IMPERIAL PURPLE

By EDGAR SALTUS





CONTENTS

I. That Woman
II. Conjectural Rome
III. Fabulous Fields
IV. The Pursuit of the Impossible
V. Nero
VI. The House of Flavia
VII. The Poison in the Purple
VIII. Faustine
IX. The Agony





I

THAT WOMAN


When the murder was done and the heralds shouted through the thick