endure the indignities which were heaped upon the Emperor, and which were
threatened him, he--so we have learned--destroyed himself. He found an
opportunity, however, before he thus nobly used his power, to exhort my
poor brothers not at once, at least, to follow his example, 'You are
young,' said he, 'and have more strength than I, and the gods may
interpose and deliver you. Hope dwells with youth, as it dies with age. Do
not despair. I feel that you will one day return to Rome. For myself, I am
a decayed trunk, at best, and it matters little when I fall, or where I
lie. One thing, at least, I cannot bear; it would destroy me if I did not
destroy myself. I am a Roman and a Piso, and the foot of a Persian shall
never plant itself upon my neck. I die.' My elder brother, thinking
example a more powerful kind of precept than words, no sooner was assured
of the death of his father, than he too opened his veins, and perished.
And so we learned had Calpurnius done, and we were comparatively happy in
the thought that they had escaped by a voluntary death the shame of being
used as footstools by the haughty Sapor, and the princes of his court. But
a rumor reached us a few days before I left Rome, that Calpurnius is yet
living. We learn, obscurely, that being favorably distinguished and
secretly favored by the son of Sapor, he was persuaded to live, and wait
for the times to open a way for his escape. You may imagine both my grief
and my joy on this intelligence. The thought that he should so long have
lain in captivity and imprisonment, and no step have been taken toward his
rescue, has weighed upon me with a mountain weight of sorrow. Yet at the
same time, I have been supported by the hope that his deliverance may be
effected, and that he may return to Rome once more, to glad the eyes of
the aged Portia. It is this hope which has brought me to Palmyra, as
perhaps the best point whence to set in motion the measures which it shall
be thought wisest to adopt. I shall rely much upon your counsel.' No
sooner had I spoken thus, than Fausta quickly exclaimed: