CHAPTER VI. The Feast of Grapes

CHAPTER VII. Enter, Lycias, the gladiator

CHAPTER VIII. The symbol of the lizard




I.

A CONFESSION OF FAITH.


The Circus in Rome was thronged with an enormous crowd of persons on a
day in June, about two thousand years ago. One hundred thousand men
and women sat on its tiers of white marble seats, under the open sky
and witnessed a gladiatorial contest in the arena, beneath.

At the western end of the oval amphitheatre was the Emperor's box,
flanked with tall Corinthian pillars, on which were hung the
coat-of-arms of the Roman people. Here sat one of the most cruel
emperors Rome has ever suffered under. His cloak was royal purple,
and was thrown carelessly back, on this warm June afternoon, to
disclose a white tunic, embroidered in scarlet.

Beside him were several ladies, elaborately gowned in the manner of
the day, with hair dressed high, studded with jewels brought from
Oriental lands, while their necks and arms were loaded with strings of