendsentered, the hindmost horseman of the two made a thrust at the other,which taking effect merely on the lower rim of his antagonist's _parma_,glanced off under his outstretched arm, and made the striker, in a greatmeasure, lose his balance. As quick as light, the other wheeled upon him,feinted a pass at his breast with the point of the staff; and then, as helowered his shield to guard himself, reversed the weapon with a swift turnof the wrist, dealt him a heavy blow with the trunchon on the head; andthen, while the whole place rang with tumultuous plaudits, circledentirely round him to the left, and delivered his thrust with such effectin the side, that it bore his competitor clear out of the saddle.
"Euge! Euge! well done," shouted Catiline in ecstacy; "by Hercules! Inever saw in all my life better skirmishing. It is all over with TitusVarus!"
And in truth it was all over with him; but not in the sense which thespeaker meant: for, as he fell, the horses came into collision, and it sohappened that the charger of the conqueror, excited by the fury of thecontest, laid hold of the other's neck with his teeth, and almost toreaway a piece of the muscular flesh at the very moment when the rider'sspur, as he fell, cut a long gash in his flank.
With a wild yelling neigh, the tortured brute yerked out his heelsviciously; and, as ill luck would have it, both took effect on the personof his fallen master, one striking him a terrible blow on the chest, theother shattering his collar bone and shoulder.
A dozen of the spectators sprang down from the seats and took him upbefore Paullus could dismount to aid him; but, as they raised him from theground, his eyes were already glazing.
"Marcius has conquered me," he muttered in tones of deep mortification,unconscious, as it would seem, of his agony, and wounded only by theindomitable Roman pride; and with the words his jaw dropped, and his laststrife was ended.
"The fool!" exclaimed Cataline, with a bitter sneer; "what had he got todo, that he should ride against Caius Marcius, when he could not so muchas keep his saddle, the fool!"
"He is gone!" cried another; "game to the last, brave Varus!"
"He came of a brave race," said a third; "but he rode badly!"
"At least not so well as Marcius," replied yet a fourth; "but who does? Tobe foiled by him does not argue bad riding."
"Who does? why Paullus, here," cried Aurelius Victor; "I'll match him, ifhe will ride, for a thousand sesterces--ten thousand, if you will."
"No! I'll not bet about it. I lost by this cursed chance," answered theformer speaker; "but Varus did not ride badly, I maintain it!" he added,with the steadiness of a discomfited partisan.
"Ay! but he did, most pestilently," interposed Catiline, almost fiercely;"but come, come, why don't they carry him away? we are losing all themorning."
"I thought he was a friend of yours, Sergius," said another of thebystanders, apparently vexed at the heartlessness of his manner.
"Why, ay! so he was," replied the conspirator; "but he is nothing now: norcan my friendship aught avail him. It was his time and his fate! ours, itmay be, will come to-morrow. Nor do I see at all wherefore our sportsshould not proceed, because a man has gone hence. Fifty men every day diesomewhere, while we are dining, drinking, kissing our mistresses or wives;but do we stop for that? Ho! bear him hence, we will attend his funeral,when it shall be soever; and we will drink to his memory to-day. Whatcomes next, comrades?"
Arvina, it is true, was for a moment both shocked and disgusted at theheartless and unfeeling tone; but few if any of the others evinced thelike tenderness; for it must be remembered, in the first place, that theRomans, inured to sights of blood and torture daily in the gladiatorialfights of the arena, were callous to human suffering, and careless ofhuman life at all times; and, in the second, that Stoicism was thepredominant affectation of the day, not only among the rude and coarse,but among the best and most virtuous citizens of the republic. Few,therefore, left the ground, when the corpse, decently enveloped in thetoga he had worn when living, was borne homewards; except the involuntaryhomicide, who could not even at that day in decency remain, and a few ofhis most intimate associates, who covering their faces in the lappets oftheir gowns, followed the bearers in stern and silent sorrow.
