Shortly after starting from Thebes--on the second day of
November--Hadrian came to a great decision. Verus should be acknowledged
not merely as his son but also as his successor.
Sabina’s urgency would not alone have sufficed to put a term to his
hesitancy, especially as it had lately been farther increased by a wish
that was all his own. His wife’s heart had pined for a child, but he too
had longed for a son, and he had found one in Antinous. His favorite was
a boy he had picked up by chance, the son of humble though free parents,
but it lay in the Emperor’s power to make him great, to confer on him
the highest posts of honor in the Empire, and at last to recognize him
publicly as his heir. Antinous, if any one, had deserved this at his
hands, and on no other man could he so ungrudgingly bestow everything
that he possessed.
These ideas and hopes had now filled his mind for many months, but the
nature and the mood of the young Bithyman had been more and more adverse
to them.
Hadrian had striven more earnestly than his predecessors to raise the
fallen dignity of the Senate, and still he could count securely on its
consent to any measure. The leading official authorities of the Republic
had been recognized and allowed the full exercise of their powers. To be
sure, be they whom they might, they all had to obey the Emperor, still
they were always there; and even with a weak ruler at its head the
Empire might continue to subsist within the limits established by
Hadrian, and restricted with wise moderation. Nevertheless, only a few
months previously he would not have ventured to think of the adoption
of his favorite. Now he hoped to find himself somewhat nearer to the
fulfilment of his wishes. It is true Antinous was still a dreamer; but
in their wanderings and hunting excursions through Egypt he had proved
himself gallant and prompt, intelligent, and, after their departure from
Thebes, even bold and lively at times. Antinous, under this aspect, he
himself might take in hand, and even name him as his successor in due
time, when he had risen from one post of honor to another. For the
present this plan must remain unrevealed.
When he publicly adopted Verus any idea of a possible new selection of
a son was excluded, and he might unhesitatingly venture to appoint
Sabina’s darling his successor, for the most famous of the Roman
physicians had written to Hadrian, by his desire, saying that the
praetor’s undermined strength could not be restored, and that, at the
best, he could only have a limited number of years to live. Well, then,
Verus might die slowly and contentedly in the midst of the most splendid
anticipations, and when he should have closed his eyes it would be time
enough to set the dreamer--by that time matured to vigorous manhood--in
the vacant place.
On the return journey from Thebes to Alexandria Hadrian met his wife at
Abydos, and revealed to her his intention of proclaiming the son of her
choice as his successor. Sabina thanked him with an exclamation of
“At last!” which expressed partly her satisfaction, but partly too her
annoyance at her husband’s long delay. Hadrian gave her his permission
to return to Rome from Alexandria, and on the very same day messages
were despatched with letters both to the Senate and to the prefects of
Egypt.
The despatch intended for Titianus charged him to proclaim publicly
the adoption of the praetor, to arrange at the same time for a grand
festival, and on that occasion to grant to the people, in Caesar’s
name, all the boons and favors which by the traditional law of Egypt the
Sovereign was expected to bestow at the birth of an heir to the throne.
The whole suite of the Imperial pair celebrated Hadrian’s decision by
splendid banquets, but the Emperor did not himself take part in them,
but crossed to the other bank of the Nile and went to Antaeopolis in the
desert, meaning to penetrate from thence into the gorges of the Arabian
desert and to chase wild beasts. No one was to accompany him but
Antinous, Mastor, and a few huntsmen and some dogs.
He meant to rejoin the ships at Besa. He had postponed his visit to
this place till the return journey, because he had travelled up by the
western shore of the Nile, and the passage across the river would have
taken up too much time.
The travellers’ tents were pitched one sultry evening in November,
between the Nile and the limestone range, in which was arrayed a long
row of tombs of the period of the Pharaohs. Hadrian had gone to visit
these, for the remarkable pictures on the walls delighted him, but
Antinous remained behind, for he had already looked at similar works
oftener than he cared for, in Upper Egypt. He found these pictures
monotonous and unlovely, and he had not the patience to investigate
their meaning as his master did. He had been a hundred times into
the ancient rock-tombs, only not to leave Hadrian and not for his own
amusement; but to-day--he could hardly bear himself for impatience and
excitement, for he knew that a ride, a walk, of a few hours, would carry
him to Besa and to Selene. The Emperor would remain absent three or four
hours at any rate, and if he made up his mind to it he could have sought
out the girl for whom his heart was longing before his return, and still
be back again before his master.
But before acting he must reflect. There was the Emperor climbing the
hill-side where he could see him, and messengers were expected and he
had been charged to receive them. It they should bring bad news, his
master must on no account be alone. Ten times did he go up to his
good hunter to leap upon his back; once he even took down the horse’s
head-gear to put on his bridle, but in the very act of slipping the
complicated bit between the teeth of his steed his resolution gave way.
