The preacher, throwing up his right hand, snatched at opportunity:

"There were two thieves crucified, one on either hand, as I have told
you. To the one was said: 'This day shalt thou be with me in
paradise'; but to the other nothing. Nevertheless, all shall rise up
from the dead on the last day--you, and your friends, and the wise and
the fools, and the slave and the free--aye, and Maternus also--"

One merchant grinned to the other:

"Yet I think it was on the first night that Maternus rose up! They
stiffen if they stay a whole night on the cross. If he could walk to
Daphne three nights later, he had not been crucified many hours. Come,
let us go to the baths before the crowd gets there. If one is late
those insolent attendants lose one's clothing, and there is no chance
whatever of getting a good soft-handed slave to rub one down. Don't you
hate to be currycombed by a rascal with corns on his fingers?"




V. ROME--THE THERMAE OF TITUS



There were even birds, to fill the air with music. All the known world,
and the far-away mysterious lands of which Alexander's followers had
started legends multiplying centuries ago, had contributed to Rome's
adornment; plunder and trade goods drifted through in spite of
distances. The city had become the vortex of the energy, virility and