DOMITIA  BY S. BARING-GOULD Author of “ The Broom-Squire , ” “ Bladys , ” “ Mehalah , ” “ Court Royal , ” Etc.  Illustrated by IZORA C .  CHANDLER  NEW YORK FREDERICK A .  STOKES COMPANY PUBLISHERS  DOMITIA .  BOOK I .  CHAPTER I .  THE PORT OF CENCHRÆA .  Flashes as of lightning shot from each side of a galley as she was being rowed into port .  She was a bireme , that is to say , had two tiers of oars ; and as simultaneously the double sets were lifted , held for a moment suspended , wet with brine , feathered , and again dipped , every single blade gleamed , reflecting the declining western sun , and together formed a flash from each side of the vessel of a sheaf of rays .  The bireme was approaching the entrance to the harbor of Cenchræa .  The one white sail was filled with what little wind breathed , and it shone against a sapphire sea like a moon .  Now , at a signal the oars ceased to plunge .  The sail was furled , and the galley was carried into the harbor between the temple that stood on the northern horn of the mole , and the great brazen statue of Posei don that occupied a rock in the midst of the entrance , driven forward by the impulse already given her by the muscles of the rowers and the east wind in the sail .  This Cenchræan harbor into which she swept was one of the busiest in the world .  Through it as through a tidal sluice rushed the current of trade from the East to the West , and from the Occident to the Orient .  It was planted on a bay of the Saronic Gulf , and on the Isthmus of Corinth , at the foot of that lovely range of mountains thrown up by the hand of God to wall off the Peloponnesus as the shrine of intellectual culture and the sanctuary of Liberty .  And a furrow — like an artificial dyke — ran between this range and Hellas proper , a furrow nearly wholly invaded by the sea , but still leaving a strip of land , the Corinthian isthmus , to form a barrier between the Eastern and the Western worlds .  On the platform at the head of a flight of marble steps before a temple of Poseidon , in her open litter , lounged a lady , with the bloom of youth gone from her face , but artificially restored .  She was handsome , with finely moulded features and a delicate white hand , the fingers studded with rings , and a beautiful arm which was exposed whenever any one drew near whose admiration was worth the acquisition .  Its charm was enhanced by armlets of gold adorned with cameos .  Her arched brows , dark in color , possibly owed their perfection of turn and their depth of color to dye and the skill of the artist who decorated her every day , but not so the violet-blue of her large eyes , although these also were enhanced in effect by the tinting of the lashes , and a touch of paint applied to their roots .  The lady , whose name was Longa Duilia , was attended by female slaves , who stood behind the litter , and by a freedman , Plancus , who was at her side with a set smile on his waxen face , and who bowed towards the lady every moment to hear her remarks , uttered in a languid tone , and without her troubling to turn her head to address him .  “ He will soon be here , ” said the lady ; “ the bireme is in the port .  I can see the ruffle before her bows as she cuts the water .  ”  “ Like the wave in my lady’s hair , ” sighed Plancus .  “ Abominable !  ” exclaimed Duilia , “ when the ripple in my hair is natural and abiding , and that in the water is made and disappears .  ”  “ Because , Mistress , the wavelets look up , see , and fall back in despair .  ”  “ That is better , ” said the lady .  “ And the swelling sail , like your divine bosom , has fallen , as when — — ”  “ Ugh !  I should hope the texture of my skin was not like coarse sail-cloth ; get behind me , Plancus .  Here , Lucilla , how am I looking ?  I would have my lord see me to the best advantage .  ”  “ Madam , ” said the female slave , advancing , “ the envious sun is about to hide his head in the west .  He cannot endure , after having feasted on your beauty , to surrender it to a mortal .  ”  “ Is not one eyebrow a trifle higher than the other ?  ” asked Duilia , looking at herself in a hand mirror of polished metal .  “ It is indeed so , lady , but has not the Paphian Goddess in the statue of Phidias the same characteristic ?  Defect it is not , but a token of divinity .  ”  “ Ah , ” said Duilia , “ it is hereditary .  The Julian race descends from Venus Genetrix , and I have the blood of the immortal ancestress in me .  ”  “ Much diluted , ” muttered Plancus into the breast of his tunic ; he was out of humor at the failure of his little simile of the sail .  “ By the way , ” said the lady ; “ the stay in this place Cenchræa is positively intolerable .  No society , only a set of merchants — rich and all that sort of thing — but nobodies .  The villa we occupy is undignified and uncomfortable .  The noise of the port , the caterwauling of sailors , and the smell of pitch are most distasteful to me .  My lord will hardly tarry here ?  ”  “ My lord , ” said the freedman , pushing forward , “ he who subdued the Parthians , and chained the Armenians , to whom all Syria bowed , arrives to cast himself at your ladyship’s feet , and be led by you as a captive in your triumphal entry into the capital of the world .  ”  “ You think so , Plancus .  ” She shook her head , “ He is an obstinate man — pig-headed — I — I mean resolute in his own line .  ”  “ Madam , I know you to be irresistible .  ”  “ Well , I desire to leave this odious place .  I have yawned here through three entire months .  ”  “ And during these months , the temple of Aphrodite has been deserted , and the approaches grass-grown .  ”  “ How would my Lady like to remove to Corinth ?  ” said Lucilla .  “ The vessel will be taken to Diolcus , and there placed on rollers , to be drawn across the isthmus .  ”  “ Oh !  Corinth will be noisier than this place , and more vulgar , because more pretentious .  Only money-lending Jews there .  Besides , I have taken an aversion to the place since the death of my physician .  As the Gods love me , I not see the good of a medical attendant who is so ignorant as to allow himself to die , and that at such an inconvenient moment as the present .  By the Great Goddess !  what impostors there be .  To think that for years I committed the care of my precious health to his bungling hands !  Plancus , have you secured another ?  I suffer frightfully at sea .  ”  “ A sure token of your divine origin , ” said the steward .  “ The Foam-born ( Venus ) rose out of and left the waves because the motion of them disagreed with her .  ”  “ There is a good deal in that , ” observed Longa Duilia .  “ Plancus , have you secured another ?  I positively cannot across Adria without one to hold my head and supply anti — anti — what do you call them ?  ”  “ Madam , ” said the freedman , rubbing his hands together , “ I have devoted my energies to your service .  I have gone about with a lantern seeking an honest physician .  