Scarcely then had the sad procession threaded the marble archway, beforeCatiline again asked loudly and imperiously,
"What is to be the next, I pray you? are we to sit here like old women bytheir firesides, croaking and whimpering till dinner time?"
"No! by the gods," cried Aurelius, "we have a race to come off, which Ipropose to win. Fuscus Aristius here, and I--we will start instantly, if noone else has the ground."
"Away with you then," answered the other; "come sit by me, Arvina, I wouldsay a word with you."
Giving his horse to one of his grooms, the young man followed him withoutanswer; for although it is true that Catiline was at this time a markedman and of no favorable reputation, yet squeamishness in the choice ofassociates was never a characteristic of the Romans; and persons, theknown perpetrators of the most atrocious crimes, so long as they wereunconvicted, mingled on terms of equality, unshunned by any, except thegravest and most rigid censors. Arvina, too, was very young; and veryyoung men are often fascinated, as it were, by great reputations, even ofgreat criminals, with a passionate desire to see them more closely, andobserve the stuff they are made of. So that, in fact, Catiline beinglooked upon in those days much as a desperate gambler, a celebratedduellist, or a famous seducer of our own time, whom no one shuns thoughevery one abuses, it was not perhaps very wonderful if this rash, ardent,and inexperienced youth should have conceived himself flattered by suchnotice, from one of whom all the world was talking; and should havefollowed him to a seat with a sense of gratified vanity, blended witheager curiosity.
The race, which followed, differed not much from any other race; exceptthat the riders having no stirrups, that being a yet undiscovered luxury,much less depended upon jockeyship--the skill of the riders being limitedto keeping their seats steadily and guiding the animals they bestrode--andmuch more upon the native powers, the speed and endurance of the coursers.
So much, however, was Arvina interested by the manner and conversation ofthe singular man by whose side he sat, and who was indeed laying himselfout with deep art to captivate him, and take his mind, as it were, bystorm, now with the boldest and most daring paradoxes; now with bursts ofeloquent invective against the oppression and aristocratic insolence ofthe cabal, which by his shewing governed Rome; and now with sarcasm andpungent wit, that he saw but little of the course, which he had comeespecially to look at.
"Do you indeed ride so well, my Paullus?" asked his companion suddenly, asif the thought had been suggested by some observation he had just made onthe competitors, as they passed in the second circuit. "So well, I mean,as Aurelius Victor said; and would you undertake the combat of the horseand spear with Caius Marcius?"
"Truly I would," said Arvina, blushing slightly; "I have interchanged manya
blow and thrust with young Varro, whom our master-at-arms holds betterwith the spear than Marcius; and I feel myself his equal. I have beenpractising a good deal of late," he added modestly; "for, though perhapsyou know it not, I have been elected _decurio_;(12) and, as first chosen,leader of a troop, and am to take the field with the next reinforcementsthat go out to Pontus to our great Pompey."
"The next reinforcements," replied Catiline with a meditative air: "ha!that may be some time distant."
"Not so, by Jupiter! my Sergius; we are already ordered to hold ourselvesin readiness to march for Brundusium, where we shall ship for Pontus. Ifancy we shall set forth as soon as the consular comitia have been held."
"It may be so," said the other; "but I do not think it. There may fall outthat which shall rather summon Pompey homeward, than send more men to joinhim. That is a very handsome dagger," he broke off, interrupting himselfsuddenly--"where did you get it? I should like much to get me such an oneto give to my friend Cethegus, who has a taste for such things. I wonder,however, at your wearing it so openly."
Taken completely by surprise, Arvina answered hastily, "I found it lastnight; and I wear it, hoping to find the owner."
"By Hercules!" said the conspirator laughing; "I would not take so muchpains, were I you. But, do you hear, I have partly a mind myself to claimit."
"No! you were better not," said Paullus, gravely; "besides, you can getone just like this, without risking any thing. Volero, the cutler, in theSacred Way, near Vesta's temple, has one precisely like to this for sale.He made this too, he tells me; though he will not tell me to whom he soldit; but that shall soon be got out of him, notwithstanding."
