Valerius. A Roman Story Read online

  _CHAPTER III._

  My sleep was sound and sweet; nevertheless, when the morning began todawn, I was awakened by its first glimmerings, and found that my thoughtsbecame at once too busy to admit of a return to slumber. I thereforearose, and went to walk in an open gallery, with which my chamber wasconnected. This gallery commanded a prospect of a great part of the city,which at that hour appeared no less tranquil than stately, nothing beingin motion except a few small boats gliding here and there upon the river.Neither as yet had any smoke begun to darken the atmosphere; so that allthings were seen in a serene and steady light, the shadows falling broadlywestward over streets and squares--but pillars, and obelisks, and arches,rising up every where with unsullied magnificence into the bright air ofthe morning. The numerous poplars and other lofty trees of the gardens,also, seemed to be rejoicing in the hour of dew and silence; so fresh andcheerful was the intermixture of their branches among the piles of whiteand yellow marble. Near at hand, over the groves of the PhilocleanMansion, I could see the dome of the Pantheon, all burnished with livinggold, and the proud colonnades of the Flaminian Circus, loaded with armiesof brazen statues. Between these and the river, the theatres of Pompey andMarcellus, and I know not how many temples, were visible. Across a morecrowded region, to the westward, my eye ascended to the cliffs and towersof the Capitol; while, still farther removed from me, (although lesselevated in natural situation,) the gorgeous mansion of the Emperor wasseen, lifted up, like some new and separate city, upon its enormous fabricof arcades. Behind me, the Flavian Amphitheatre, the newest and the mostmajestic of all Roman edifices, detained the eye for a space from all thatlay beyond it--the splendid mass of the Esquiline--and those innumerableaqueducts which lie stretched out, arch after arch, and pillar afterpillar, across the surrounding plain.

  As I stood upon a projecting balcony, I heard some person stepping softlyalong the floor, and, being screened by some pillars, looked back into thegallery without subjecting myself to observation in return. The noise, Ifound, was occasioned by one of the slaves of Licinius, (the same I hadremarked over night,) who had an air of anxious vigilance on thisoccasion, looking about from side to side as if afraid of being detectedin some impropriety. I heard him tap at one of the apartments adjoining myown, and young Sextus, opening the door, eagerly asked, "Well, Dromo, goodDromo, what news?--Have you seen or heard any thing of her?--Speak low, Ibeseech you, and remember that my preceptor is near." "Which preceptor?"replied Dromo; "count me your best, and I will teach you how to manage allbesides."--"Hush!" whispered the young man; "he may be astir with theseeternal parchments."--"Be easy," returned the slave; "I have found outfacts which will serve to bridle that tongue at any time."--"Dromo," saidSextus, "have a care; remember the thong of sleek leather which hangs atthe foot of the stair-case; and many is the time I have saved you from it;for which you may, perhaps, have to thank the beauty of her who hasrendered you necessary to me, as much as my own good nature. But no moreidle words at present--what have you to tell me?"

  "I have just been down," answered he, "to the herb-market. I had made mybargain, and was coming away, when I met one of old Capito's men, drivingan ass laden with articles from the country. So I asked if he was carryinga present to his master's brother. He said he had brought nothing forLucius but a letter; and that he believed its purport was to invite thetwo young ladies, to come out to-day and enjoy the beauty of the season. Ino sooner got this information, than I ran hither as swiftly as my legswould carry me. You can easily go out, as if by chance, to pay yourrespects to the Patrician."

  "Ah, Sempronia!" sighed Sextus, "shall I approach you at last?--What willshe think when she sees me there?--Oh, how will she speak to me?"

  While he was uttering these words, Dromo suddenly started, and camepeeping on tiptoe towards the place where I stood. I stepped from behindmy pillar, and said to the astonished youth, "Fear not, Sextus, that Ishall intermeddle with your secrets, or make any use of what I haveaccidentally overheard. But I wish you would satisfy my curiosity, andinform me who is this lady, and what may be the meaning of all thisconcealment?"