During all this delay and hesitation the minutes slipped away, and at
last it was so late that Hadrian might return and it was folly to think
of carrying his plan into execution. The expected express arrived with
several letters, but the Emperor did not come back. It grew dark, and
heavy rain-drops fell from the overcast sky, and still Antinous
was alone. His anxious longing was mingled with regret for the lost
opportunity of seeing Selene and alarm at the Emperor’s prolonged
absence.
In spite of the rain, which began to fill more violently, he went out
into the open air, of which the sweltering oppressiveness had helped to
fetter his feeble volition, and called to the dogs, with whose help he
proposed seeking the Emperor; but just then he heard the bark of Argus,
and soon after Hadrian and Mastor stepped out of the darkness into the
brightness which shone out from the tent, where lights were burning.
The Emperor gave his favorite but a brief greeting and silently
submitted while Antinous dried his hair and brought him some
refreshments, and Mastor bathed his feet and dressed him in fresh
garments. As he reclined with the Bithyman, before the supper which was
standing ready, he said:
“A strange evening! how hot and oppressive the atmosphere is. We must be
on the lookout, something serious is brewing.”
“What happened to you, my Lord?”
“Many things. At the door of the very first tomb that I was about to
enter I found an old black woman who stretched out her hands against us
to keep us out and shrieked out words that sounded horrible.”
“Did you understand her?”
“No--who can learn Egyptian.”
“Then you do not know what she said?”
“I was to find out--she cried out ‘Dead!’ and again ‘Dead!’ and in
the tomb which she was watching there were I know not how many persons
attacked by the plague.”
“You saw them?”
“Yes, I had only heard of this disease till then. It is frightful, and
quite answers to the descriptions I had read of it.”
“But Caesar!” cried Antinous reproachfully and in alarm.
“When we turned our backs on the tombs,” continued Hadrian, paying no
heed to the lad’s exclamation, “we were met by an elderly man dressed
in white and a strange-looking maiden. She was lame but of remarkable
beauty.”
“And she was going to the sick?”
“Yes, she had brought medicine and food to them.”
“But she did not go in among them?” asked Antinous eagerly.
“She did, in spite of my warnings. In her companion I recognized an old
acquaintance.”
“An old one?”
“At any rate older than myself. We had met in Athens when we still
were young. At that time he was one of the school of Plato and the most
zealous, nay, perhaps the most gifted of us all.”
“How came such a man among the plague-stricken people of Besa? Is he
become a physician?”
“No. But at Athens he sought fervently and eagerly for the truth, and
now he asserts that he has found it.”
“Here, among the Egyptians?”
“In Alexandria among the Christians.”
“And the lame girl who accompanied the philosopher--does she too believe
in the crucified God?”
“Yes. She is a sick-nurse or something of the kind. Indeed there is
something grand in the ecstatic craze of these people.”
“Is it true that they worship an ass and a dove?”
“Nonsense!”
“I did not want to believe it; and at any rate they are kind, and succor
all who suffer, even strangers who do not belong to their sect.”
“How do you know?”
“One hears a great deal about them in Alexandria.”
“Alas! alas!--I never persecute an imaginary foe, as such I reckon the
creeds and ideas of other men; still, I cannot but ask myself whether it
can add to the prosperity of the state when citizens cease to struggle
against the pressure and necessity of life and console themselves for
them instead, by the hope of visionary happiness in another world which
perhaps only exists in the fancy of those who believe in it.”
“I should wish that life might end with death,” said Antinous
thoughtfully; “and yet--”
“Well?”
“If I were sure that in that other world I should find those I long to
see again, then I might long for a future life.”
“And would you really like, throughout all eternity, to push and
struggle in the crowd of old acquaintances which death does not diminish
but rather multiplies?”
“Nay, not that--but I should like to be permitted to live for ever with
a few chosen friends.”
“And should I be one of them?”
“Yes--indeed,” cried Antinous warmly and pressing his lips to Hadrian’s
hand.
“I was sure of it--but even with the promise of never being obliged to
part with you my darling, I would never sacrifice the only privilege
which man enjoys above the immortals.”
“What privilege can you mean?”
“The right of withdrawing from the ranks of the living as soon as
annihilation seems more endurable than existence and I choose to call
death to release me.”
“The gods, it is true, cannot die.”
“And the Christians only to link a new life on to death.”
“But a fairer and a happier than this on earth. They say it is a life of
bliss. But the mother of this everlasting life is the ineradicable love
of existence in even the most wretched of our race, and hope is its
father. They believe in a complete freedom from suffering in that other
world because He whom they call their Redeemer, the crucified Christ,
has saved them from all sufferings by His death.”
“And can a man take upon him the sufferings of others, think you, like a
garment or a burden?”