I may not have been as successful as I desired , but I have done my utmost .  ”  “ I prithee — have done with this rodomontade and to the point .  Have you secured one ?  As the Gods love me !  it is not only one’s insides that get upset at sea , but one’s outside also becomes so tousled and tumbled — that the repairs — but never mind about them .  Have you engaged a man ?  ”  “ Yes , my Lady , I have lighted on one Luke , a physician of Troas ; he is desirous of proceeding to Rome , and is willing to undertake the charge of your health , in return for being conveyed to the capital of the world at your charges .  ”  “ I make you responsible for his suitability , ” said Longa Duilia .  “ Body of Bacchus !  ” she exclaimed suddenly , after a pause , “ Where is the child ?  ”  “ Where is the lady Domitia Longina ?  ” asked Plancus , as he looked about him .  “ The lady Domitia , where is she ?  ” asked Lucilla .  “ The lady Domitia ?  ” — passed from one to another .  “ Where is she ?  What has become of her ?  As the Gods love me — you are a pack of fools .  The more of you there are , so much the more of folly .  You have let her gallop off among the odious sailors , and she will come back rank with pitch .  Lucilla , Favonia , Syra , where is she ?  ”  Duilia sat upright on her seat , and her eyes roamed searchingly in every direction .  “ I never met with such a child anywhere , it is the Corbulo blood in her , not mine .  The Gods forbid !  O Morals !  ”  “ Madam , ” said a slave-girl coming up .  “ I saw her with Eboracus .  ”  “ Well , and where is Eboracus .  They are always together .  He spoils the child , and she pays him too much consideration .  Where are they ?  ”  The slaves , male and female , looked perplexedly in every direction .  “ Perhaps , ” said Plancus , “ she has gone to the altar of Poseidon to offer there thanks for the return of her father .  ”  “ Poseidon , nonsense !  That is not her way .  She has been in a fever ever since the vessel has been sighted , her cheeks flaming and in a fidget as if covered with flying ants .  Find the girl .  If any harm shall have come to her through your neglect , I will have you all flayed — and hang the cost !  ”  She plucked a bodkin from her dress , and ran it into the shoulder of the slave-woman , Favonia , who stood near her , and made her cry out with pain .  “ You are a parcel of idle , empty-headed fools , ” exclaimed the alarmed and irritated mother , “ I will have the child found , and that instantly .  You girls , you have been gaping , watching the sailors , and have not had an eye on your young mistress , and no concern for my feelings .  There is no more putting anything into your heads than of filling the sieves of the Danaides .  ”  “ Madam , ” said Plancus , for once without a smile on his unctuous face , “ you may rest satisfied that no harm has befallen the young lady .  So long as Eboracus is with her , she is safe .  That Briton worships her .  He would suffer himself to be torn limb from limb rather than allow the least ill to come to her .  ”  “ Well , well , ” said the lady impatiently , “ we expect all that sort of thing of our slaves .  ”  “ Madam , but do we always get it ?  ”  “ We !  The Gods save me !  How you talk .  We ! We , indeed .  Pray what are you to expect anything ?  ”  “ The other day , lady , ” hastily continued the steward eager to allay the ebullition he had provoked .  “ The other day , Eboracus nigh on killed a man who looked with an insolent leer at his young mistress .  He is like a faithful Molossus .  ”  “ I do not ask what he is like , ” retorted the still ruffled lady , “ I ask where she is .  ”  Then one of the porters of the palanquin came forward respectfully and said to the steward : — “ If it may please you , sir , will you graciously report to my Lady that I observed the young mistress draw Eboracus aside , and whisper to him , as though urging somewhat , and he seemed to demur , but he finally appeared to yield to her persuasions , and they strolled together along the mole .  ”  Longa Duilia overheard this .  It was not the etiquette for an underling to address his master or mistress directly unless spoken to .  She said sharply : — “ Why did not the fellow mention this before ?  Give him thirty lashes .  Where did they go , did he say ?  ”  “ Along the mole .  ”  “ Which mole ?  ”  “ Madam , Carpentarius is afraid of extending his communication lest he increase the number of his lashes .  ”  “ Well , well !  ” exclaimed the mistress , “ We may remit the lashes — let him answer .  ”  “ Carpentarius , ” said the steward , “ Her ladyship , out of the superabundance of her compassion , will let you off the thirty lashes , if you say where be Eboracus and the young lady , your mistress Domitia Longina .  ”  “ Sir , ” answered the porter , “ that I cannot answer positively ; but — unless my eyes deceive me , I see a small boat on the water , within it a rower and a young girl .  ”  “ By the Immortal Brothers !  he is right , ” exclaimed Plancus .  “ See , lady , yonder is a cockle boat , that has been unmoored from the mole , and there be in it a rower , burly , broadbacked , who is certainly the Briton , and in the bow is as it were a silver dove — and that can be none other than your daughter .  ”  “ As the Gods love me , ” gasped Duilia , throwing herself back in the litter ; “ what indelicacy !  It is even so , the child is besotted .  She dotes on her father , whom she has not seen since we left Antioch .  And she has actually gone to meet him .  O Venus Kalypyge !  What are we coming to , when children act in this independent , indecent manner .  O Times !  O Morals !  ”  CHAPTER II .  AN ILL-OMEN .  It was even so .  The young girl had coaxed the big Briton to take her in a boat to the galley , so as to meet and embrace her father , before he came on shore .  She was a peculiarly affectionate child , and jealous to boot .  She knew that , so soon as he landed , his whole attention would be engrossed by her very exacting mother , who moreover would keep her in the background , and would chide should the father divert his notice from herself to his child .  She was therefore determined to be the first to salute him , and to receive his endearments , and to lavish on him her affection , unchecked by her mother .  As for the slave , he knew that he would get into trouble if he complied with the girl’s request , but he was unable to resist her blandishments .  And now Domitia reached the side of the galley , and a rope was cast to the boat , caught by Eboracus , who shipped his oars , and the little skiff was made fast to the side of the vessel .  The eyes of the father had already recognized his child .  Domitia stood in the bows and extended her arms , poised on tiptoe , as if , like a bird about to leap into the air and fly to his embrace .  