  Here Dromo, perceiving that his young master was a good deal confused,came forward and said, "From observing your looks last night, when I wasmaking a handle of yon barbarian to torture our friend of the porch, Ithink you are a good-natured person, who would not willingly bring any ofus into trouble. The truth is, that Licinius wishes my young master hereto marry a certain lady, who has already had wet eyes over the ashes of afirst husband; but who is of noble birth, and very rich. Now Sextus, beingonly eighteen, does not like this great lady so well as she likes him; andhas, in fact, lost his heart elsewhere."--"Dromo," answered I, taking youngSextus by the hand as I spoke, "this is a pretty common sort of story; butI shall take no side till I have seen both of the ladies; and the sooneryour ingenuity can bring that about, the more shall I be beholden toyou."--"We shall try," replied the slave, observing that I had overcome thereluctance of the lover; "but in the meantime I observe that the clientsare beginning to assemble in the porch, to await the forthcoming ofLicinius. Go, therefore, and get some breakfast, for, by and by, you willboth be expected to accompany the Senator to the Forum, to hear him plead;which, between ourselves, will be a six hours' job for you, unless youmanage matters dexterously."

  This hint produced a visible effect on Sextus; but we went down togetherimmediately to an apartment, where some bread and grapes were prepared forus; and there, with much ingenuousness, he opened his heart to me. Butwhat surprised me most of all, was to hear, that although he had beenenamoured of Sempronia for several months, and was well acquainted withseveral of her relations, he had never yet seen her, except at certainplaces of public resort, nor enjoyed any opportunity of making known hispassion.

  While I was expressing my astonishment at this circumstance, we wereinterrupted by Xerophrastes, who came to inform us that Licinius, havingalready descended into the hall, was about to issue forth, and desirous ofmy company, if no other occupation detained me. We accordingly followedthe philosopher, and found his patron where he had indicated, pacing toand fro, in the highest state of excitation, like a generous steed aboutto scour the field of battle. The waxen effigies of his ancestors stood atone end of the hall, some of them defaced with age; and upon these hefrequently fixed his ardent eyes. Seeing me enter, he immediately criedout, "Come hither, young friend, and I shall presently conduct you to ascene worthy, above all others, of the curiosity of a stranger."

  With this, arranging his gown, and putting himself into a dignifiedattitude, he ordered the porter, who stood chained by the door, to throwwide its massy valves; which being done, the litigants and consulters, whowere without, received the orator with acclamations, and surrounded him onall sides. Some of the poorer ones, I observed kissing the hem of hisgarment, and dodging wistfully at his elbows, without ever attracting aword or look from him; while those of a higher class came forward morefamiliarly, seeking to impress particular circumstances upon his memory,and paying him compliments on the appearance he had made the day before inthe Centumviral Court. Encircled by this motley group, he walked towardsthe great Forum, followed at a little distance by Sextus, the preceptor,myself, and some freedmen of his household. In moving on, we passed, byaccident, the door of another great pleader, by name Bruttianus, who stoodthere attended in a similar manner. When he perceived Licinius, this mantook from his door-post a green palm-branch, and waved it towards us in avaunting manner; but our friend, saluting him courteously, cried out, withhis sharp and cutting voice, "We shall try it again." WhereonXerophrastes, immediately stepping up to his patron, began thus, "How thisvain-glorious person exposes himself!--he is certainly a weak man; and histones, by Hermes, are more detestable than those of an African fowl."--Atwhich words, Sextus tipped me the wink; but I did not observe thatLicinius was at all displeased with them. Yet, soon after, Bruttianushaving overtaken us, the processions were joined, and the two pleaderswalked the rest of the way together
in a loving manner, exchangingcomplimentary speeches; to which Xerophrastes listened with edifyinggravity of visage.

  At length we entered that venerable space, every yard of whose surface isconsecrated to the peculiar memory of some great incident in the historyof Rome. Young Sextus allowed me to contemplate for some time, with silentwonder, the memorable objects which conspired to the decoration of thisremarkable place; but after the first gaze of astonishment was satisfied,proceeded to point out, in order, the names and uses of the principalstructures which rose on every side over its porticos--above all, of itssublime temples--into whose cool and shady recesses the eye could here andthere penetrate through the open valves. Nor did the ancient rostrum fromwhich Tully had declaimed, escape our observation--nor within its guardingrail of silver, the rising shoots of the old mysterious fig-tree ofRomulus--nor the rich tesselated pavement which covered the spot that hadonce yawned an abyss before the steady eye of Curtius--nor the resplendentMilliary pillar which marked the centre of the place. In a word, had thegathering crowds permitted, I could have willingly spent many hours inlistening to the explanation of such magnificent objects; but these, andthe elevated voice of Licinius, who was just beginning his harangue, sooncompelled me to attend to things of another description.

