'This, noble Cæsar, is my nephew, Rutilius: he comes of a martial family; and if he is young, yet I will vouch him to be as ready to serve as I was when I gained my first promotion in our sally from Treves the day Herculius was made consul." "Ah, I have heard that was as sharp a storm as it was a sudden one." "True, noble prince. The Emperor Maximian was just seated in his curule chair of office, and had been saluted by his new name of Hercules, when the Germans might be seen defiling along the adjoining heights. He leapt from his chair-he was on horseback in a few minutes-by mid-day the barbarians were completely routed; and before sunset he was again in his chair of state, receiving the thanks of the citizens." "Those Gallic peasants, the Bagavdæ, stood some sharper brushes than that. But they say that the two leaders who gave us so much trouble were Christians; so it is likely they were well trained in rebellion." The centurion would evidently have dropped the conversation; but as Galerius looked to him for a reply, he answered boldly, "That they were Christians I never heard; had they been so, they would surely have imitated the quietness and loyalty of their brethren." "What! are Galerius gave an angry glance: you one of them? This is new to me. do your duty to your emperor?" you How can "Did I ever fail of it?" said the centurion. "How can you worship the eagles which our ancestors called the soldier's gods? Think well: you have already a service. Why, but last year we had to behead a youth, who was brought to enlist by his own father, because he said he was Christ's soldier, and would not take service under any earthly king." The colour mounted to the centurion's brow at the last remark, which evidently affected him deeply; and his nephew seemed to share his confusion. He had begun to reply, "That youth, however noble, was not acting on the principles of the Christians,” -when he was cut short by the arrival of his men, who had been despatched for the horses. In a few minutes the whole party issued through the principal gate of the embankment which surrounded the Roman station. They had been standing in the space which intervened on every side between it and the tents of the soldiery. The Scythian led the way, mounted on a short but active horse, which he managed with wonderful address. Then came the Armenians and Marcellus, while the other soldiers rode behind or on each side Galerius. But they were soon obliged to form in column; for after riding for a mile or two over open country, they entered the precipitous ravines which led into the plains. Never was magnificent scenery lost upon less observant specta tors. The sun was just sinking below the horizon, while a broad red light glowed upon the lofty mountains towards the north-east, which rose immediately behind them. Before them lay a series of craggy promontories, ascending to a great height, and clothed on the sides with thick wood, which, broken by the occasional projection of gigantic rocks, gathered at the bottom into an impenetrable mass of shade. Now and then an occasional opening would give a passing glimpse into the region beyond, and a level champaign of vast extent was seen to stretch away in the uncertain light of evening; just as the monotonous labours of middle life are dimly contemplated by the ardent youth, before he can persuade himself to bid a last adieu to the fanciful day-dreams of his childhood. So thought the young Rutilius, as he looked upon the scene of which his companions were so regardless. His youth had been passed at Athens, where natural talents for literature, and a love of whatever was sublime in nature or art, had been matured by the study of the philosophy of Plato. But his model for active life had been the other favourite disciple of Socrates, whose celebrated march through these very regions had rendered him the more impatient to follow his uncle's career in the armies of the emperor. That such should be his course, had long been promised by his father; and though now an only child,—another brother having been lately lost to the family under circumstances of peculiar distress,—he was committed to his uncle's care, from whose high character, and supposed favour with the emperor, he had been accustomed to anticipate advancement. And this uncle, whose necessary ab C sence he had often heard regretted in his father's household, whom but two days ago he had seen for the first time, and found every thing which his warmest wishes could desire, he had now heard acknowledge himself to be-what the world in general treated with so much contempt, and what among his own kindred was regarded with peculiar abhorrence—a Christian. CHAPTER II. The Battle. Unharnessed chariots stand along the shore; DRYDEN'S Virgil. THE reflections of Rutilius were interrupted by the difficulty of the path, which soon became so precipitous as to require his utmost attention. A mountaintorrent found its passage through the rocky and wooded bed of the valley; and by its side, and along its bottom, the Scythian horseman pursued his course without hesitation. Accustomed from his youth to the management of horses, the young Roman could not suppress his astonishment at the perfect unity which seemed to exist between this native of the desert and the animal which carried him. And then the singular features of their guide-his small eyes sunk in his head, his short and ill-shaped legs, his powerful arms and shoulders, seemed altogether to The events which follow are recorded by the ordinary historians of the period, Ammianus Marcellinus and Eutropius; while additional circumstances are supplied by Lactantius De Morte Persecutorum, and by the historian of Armenia, Moses of Chorene. |