And now he caught her hand , looked into her dancing , twinkling eyes , as drops of the very Ægean itself , set in her sweet face , and in another moment she was clinging round his neck , and sobbing as though her heart would break , yet not with sorrow , but through excess of otherwise inexpressible joy .  For an hour she had him to herself — all to herself — the dear father whom she had not seen for half a year , to tell him how she loved him , to hear about himself , to pour into his ear her story of pleasures and pains , great pleasures and trifling pains .  And yet — no , not wholly uninterrupted was the meeting and sweet converse , for the father said :  “ My darling , hast thou no word for Lucius ?  ”  “ Lamia !  He is here ?  ”  The father , Cnæus Domitius Corbulo , with a smile turned and beckoned .  Then a young man , with pleasant , frank face , came up .  He had remained at a distance , when father and daughter met , but had been unable to withdraw his eyes from the happy group .  “ Domitia , you have not forgotten your old playmate , have you ?  ”  With a light blush like the tint on the petal of the rose of June , the girl extended her hand .  “ Nay , nay !  ” said Corbulo .  “ A gentler , kinder greeting , after so long a separation .  ”  Then she held up her modest cheek , and the young man lightly touched it with his lips .  She drew herself away and said :  “ You will not be angry if I give all my thoughts and words and looks to my father now .  When we come on shore , he will be swallowed up by others .  ”  Lamia stepped back .  “ Do not be offended , ” she said with a smile , and the loveliest , most bewitching dimples came into her cheeks .  “ I have not indeed been without thought of you , Lucius , but have spun and spun and weaved too , enough to make you a tunic , all with my own hands , and a purple clavus — it nigh ruined me , the dyed Tyrian wool cost — I will not say ; but I wove little crossed L’s into the texture .  ”  “ What , ” said Corbulo .  “ For Lucius and Longina ?  ”  The girl became crimson .  Lamia came to her succor .  “ That could not be , ” said he , “ for Longina and Lucius are never across , but alack !  Lucius is often so with Lamia , when he has done some stupid thing and he sees a frown on his all but father’s face , but hears no word of reproach .  ”  “ My boy , ” said Corbulo , “ when a man knows his own faults , then a reprimand is unnecessary , and what is unnecessary is wrong .  ”  Lamia bowed and retired .  And now again father and daughter were alone together in the prow observing the arc of the harbor in which the ship was gliding smoothly .  And now the sailors had out their poles and hooks , and they ran the vessel beside the wharf , and cast out ropes that were made fast to bronze rings in the marble breasting of the quay .  Domitia would at once have drawn her father on shore , but he restrained her .  “ Not yet , my daughter , ” he said ; “ the goddess must precede thee .  ”  And now ensued a singular formality .  From the bows of the vessel , the captain and steerer took a statuette of Artemis , in bronze , the Ephesian goddess , with female head and numerous breasts , but with the lower limbs swaddled , and the swaddling bands decorated with representations of all kinds of beasts , birds , and fishes .  This image was now conveyed on shore , followed by the passengers and crew .  On the quay stood an altar , upon which charcoal ever burnt , under the charge of a priest who attended to it continuously , and whenever a ship entered the port or was about to leave , added fuel , and raked and blew up the fire .  Simultaneously from a small temple on the quay issued a priest with veiled head , and his attendants came to the altar , cast some grains of incense on the embers , and as the blue fragrant smoke arose and was dissipated by the sea breeze , he said : —  “ The Goddess Aphrodite of Corinth salutes her divine sister , the Many-Breasted Artemis of Ephesus , and welcomes her .  And she further prays that she may not smite the city or the port with fire , pestilence or earthquake .  ”  Then captain , steerman , pilot and the rest of the company advanced in procession to the temple , and on reaching it offered a handful of sweet gums on an altar there , before the image of the foam-born goddess of Beauty , and said : —  “ We who come from the sea , having safely traversed the Ægean , escaped rocks and sand-banks , whirlpools and storms , under the protection of the great goddess of Ephesus , salute in her name the goddess of Beauty , and receive her welcome with thankfulness .  And great Artemis beseeches her sister to suffer her and the vessel with passengers and goods and crew , that she conducts and protects , to pass across the isthmus , without let and molestation ; and she for her part undertakes to pay the accustomed toll , and the due to the temple of Aphrodite , and that neither the passengers nor the crew shall in any way injure or disturb the inhabitants of Corinth or of the Isthmus .  ”  This ceremony concluded , all were at liberty to disperse ; the sailors to attend to the vessel , the slaves of Corbulo to look to and land such of his luggage as he was likely to want , and Corbulo to go to his wife , who had placed herself in an attitude to receive him .  The captain , at the same time , entered the harbor-master’s office to arrange about the crossing of the isthmus , and to settle tolls .  For the vessel was not to make more stay than a few days at the port of Cenchræa .  After Longa Duilia was ready , then she and her husband and family were to proceed to Lechæum , the port on the Corinthian Gulf , there to embark for Italy .  The vessel would leave the harbor and go to Diolchus , that point of the Isthmus on the east where the neck of land was narrowest .  There the ships would be hauled out of the water , placed on rollers , and by means of oxen , assisted by gangs of slaves , would convey the vessel over the land for six miles to the Gulf of Corinth , where again she would be floated .  Immediately behind the Roman general , Corbulo , the father of Domitia , walked two individuals , both wearing long beards , and draped to the feet .  One of these had a characteristically Oriental head .  His eyes were set very close together , his nose was aquiline , his tint sallow , his eyebrows heavy and bushy , and his general expression one of cunning and subtlety .  His movements were stately .  The other was not so tall .  He was clumsy in movement , rugged in feature , with a broken nose , his features distinctly Occidental , as was his bullet head .  His hair was sandy , and scant on his crown .  He wore a smug , self-complacent expression on his pursed-up lips and had a certain “ I am Sir Oracle , let no dog bark ” look in his pale eyes .  These two men , walking side by side , eyed each other with ill-concealed dislike and disdain .  The former was a Chaldæan , who was usually called Elymas , but affected in Greek to be named Ascletarion .  