“They say so, and my friend from Athens is quite convinced. In books of
magic there are many formulas by which misfortunes may be transferred
not merely from men to beasts, but from one human being to another. Very
remarkable experiments have even been carried out with slaves, and to
this day I have to struggle in several, provinces to suppress human
sacrifices by which the gods are to be reconciled or propitiated. Only
think of the innocent Iphigenia who was dragged to the altar; did not
the gulf in the Forum close when Curtius had leaped into it? When Fate
shoots a fatal arrow at you and I receive it in my breast, perhaps she
is content with the chance victim and does not enquire as to whom she
has hit.”
“The gods would be exorbitant indeed if they were not content with your
blood for mine!”
“Life is life, and that of the young is of better worth than that of the
old. Many joys will yet bloom for you.”
“And you are indispensable to the whole world.”
“After me another will come. Are you ambitious, boy?”
“No, my Lord.”
“What then can be the meaning of this: that every one wishes me joy of
my son Verus excepting you. Do you not like my choice?”
Antinous colored and looked at the ground, and Hadrian went on:
“Say honestly what you feel.”
“The praetor is ill.”
“He can have but a few years to live, and when he is dead--”
“He may recover--”
“When he is dead, I must look out for another son. What do you think
now? Who is the being that every man, from a slave to a consul, would
soonest hear call him ‘Father?”’
“Some one he tenderly loved.”
“True--and particularly when that one clung to him with unchangeable
fidelity. I am a man like any other, and you, my good fellow, are always
nearest to my heart, and I shall bless the day when I may authorize you,
before all the world, to call me ‘Father.’ Do not interrupt me. If you
resolutely concentrate your will and show as keen a sense for ruling
men as you do for the chase, if you try to sharpen your wits and take
in what I teach you, it may some day happen that Antinous instead of
Verus--”
“Nay, not that, only not that!” cried the lad, turning very pale and
raising his hands beseechingly.
“The greatness with which Destiny surprises us seems terrible so long
as it is new to us,” said Hadrian. “But the seaman is soon accustomed to
the storms, and we come to wear the purple as you do your chiton.”
“Oh, Caesar, I entreat you,” said Antinous, anxiously, “put aside these
ideas; I am not fit for great things.”
“The smallest saplings grow to be palms.”
“But I am only a wretched little herb that thrives awhile in your
shadow. Proud Rome--”
“Rome is my handmaid. She has been forced before now to be ruled by men
of inferior stamp, and I should show her how the handsomest of her
sons can wear the purple. The world may look for such a choice from a
sovereign whom it has long known to be an artist, that is a high-priest
of the Beautiful. And if not, I will teach it to form its taste on
mine.”
“You are pleased to mock me, Caesar,” cried the Bithynian. “You
certainly cannot be in earnest, and if it is true that you love me--”
“What now, boy?”
“You will let me live unknown for you, care for you; you will ask
nothing of me but reverence and love and fidelity.”
“I have long had them, and I now would fain repay my Antinous for all
these treasures.”
“Only let me stay with you, and if necessary let me die for you.”
“I believe, boy, you would be ready to make the sacrifice we were
speaking of for me!”
“At any moment without winking an eyelash.”
“I thank you for those words. It has turned out a pleasant evening, and
what a bad one I looked forward to--”
“Because the woman by the tomb startled you?”
“‘Dead,’ is a grim word. It is true that ‘death’--being dead--can
frighten no wise man; but the step out of light into darkness is
fearful. I cannot get the figure of the old hag and her shrill cry out
of my mind. Then the Christian came up, and his discourse was strange
and disturbing to my soul. Before it grew dark he and the limping girl
went homewards; I stood looking after them and my eyes were dazzled by
the sun which was sinking over the Libyan range. The horizon was clear,
but behind the day-star there were clouds. In the west, the Egyptians
say, lies the realm of death. I could not help thinking of this; and the
oracle, the misfortunes that the stars threatened me with in the course
of this year, the cry of the old woman--all these crowded into my mind
together. But then, as I observed how the sun struggled with the clouds
and approached nearer and nearer to the hill-tops on the farther side
of the river, I said to myself: If it sets in full radiance you may look
confidently to the future; if it is swallowed up by clouds before it
sinks to rest, then destiny will fulfil itself; then you must shorten
sail and wait for the storm.”
“And what happened?”
“The fiery globe burnt in glowing crimson, surrounded by a million rays.
Each seemed separate from the rest and shone with glory of its own;
it was as though the sinking disc had been the centre of bow-shots
innumerable and golden arrow-shafts radiated to the sky in every
direction. The scene was magnificent and my heart beat high with happy
excitement, when suddenly and swiftly a dark cloud fell, as though
exasperated by the wounds it had received from those fiery darts; a
second followed, and a third, and sinister Daimons flung a dark and
fleecy curtain over the glorious head of Helios, as the executioner
throws a coarse black cloth over the head of the condemned, when he sets
his knee against him to strangle him.”
