eyes to the Emperor's and said:

"You must not speak to me so kindly, for I do not deserve such goodness.
What is my life after all? I would let it go, as a child leaves go of a
beetle it has caught, to spare you one single anxious day."

"I know it," answered Hadrian firmly, and he went to the prefect in the
adjoining room.

Titianus had come in obedience to Hadrian's orders; the matter to be
settled was what indemnification was to be paid to the city and to the
individual owners of the storehouses that had been destroyed, for Hadrian
had caused a decree to be proclaimed that no one should suffer any loss
through a misfortune sent by the gods and which had originated in his
residence. The prefect had already instituted the necessary inquiries
and the private secretaries, Phlegon, Heliodorus and Celer, were now
charged with the duty of addressing documents to the injured parties in
which they were invited, in the name of Caesar, to declare the truth as
to the amount of the loss they had suffered. Titianus also brought the
information that the Greeks and Jews had determined to express their
thankfulness for Caesar's preservation by great thank-offerings.

And the Christians," asked Hadrian.

"They abominate the sacrifice of animals, but they will unite in a common
act of thanksgiving."

"Their gratitude will not cost them much," said Hadrian.

"Their bishop, Eumenes, brought me a sum of money for which a hundred