The latter was an Italian philosopher who had received his training in Greece at a period when all systems of philosophy were broken up and jostled each other in their common ruin .  No sooner was the ceremony at an end , and Corbulo had hastened from the wharf to meet and embrace his wife , and Lamia had drawn off Domitia for a few words , than these two men left to themselves instinctively turned to launch their venom at each other .  The philosopher , with a toss of his beard , and a lifting of his light eyebrows , and the protrusion of his lower lip said :  “ And pray , what has the profundity of Ascletarion alias Elymas beheld in the bottom of that well he terms his soul ?  ”  “ He has been able to see what is hidden from the shallowness of Claudius Senecio alias Spermologos over the surface of which shallowness his soul careers like a water spider . ”  “ And that is , O muddiness ?  ”  “ Ill-luck , O insipidity .  ”  “ Why so ?  — not , the Gods forfend , that I lay any weight on anything you may say .  But I like to hear your vaticinations that I may laugh over them .  ”  “ Hear , then .  Because a daughter of Earth dared to set foot on the vessel consecrated to and conducted by Artemis before that the tutelary goddess had been welcomed by and had saluted the tutelary deity of the land .  ”  “ I despise your prophecies of evil , thou crow .  ”  “ Not more than do I thy platitudes , O owl !  ”  “ Hearken to the words of the poet , ” said the philosopher , and he started quoting the Œdipus Tyrannus : “ The Gods know the affairs of mortals .  But among men , it is by no means certain that a soothsayer is of more account than myself !  ” And Senecio snapped his fingers in the face of the Magus .  “ Conclude thy quotation , ” retorted Elymas .  “ “ A man’s wisdom may surpass Wisdom itself .  Therefore never will I condemn the seer , lest his words prove true .  ” How like you that ?  ” and he snapped his fingers under the nose of the philosopher .  CHAPTER III .  CORBULO .  Cnæus Domitius Corbulo was the greatest general of his time , and he had splendidly served the State .  His sister Cæsonia had been the wife of the mad prince Caligula .  She was not beautiful , but her flexible mouth , her tender eyes , the dimples in her cheeks , her exquisite grace of manner and sweetness of expression had not only won the heart of the tyrant , but had enabled her to maintain it .  Once , in an outburst of surprise at himself for loving her , he threatened to put her to the torture to wring from Cæsonia the secret of her hold on his affections .  Once , as he caressed her , he broke into hideous laughter , and when asked the reason , said , “ I have but to speak the word , and this lovely throat would be cut .  ”  Yet this woman loved the maniac , and when he had been murdered in the subterranean gallery leading from the palace to the theatre , she crept to the spot , and was found kneeling by her dead husband with their babe in her arms , sobbing and wiping the blood from his face .  The assassins did not spare her .  They cut her down and dashed out the brains of the infant against the marble walls .  Corbulo was not only able , he was successful .  Under Nero he was engaged in the East against the Parthians , the most redoubted enemies of the empire .  He broke their power and sent their king , Tiridates , a suppliant to Rome .  His headquarters had been at Antioch , and there for a while his wife and daughter had resided with him .  But after a while , they were sent part way homewards , as Corbulo himself expected his recall .  They had been separated from him for over six months , and had been awaiting his arrival in a villa at Cenchræa , that had been placed at their disposal by a Greek client .  It was customary for those who did not live in Rome but belonged to a province , to place themselves under the patronage of a Roman noble ; whereupon ensued an exchange of “ cards ” as we should say , but actually of engraved plates or metal fishes on which the date of the agreement was entered as well as the names of the contracting parties .  Then , when a provincial desired assistance at the capital , in obtaining redress for a grievance in a lawsuit , or in recovering a debt , his patron attended to his client’s interests , and should he visit Rome received him into his house as an honored guest .  On the other hand , if the patron were on a journey and came to the place where his client could serve him , the latter threw his house open to him , treated him with the most profound respect and accorded to him the largest hospitality .  So now the villa of a client had been placed at the disposal of Corbulo and his family , and he occupied it with as little hesitation as though it were his own .  It was a matter of pride to a Roman noble to have a large number of silver engraved plates and fishes suspended in his atrium , announcing to all visitors what an extensive clientèle he had , and the provincial was not less proud to be able to flourish the name of his distinguished patron at the capital .  On the evening following the disembarkation , Corbulo and his wife were seated on a bench enjoying the pleasant air that fanned from the sea ; and looking over the terraced garden at their daughter , who was gambolling with a long silky-haired kid from Cilicia , that her father had brought as a present to his child .  She was a lovely girl , aged sixteen , with a remarkably intelligent face , and large , clear , shrewd eyes .  Yet , though lovely , none could say that she was beautiful .  Her charm was like that of her aunt , Cæsonia , in grace of form , in changefulness and sweetness of expression , and in the brimming intellect that flashed out of her violet eyes .  And now as she played with the kid , her every movement formed an artist’s study , and the simple joy that shone out of her face , and the affection wherewith she glanced at intervals at her father , invested her with a spiritual charm , impossible to be achieved by sculptor with his chisel or by painter with his brush .  The eyes of Domitius Corbulo followed his child , wherever she went , whatever she did .  He was a man of somewhat advanced age , shaven , with short shorn hair , marked features , the brow somewhat retreating , but with a firm mouth and strong jaw .  Though not handsome , there was refinement in his countenance which gave it a character of nobleness , and the brilliant eye and decision in the countenance inspired universal respect .  Every one could see that he was not merely a commander of men in war , but a man of culture in the forum and the academy .  “ Wife , ” said he , “ I pray you desist .  It was for this that I sent you back from Antioch .  You ever twanged one string , and I felt that your words , if overheard , might endanger us all .  ”  “ I speak but into thine ear .  ”  “ A brimming vessel overflows on all sides , ” said Corbulo .  “ Ah well !  some men make themselves by grasping at what the Gods offer them .  