"I think not. Commodus has lost his own and destroyed Rome's, but mine
not yet. I wish, though, that my father were in Antioch. He, too, is
no cringer to images of beasts in purple. I wrote to my father recently
and warned him to leave Rome before Commodus's spies could invent an
excuse for confiscating our estates. I said, an absent man attracts
less notice, and our estates are well worth plundering. I also hinted
that Commodus can hardly live forever, and reminded him that tides flow
in and out--by which I meant him to understand that the next emperor may
be another such as Aurelius, who will persecute the Christians but let
honest men live in peace, instead of favoring the Christians and ridding
Rome of honest men."

Norbanus made a gesture with his right hand that sent the Cappadocian
cavorting to the road's edge, scattering a little crowd that was trying
to pass.

"Why be jealous of the Christians?" he laughed. "Isn't it their turn
for a respite? Think of what Nero did to them; and Marcus Aurelius did
little less. They will catch it again when Commodus turns on his
mistress Marcia; he will harry them all the more when that day comes--
as it is sure to. Marcia is a Christian; when he tires of her he will
use her Christianity for the excuse and throw the Christians to the
lions by the thousand in order to justify himself for murdering the only
decent woman of his acquaintance. Sic semper tyrannus. Say what you
will about Marcia, she has done her best to keep Commodus from making a
public exhibition of himself."

"With what result? He boasts he has killed no less than twelve hundred
poor devils with his own hand in the arena. True, he takes the
pseudonym of Paulus when he kills lions with his javelin and drives a