"Ha! are you so anxious in the matter? it would oblige you, then, if Ishould confess myself the loser! Well, I don't want to buy another; I wantthis very one. I believe I must claim it."
He spoke with an emphasis so singular; impressive, and at the same timehalf-derisive, and with so strangely-meaning an expression, that Paullusindeed scarcely knew what to think; but, in the mean time, he hadrecovered his own self-possession, and merely answered--
"I think you had better not; it would perhaps be dangerous!"
"Dangerous? Ha! that is another motive. I love danger! verily, I believe Imust; yes! I must claim it."
"What!" exclaimed Paullus, turning pale from excitement; "Is it yours? Doyou say that it is yours?"
"Look! look!" exclaimed Catiline, springing to his feet; "here they come,here they come now; this is the last round. By the gods! but they aregallant horses, and well matched! See how the bay courser stretcheshimself, and how quickly he gathers! The bay! the bay has it for fivehundred sesterces!"
"I wager you," said a dissolute-looking long-haired youth; "I wager youfive hundred, Catiline. I say the gray horse wins."
"Be it so, then," shouted Catiline; "the bay, the bay! spur, spur,Aristius Fuscus, Aurelius gains on you; spur, spur!"
"The gray, the gray! There is not a horse in Rome can touch AureliusVictor's gray South-wind!" replied the other.
And in truth, Victor's Gallic courser repaid his master's vaunts; for hemade, though he had seemed beat, so desperate a rally, that he rushed pastthe bay Arab almost at the goal, and won by a clear length amidst theroars of the glad spectators.
"I have lost, plague on it!" exclaimed Catiline; "and here is Clodiusexpects to be paid on the instant, I'll be sworn."
And as he spoke, the debauchee with whom he had betted came up, holdinghis left hand extended, tapping its palm with the forefinger of the right.
"I told you so," he said, "I told you so; where be the sesterces?"
"You must needs wait a while; I have not my purse with me," Catilinebegan. But Paullus interrupted him--
"I have, I have, my Sergius; permit me to accommodate you." And suitingthe action to the word, he gave the conspirator several large gold coins,adding, "you can repay me when it suits you."
"That will be never," said Clodius with a sneer; "you don't know LuciusCatiline, I see, young man."
"Ay, but he does!" replied the other, with a sarcastic grin; "for Catilinenever forgets a friend, or forgives a foe. Can Clodius say the same?"
But Clodius merely smiled, and walked off, clinking the money he had wontauntingly in his hand.
"What now, I wonder, is the day destined to bring forth?" said theconspirator, making no more allusion to the dagger.
"A contest now between myself, Aristius, and Aurelius, in the five gamesof the _quinquertium_, and then a foot race in the heaviest panoply."
"Ha! can you beat them?" asked Catiline, regarding Arvina with an interestthat grew every moment keener, as he saw more of his strength and daringspirit.
"I can try."
"Shall I bet on you?"
"If you please. I can beat them in some, I think; and, as I said, I willtry in all."
More words followed, for Paullus hastened away to strip and anoint himselffor the coming struggle; and in a little while the strife itselfsucceeded.
To describe this would be tedious; but suffice it, that while he wondecidedly three games of the five, Paullus was beat in none; and that inthe armed foot race, the most toilsome and arduous exercise of the Campus,he not only beat his competitors with ease; but ran the longest course,carrying the most ponderous armature and shield, in shorter time than hadbeen performed within many years on the Field of Mars.
Catiline watched him eagerly all the while, inspecting him as a purchaserwould a horse he was about to buy; and then, muttering to himself, "Wemust have him!" walked up to join him as he finished the last exploit.
"Will you dine with me, Paullus," he said, "to-day, and meet the loveliestwomen you can see in Rome, and no prudes either?"
"Willingly," he replied; "but I must swim first in the Tiber!"
"Be it so, there is time enough; I will swim also." And they moved down incompany toward the river.