Others lose themselves by disregarding the favors extended by the Immortals .  ”  “ I deny that any such offer was made me , ” said the general in a tone of annoyance .  “ What !  ” exclaimed Longa Duilia , “ art thou so blind as not to see what is obvious to every other eye , that the Roman people are impatient at having a buffoon , a mimic , a fiddler wearing the purple ?  ”  “ Nevertheless , he wears it , by favor of the gods .  ”  “ For how long ?  Domitius , believe me .  In the heart of every Roman citizen rage is simmering , and the wound of injured pride rankles .  He has insulted the majesty of eternal Rome .  After having acted the buffoon in Italy , running up and down it like a jester on a tight-rope mouthing at the people , and with his assassins scattered about below to cut them down if they do not applaud — then he comes here also into Greece , to act on stages , race chariots , before Greeks — Greeks of all people !  To me this is nothing , for all princes are tyrants more or less , and so long as they do not prick me , I care not .  But here it does come close .  In every army , in the breast of every soldier , rebellion springs up .  Every general is uneasy and looks at the face of every other and asks , Who will draw the sword and make an end of this ?  O Morals !  it makes me mad to see you alone quiescent .  ”  “ When the Gods will a change , then the change will be granted .  ”  “ You speak like a philosopher and not a man of action .  If you do not draw , others will forestall you , and then — instead of my being up at the top — I shall be down in Nowhere .  ”  “ Never will I be a traitor to Rome , and go against my oath .  ”  “ Pshaw !  They all do it , so why not you ?  ”  “ Because my conscience will not suffer me .  ”  “ Conscience !  The haruspices have never found it yet .  They can discover and read the liver and the kidneys , but no knife has yet laid bare a conscience as big as a bean .  You were the darling of the soldiery in Germany .  You are still the idol of those who have fought under you in Parthia and Armenia .  I am sure I did my best to push your cause .  I was gracious to the soldiery — sent tit-bits from the table to the guard .  I tipped right and left , till I spent all my pocket-money , and smiled benignantly on all military men till I got a horrible crumple here in my cheek , do you see ?  ”  “ Yes , shocking , ” said Corbulo , indifferently .  “ How can you be so provoking !  ” exclaimed Duilia pettishly .  “ Of course there is no wrinkle , there might have been , I did so much smiling .  Really , Corbulo , one has to do all the picking — as boys get winkles out of their shells with a pin — to extract a compliment from you .  And out comes the pin with nothing at the end .  Plancus would not have let that pass .  ”  “ Do you say that Nero is here ?  ”  “ Yes , here , in Greece ; here at our elbow , at Corinth .  He has for once got a clever idea into his head and has begun to cut a canal through the isthmus .  It has begun with a flourish of trumpets and a dinner and a dramatic exhibition — and then I warrant you it will end .  ”  “ The Prince at Corinth !  ”  “ Yes , at Corinth ; and you are here with all the wide sea between you and your troops .  And docile as a lamb you have come here , and left your vantage ground .  What it all means , the Gods know .  It is no doing of mine .  I warned and exhorted at Antioch , but you might have been born deaf for all the attention you paid to my words .  ”  “ Never would I raise my sacrilegious hand against Rome — my mother .  ”  “ Nay — it is Rome that cries out to be rid of a man that makes her the scorn of the world .  ”  “ She has not spoken .  She has not released me of my oath .  ”  “ Because her mouth is gagged .  As the Gods love me , they say that the god Caius ( Caligula ) named his horse Consul .  Rome may have a monkey as her prince and Augustus for aught I care , were it not that by such a chance the handle is offered for you to upset him and seat yourself and me at the head of the universe .  ”  “ No more of this , ” said the general .  “ A good soldier obeys his commander .  And I have an imperator , ” he touched his breast ; “ a good conscience , and I go nowhere , undertake nothing which is not ordered by my master there .  ”  “ Then I wash my hands of the result .  ”  “ Come hither !  ” Corbulo called , and signed to his daughter who , with a flush of pleasure , left her kid and ran to him .  He took both her hands by the wrists , and holding her before him , panting from play , and with light dancing in her blue eyes , he said , “ Domitia , I have not said one grave word to thee since we have been together .  Yet now will I do this .  None can tell what may be the next turn up of the die .  And this that I am about to say comes warm and salt from my heart , like the spring hard by , at the Bath of Helene .  ”  “ And strong , father , ” said the girl , with flashes in her speaking eyes .  “ So strong is the spring that at once it turns a mill , ere rushing down to find its rest in the sea .  ”  “ Well , and so may what I say so turn and make thee active , dear child , — active for good , though homely the work may be as that of grinding flour .  When you have done a good work , and not wasted the volume of life in froth and cascade , then find rest in the wide sea of — — ”  “ Of what ?  ” sneered Duilia , “ say it out — of nobody knows what .  ”  “ That which thou sayest , dearest father , will not sleep in my heart .  ”  “ Domitia , when we sail at sea , we direct our course by the stars .  Without the stars we should not know whither to steer .  And the steering of the vessel by the stars , that is seamanship .  So in life .  There are principles of right and wrong set in the firmament — — ”  “ Where ?  ” asked Duilia .  “ As the Gods love me , I never saw them .  ”  “ By them , ” continued Corbulo , disregarding the interruption , “ we must shape our course , and this true shaping of our course , and not drifting with tides , or blown hither and thither by winds — this is the seamanship of life .  ”  “ By the Gods !  ” said Duilia .  “ You must first find your stars .  I hold what you say to be rank nonsense .  Where are your stars ?  Principles !  You keep your constellations in the hold of your vessel .  My good Corbulo , our own interest , that we can always see , and by that we ought ever to steer .  ”  “ Father , ” said the girl , “ I see a centurion and a handful of soldiers coming this way — and , if I mistake not , Lamia is speeding ahead of them .  ”  “ Well , go then , and play with the kid .  Hear how the little creature bleats after thee .  ”  She obeyed , and the old soldier watched his darling , with his heart in his eyes .  Presently , when she was beyond hearing , he said : —  “ Now about the future of Domitia .  I wish her no better fortune than to become the wife of Lucius Ælius Lamia , whom I love as my son .  