  Within one of the proud ranges of arcade, on the side nearest to theCapitoline stairs, a majestic Patrician had already taken his seat on anelevated tribunal--his assessors being arranged on a lower bench by hisside, and the orators and clients congregated beneath. When I heard theclear and harmonious periods of my kinsman; when I observed with whatapparent simplicity he laid his foundations in a few plain facts andpropositions; with what admirable art he upreared from these asuperstructure of conclusions, equally easy as unexpected; when he hadconducted us to the end of his argument, and closed with a burst ofpassionate eloquence, in which he seemed to leave even himself behind him,I could not but feel as if I had now for the first time contemplated thepractised strength of intellect. Yet I have lived to discover that thetalent which so greatly excited my wonder is often possessed from nature,or acquired through practice, in a measure which at that time would haveafforded me scarcely inferior delight, by men of no extraordinary rank.

  The keen and lively gestures of the fervid Licinius, whose soul seemed tospeak out of every finger he moved, and who appeared to be altogetherimmersed in the cause he pleaded, were succeeded by the solemn andsomewhat pompous stateliness of Bruttianus, who made a brief pause betweenevery two sentences, as if he were apprehensive that the mind of the judgecould not keep pace with the stream of his illustrations, and looked roundever and anon upon the spectators with a placid and assured smile, rather,as it seemed to me, to signify his approbation of their taste inapplauding him, than his own pleasure in their applauses. Nevertheless, healso was a splendid speaker, and his affectation displeased the more,because it was evidently unworthy of his understanding. While he wasspeaking, I observed that the Stoic preceptor was frequently shifting hisplace among the crowd, and muttering every where expressions of highcontempt. But this did not disgust me so much as the fixed attitude ofecstasy in which he listened to the discourse of his own patron, and thepretended involuntary exclamations of his delight. "Oh, admirablecadence!" he would say, "I feel as if I were draining a honey-comb. Oh,harmonious man, where have I, or any other person here, sucked in suchsweetness!" These absurd phrases, however, were caught up forthwith, andrepeated by the numerous young men who hung upon the skirts of the orator,and seemed, indeed, to be drinking in nectar from the speech, if one mightjudge from their countenances. From their taking notes in their tabletsfrom time to time, and from the knowing looks they assumed at thecommencement of every new chain of argument, I guessed that these might beembryo jurisconsults, preparing themselves by their attendance for futureexertions of the same species; and, indeed, when I listened to theirconversation at the close of every speech, I thought I could perceive intheir tones and accents, studied mimicry of the natural peculiarities ofLicinius, Bruttianus, and the other orators. Altogether, the scene was asfull of amusement as of novelty, and I could willingly have remained tothe end of the discussion. But my eyes chanced to fall upon young Sextus,and I could not but see that his mind was occupied in matters remote fromthe business of the Forum. He stood with his arms folded in his gown, andhis eyes fixed upon the ground, only lifting them up from time to timewith an impatient air towards a side entrance, or to observe by theshadows on the porticos what progress the sun was making.

  Perceiving, at length, that Xerophrastes had his back turned to us, andthat his father was engaged with his tablets, he plucked me by the sleeve.I understood his meaning, and followed him quickly through the crowd; nordid we look back till we had left the noise of the Forensic assemblyentirely behind us. "I am depriving you," he said, "of no greatgratification, for that old creature is, indeed, possessed of much naturalshrewdness, but he is bitter from observing that his reputation is rathereclipsed by younger people, and looks like some worn-out and discardedcat, grinning from the top of the wall at the dalliance of some sleekerrival. You could find no delight in the angry sneerings of such an enviousperson; and his age would prevent you, at the same time, from willinglygiving way to contemptuous emotions. I will be your guide to the villa.But if any questions be asked on our return, you can say I was anxious toshew you something of the other regions of the city."

  He hurried me through noble streets, and past innumerable edifices, beforeeach of which I would gladly have paused. Nevertheless, seeing him wrappedup in anxious thoughts, I did not oppose myself to his inclinations; andere long, having passed the Hill of Gardens, I found that we had gainedthe eastern limit of the city.