At this narrative Antinous covered his face with both hands, and
murmured in terror:
“Frightful, frightful! What can be hanging over us? Only listen, how it
thunders, and the rain thrashes the tent.”
“The clouds are pouring out torrents; see the water is coming in
already. The slaves must dig gutters for it to run off. Drive the pegs
tighter you fellows out there or the whirlwind will tear down the slight
structure.”
“And how sultry the air is!”
“The hot wind seems to warm even the flood of rain. Here it is still
dry; mix me a cup of wine, Antinous. Have any letters come?”
“Yes, my Lord.”
“Give them to me, Mastor.”
The slave, who was busily engaged in damming up with earth and stones,
the trickling stream of rain-water that was soaking into the tent,
sprang up, hastily dried his hands, took a sack out of the chest in
which the Emperor’s despatches were kept and gave it to his master.
Hadrian opened the leather bag, took out a roll, hastily broke it open,
and then, after rapidly glancing at the contents, exclaimed:
“What is this? I have opened the record of the oracle of Apis. How did
it come among to-day’s letters?”
Antinous went up to Hadrian, looked at the sack, and said:
“Mastor has made a mistake. These are the documents from Memphis. I will
bring you the right despatch-bag.”
“Stay!” said Hadrian, eagerly seizing his favorite’s hand. “Is this a
mere trick of chance or a decree of Fate? Why should this particular
sack have come into my hands to-day of all others? Why, out of twenty
documents it contains, should I have taken out this very one? Look
here.--I will explain these signs to you. Here stand three pairs of arms
bearing shields and spears, close by the name of the Egyptian month that
corresponds to our November. These are the three signs of misfortune.
The lutes up there are of happier omen. The masts here indicate the
usual state of affairs. Three of these hieroglyphics always occur
together. Three lutes indicate much good fortune, two lutes and one mast
good fortune and moderate prosperity, one pair of arms and two lutes
misfortune, followed by happiness, and so forth. Here, in November,
begin the arms with weapons, and here they stand in threes and threes,
and portend nothing but unqualified misfortune, never mitigated by a
single lute. Do you see, boy? Have you understood the meaning of these
signs?”
“Perfectly well; but do you interpret them rightly? The fighting arms
may perhaps lead to victory.”
“No. The Egyptians use them to indicate conflict, and to them conflict
and unrest are identical with what we call evil and disaster.”
“That is strange!”
“Nay, it is well conceived; for they say that everything was originally
created good by the gods, but that the different portions of the great
All changed their nature by restless and inharmonious mingling. This
explanation was given me by the priest of Apis, and here--here by the
month of November are the three fighting arias--a hideous token. If one
of the flashes which light up this tent so incessantly, like a living
stream of light were to strike you, or me, and all of us--I should not
wonder. Terrible--terrible things hang over us! It requires some courage
under such omens as these, to keep an untroubled gaze and not to quail.”
“Only use your own arms against the fighting arms of the Egyptian gods;
they are powerful,” said Antinous; but Hadrian let his head sink on his
breast, and said, in a tone of discouragement:
“The gods themselves must succumb to Destiny.”
The thunder continued to roar. More than once the storm snapped the
tent-ropes, and the slaves were obliged to hold on to the Emperor’s
fragile shelter with their hands; the chambers of the clouds poured
mighty torrents out upon the desert range which for years had not known
a drop of rain, and every rift and runlet was filled with a stream or a
torrent.
Neither Hadrian nor Antinous closed their eyes that fearful night. The
Emperor had as yet opened only one of the rolls that were in the day’s
letter-bag; it contained the information that Titianus the prefect was
cruelly troubled by his old difficulty of breathing, with a petition
from that worthy official to be allowed to retire from the service of
the state and to withdraw to his own estate. It was no small matter for
Hadrian to dispense for the future with this faithful coadjutor, to lose
the man on whom he had had his eye to tranquillize Judaea--where a fresh
revolt had raised its head, and to reduce it again to subjection without
bloodshed. To crush and depopulate the rebellious province was within
the power of other men, but to conquer and govern it with kindness
belonged only to the wise and gentle Titianus. The Emperor had no heart
to open a second letter that night. He lay in silence on his couch
till morning began to grow gray, thinking over every evil hour of his
life--the murders of Nigrinus, of Tatianus and of the senators, by which
he had secured the sovereignty--and again he vowed to the gods immense
sacrifices if only they would protect him from impending disaster.
When he rose next morning Antinous was startled at his aspect, for
Hadrian’s face and lips were perfectly bloodless. After he had read the
remainder of his letters he started, not on foot but on horseback, with
Antinous and Mastor for Besa, there to await the rest of the escort.