He has been in and out among us at Antioch .  He returns with me to Rome .  In these evil times , for a girl there is one only chance — to be given a good husband .  This I hold , that a woman is never bad unless man shows her the way .  If , as you say , there be no stars in the sky — there is love in the heart .  By Hercules !  here comes Lamia , and something ails him .  ”  Lucius was seen approaching through the garden .  His face was ashen-gray , and he was evidently a prey to the liveliest distress .  He hastened to Corbulo , but although his lips moved , he could not utter a word .  “ You would speak with me , ” said the old general rising , and looking steadily in the young man’s face .  Something he saw there made him divine his errand .  Then Corbulo turned , kissed his wife , and said —  “ Farewell .  I am rightly served .  ”  He took a step from her , looked towards Domitia , who was dancing to her kid , above whose reach she held a bunch of parsley .  He hesitated for a moment .  His inclination drew him towards her ; but a second thought served to make him abandon so doing , and instead , he bent back to his wife , and said to her , with suppressed emotion —  “ Bid her from me — as my last command — Follow the Light where and when she sees it .  ”  CHAPTER IV .  THERE IS NO STAR .  A quarter of an hour had elapsed since Corbulo entered the peristyle of the villa , when the young man Lamia came out .  He was still pale as death , and his muscles twitched with strong emotion .  He glanced about him in quest of Longa Duilia , but that lady had retired precipitately to the gynaikonitis , or Lady’s hall , where she had summoned to her a bevy of female slaves and had accumulated about her an apothecary’s shop of restoratives .  Domitia was still in the garden , playing with the kid , and Lamia at once went to her , not speedily , but with repugnance .  She immediately desisted from her play , and smiled at his approach .  They were old acquaintances , and had seen much of each other in Syria .  Corbulo had not been proconsul , but legate in the East , and had made Antioch his headquarters .  He had been engaged against the Parthians and Armenians for eight years , but the war had been intermittent , and between the campaigns he had returned to Antioch , to the society of his wife and little daughter .  The former , a dashing , vain and ambitious woman , had made a salon there which was frequented by the best society of the province .  Corbulo , a quiet , thoughtful and modest man , shrunk from the stir and emptiness of such life , and had found rest and enjoyment in the company of his daughter .  Lamia had served as his secretary and aide-de-camp .  He was a youth of much promise , and of singular integrity of mind and purity of morals in a society that was self-seeking , voluptuous , and corrupt .  He belonged to the Ælian gens or clan , but he had been adopted by a Lamia , a member of a family in the same clan , that claimed descent from Lamius , a son of Poseidon , or Neptune , by one of those fictions so dear to the Roman noble houses , and which caused the fabrication of mythical origins , just as the ambition of certain honorable families in England led to the falsification of the Roll of Battle Abbey .  Pliny tells a horrible story of the first Lamia of importance , known to authentic history .  He had been an adherent of Cæsar and a friend of Cicero .  He was supposed to be dead in the year in which he had been elected prætor , and was placed on the funeral pyre , when consciousness returned , but too late for him to be saved .  The flames rose and enveloped him , and he died shrieking and struggling to escape from the bandages that bound him to the bier on which he lay .  Lucius Lamia had been kindly treated by Corbulo , and the young man’s heart had gone out to the venerated general , to whom he looked up as a model of all the old Roman virtues , as well as a man of commanding military genius .  The simplicity of the old soldier’s manner and the freshness of his mind had acted as a healthful and bracing breeze upon the youth’s moral character .  And now he took the young girl by the hand , and walked with her up and down the pleached avenues for some moments without speaking .  His breast heaved .  His head swam .  His hand that held hers worked convulsively .  All at once Domitia stood still .  She had looked up wondering at his manner , into his eyes , and had seen that they were full .  “ What ails you , Lucius ?  ”  “ Come , sit by me on the margin of the basin , ” said he .  “ By the Gods !  I conjure thee to summon all thy fortitude .  I have news to communicate , and they of the saddest — — ”  “ What !  are we not to return to Rome ?  O Lamia , I was a child when I left it , but I love our house at Gabii , and the lake there , and the garden .  ”  “ It is worse than that , Domitia .  ” He seated himself on the margin of a basin , and nervously , not knowing what he did , drew his finger in the water , describing letters , and chasing the darting fish .  “ Domitia , you belong to an ancient race .  You are a Roman , and have the blood of the Gods in your veins .  So nerve thy heroic soul to hear the worst .  ”  And still he thrust after the frightened fish with his finger , and she looked down , and saw them dart like shadows in the pool , and her own frightened thoughts darted as nimbly and as blindly about in her head .  “ Why , how now , Lamia ?  Thou art descended by adoption from the Earth-shakes , and tremblest as a girl !  See — a tear fell into the basin .  Oh , Lucius !  My very kid rears in surprise .  ”  “ Do not mock .  Prepare for the worst .  Think what would be the sorest ill that could befall thee .  ”  Domitia withdrew her eyes from the fish and the water surface rippled by his finger , and looked now with real terror in his face .  “ My father ?  ”  Then Lamia raised his dripping finger and pointed to the house .  She looked , and saw that the gardener had torn down boughs of cypress , and therewith was decorating the doorway .  At the same moment rose a long-drawn , desolate wail , rising , falling , ebbing , flowing — a sea of sound infinitely sad , heart-thrilling , blood-congealing .  For one awful moment , one of those moments that seems an eternity , Domitia remained motionless .  She could hear articulate words , voices now .  “ Come back !  O Cnæus !  Come , thou mighty warrior !  Come , thou pillar of thy race !  Come back , thou shadow !  Return , O fleeted soul !  See , see !  thy tabernacle is still warm .  Return , O soul !  return !  ”  She knew it — the conclamatio ; that cry uttered about the dead in the hopes of bringing back the spirit that has fled .  Then , before Lamia could stop her , Domitia started from the margin of the pool , startling the fish again and sending them flying as rays from where she had been seated , and ran to the house .  The gardener , with the timidity of a slave , did not venture to forbid passage .  A soldier who was withdrawing extended his arm to bar the doorway .  Quick as thought she dived below this barrier , and next moment with a cry that cut through the wail of the mourners , she cast herself on the body of her father , that lay extended on the mosaic floor , with a blood-stained sword at his side , and a dark rill running from his breast over the enamelled pavement .  Next moment Lamia entered .  Around the hall were mourners , slaves of the house , as also some of those of Longa Duilia , raising their arms and lowering them , uttering their cries of lamentation and invocations to the departed soul , some rending their garments , others making believe to tear their hair and scratch their faces .  In the midst lay the dead general , and his child clung to him , kissed him , chafed his hands , endeavored to stanch his wound , and addressed him with endearments .  But all was in vain .  The spirit was beyond recall , and were it to return would again be expelled .  Corbulo was dead .  The poor child clasped him , convulsed with tears ; her copious chestnut hair had become unbound , and was strewed about her , and even dipped in her father’s blood .  She was as though frantic with despair ; her gestures , her cry very different from the formal expressions and utterances of the servile mourners .  But Lamia at length touched her , and said —  “ Come away , Domitia .  You cannot prevent Fate .  ”  Suddenly she reared herself on her knees , and put back the burnished rain of hair that shrouded her face , and said in harsh tones : —  “ Who slew him ?  ”  “ He fell on his own sword .  ”  “ Why !  He was happy ?  ”  Before an answer was given , she reeled and fell unconscious across her father’s body .  Then Lamia stooped , gathered her up tenderly , pitifully , in his arms , and bore her forth into the garden to the fountain , where he could bathe her face , and where the cool air might revive her .  Why was Corbulo dead ?  and why had he died by his own hand ?  The Emperor Nero was , as Duilia had told her husband , at this very time in Greece , and further , hard by at Corinth , where he was engaged in superintending the cutting of a canal , that was to remove the difficulty of a passage from the Saronic to the Corinthian Gulf .  Nero had come to Greece attended by his Augustal band of five thousand youths with flowing locks , and gold bangles on their wrists , divided into three companies , whose duty it was to applaud the imperial mountebank , and rouse or lead enthusiasm , the Hummers by buzzing approval , the Clappers by beating their hands together , and the Clashers by kicking pots about so as to produce a contagious uproar .  Nero was possessed with the delusion that he had a fine voice , and that he was an incomparable actor .  Yet his range was so small , that when striving to sink to a bass note , his voice became a gurgle , and when he attempted to soar to a high note , he raised himself on his toes , became purple in face , and emitted a screech like a peacock .  Not satisfied with the obsequious applause of the Roman and Neapolitan citizens who crowded the theatre to hear the imperial buffoon twitter , he resolved to contest for prizes in the games of Greece .  A fleet attended him , crowded with actors , singers , dancers , heaped up with theatrical properties , masks , costumes , wigs , and fiddles .  He would show the Greeks that he could drive a chariot , sing and strut the stage now in male and then in female costume , and adapt his voice to the sex he personated , now grumbling in masculine tones , then squeaking in falsetto , and incomparable in each .  But with the cunning of a madman , he took with him , as his court , the wealthiest nobles of Rome , whom he had marked out for death , either because he coveted their fortunes or suspected their loyalty .  Wherever he went , into whatsoever city he entered , his artistic eye noted the finest statues and paintings , and he carried them off , from temple as from marketplace , to decorate Rome or enrich his Golden House , the palace he had erected for himself .  Tortured by envy of every one who made himself conspicuous ; hating , fearing such as were in all men’s mouths , through their achievements , or notable for virtue , his suspicion had for some time rested on Domitius Corbulo , who had won laurels first in Germany and afterwards in Syria .  He had summoned him to Rome , with the promise of preferments , his purpose being to withdraw him from the army that adored him , and to destroy him .  No sooner did the tidings reach the tyrant at Corinth , that the veteran hero was arrived at Cenchræa , than he sent him a message to commit suicide .  A gracious condescension that , for the property of the man who was executed was forfeit and his wife and children reduced to beggary , whereas the will of the testator who destroyed himself was allowed to remain in force .  Lamia washed the stains from the hands and locks of the girl , and bathed her face with water till she came round .  Then , when he saw that she had recovered full consciousness , he asked to be allowed to hasten for assistance .  She bowed her head , as she could not speak , and he entered the women’s portion of the villa to summon some of the female slaves .  These were , however , in no condition to answer his call and be of use .  Duilia had monopolized the attentions of almost all such as had not been commissioned to raise the funeral wail .  Some , indeed , there were , scattered in all directions , running against each other , doing nothing save add to the general confusion , but precisely these were useless for Lamia’s purpose .  Unwilling to leave the child longer alone , Lucius returned to the garden , and saw Domitia seated on the breastwork of the fountain .  Ten years seemed to have passed over her head , so altered was she .  She was not now weeping .  The rigidity of the fainting fit seemed not to have left her face , nor relaxed the stony appearance it had assumed .  Her eyes were lustreless , and her lips without color .  The young man was startled at her look .  “ Domitia !  ” said he .  She raised her eyes to him , and said in reply ,  “ Lucius !  ” Then letting them fall , she added in hard , colorless tones , “ There is one thing I desire of thee .  By some means or other , I care not what , bring me into the presence of the monster .  I know how my father has come by his death — as have so many others , the best and the noblest .  I have but one ambition on earth , I see but a single duty before me — to drive if it be but a silver bodkin into his heart .  ”  “ Domitia !  ”  “ Lucius , the last words my father used to me were to bid me look to the stars and to sail by them .  I look and I see one only star .  I feel but one only duty on earth — to revenge his death .  ”  “ My friend !  ” said Lamia , in a low tone .  “ Be careful of thy words .  If overheard , they might cause your blood to be mingled with his .  ”  “ I care not .  ”  “ But to me it matters sovereignly .  ”  “ Why ?  Dost thou care for me ?  ”  “ Above all in the world .  ”  “ Then revenge me .  ”  “ Domitia , my grief is little less than thine .  If you would revenge the loss , so would I .  But what can be done ?  He , the coward , is carefully guarded .  None are suffered to approach him who have not first been searched , and even then are not allowed within arm’s length .  Nothing can be done , save invoke the Gods .  ”  “ The Gods !  ” laughed the girl hoarsely .  “ The Gods !  They set up the base , the foul , and crown him with roses , and trample the noble and good into the earth .  The Gods !  see you now !  They set a star in heaven , they grave a duty in my heart , and the star is unattainable , and the duty , they make impossible of achievement .  Bah !  There is no star .  There are no duties on earth , and no Gods in heaven .  ”  CHAPTER V. THE SHIP OF THE DEAD .  “ It is of no use in the world , Plancus , your attempting to reason me out of a fixed resolve , ” said the lady Longa Duilia , peevishly .  “ My Corbulo shall not have a shabby funeral .  ”  “ Madam , I do not suggest that , ” said the steward humbly , rubbing his hands .  “ Yes , you do .  It is of no good your standing on one leg like a stork .  Shabby it must be — no ancestors present .  As the Gods love me , you would not have me borrow ancestors of Asclepiades , our client , who has lent us this villa !  He may have them or not , that is no concern of mine .  Will you have done preening yourself like an old cockroach .  I say it would be an indignity to have a funeral for my Corbulo without ancestors .  O Times !  O Morals !  What is the good of having ancestors if you do not use them ?  ”  “ But , Madam , they are in your palace at Rome in the Carinæ — or at the Gabian villa .  ”  “ And for that reason they are not here .  Without the attendance of his forbears , my Corbulo shall not be buried .  Besides , who is there to impress here with the solemnity ?  Only a lot of wretched sailors , ship sutlers , Jew pedlers and petty officials , not worth considering .  I have said it .  ”  “ But , Lady , Lucius Lamia agrees with me — — ”  “ Lucius Ælius Lamia — it will not exhaust your lungs to give him his name more fully — is not as yet one of the family .  ”  “ Madam , consider how Agrippina did with Germanicus — she had his pyre at Antioch , and conveyed his ashes to Rome .  ”  “ Agrippina was able to have the funeral conducted with solemn pomp at Antioch .  There were the soldiers , the lictors , great officers and all that sort of thing .  Here — nothing at all .  By the Immortals — consider the expenses , and none to look on gaping but tarry sailors and Jew rag-and-bone men .  ”  “ Madam !  ”  “ Silence .  Without ancestors !  — as impossible as without wood .  ”  To understand the point made so much of by the widow , the Roman funeral custom must be understood .  On the death of a noble or high official , his face was immediately moulded in wax , into a mask , or rather , into two masks , that were colored and supplied with glass eyes .  One was placed over the dead face , when the corpse lay in state , and when he was conveyed to his funeral pyre , and the first effect of the rising flames was to dissolve the mask and disclose the dead features .  The ancient Greeks before they burned their dead laid gold-leaf masks on their faces , and in a still earlier time the face of the corpse was rouged with oxide of iron , to give it a false appearance of life .  But the second mask was preserved for the family portrait gallery .  When a Roman gentleman or lady was carried forth to his funeral pyre , he was preceded by a procession of actors dressed up in the togas and military or municipal insignia of departed ancestors , each wearing the wax mask of him he personified .  For these masks were preserved with great care in the atrium of the house .  Now as Longa Duilia saw , to have her husband burned at Cenchræa , without a procession of imitation ancestors , would be to deprive the funeral of its most impressive feature .  Plancus had advised the burning at the port , with shorn rites , and that the ashes should be placed in the family mausoleum at Gabii , and that the utmost dignity should be accorded to this latter ceremony sufficient to content the most punctilious widow .  But this did not please the lady .  The notion of a funeral with maimed pomp was distasteful to her ; moreover , as she argued , it was illegal to have two funerals for the same man .  “ That , ” said Plancus , “ hardly applies to one who has died out of Italy .  ”  “ It is against the law , ” replied Duilia .  “ I will give no occasion to objection , offer no handle to informers .  Besides , I won’t have it .  The respect I owe to Corbulo forbids the entertainment of such an idea .  Really , and on my word , Plancus , I am not a child to be amused with shadow pictures , and unless you are making a rabbit , a fish , or a pig eating out of a trough , I cannot conceive what you are about with your hands , fumbling one over the other .  ”  “ Madam , I had no thought — — ”  “ I know you have none .  Be pleased another time when addressing me to keep your hands quiet , it is irritating .  One never knows where they are or will be , sometimes folding and unfolding them , then — they disappear up your sleeves and project none can guess where — like snails’ horns .  Be pleased , — and now pawing your face like a cat washing itself .  Please in future hold them in front of you like a dog when sitting up , begging .  But as to the funeral — I will not have it cheap and nasty .  Without ancestors a funeral is not worth having .  ”  “ Then , ” said the harassed freedman , “ there is nothing for it but to engage an embalmer .  ”  “ Of course — one can be obtained at Corinth .  Everything can be had for money .  ”  As Plancus was retiring , the lady recalled him .  “ Here , ” said she , “ do not act like a fool , and let the man charge a fancy price .  Say that I have an idea of pickling Corbulo in brine , and have brought an amphora large enough for the purpose .  Don’t close with his terms at once .  ”  When the steward was gone , then Longa Duilia turned her head languidly and summoned a slave-girl .  “ Lucilla !  The unfortunate feature of the situation is that I must not have my hair combed till we reach Gabii .  It is customary , and for a bracelet of pearls I would not transgress custom .  You can give my head a tousled look , without being dishevelled , I would wish to appear interesting , not untidy .  ”  “ Lady !  Nothing could make you other than fascinating .  A widow in tears — some stray locks — it would melt marble .  ”  “ And I think I shall outdo Agrippina , ” said Duilia , “ she carried her husband’s cinders in an urn at the head of her berth and on appropriate occasions howled in the most tragic and charming manner .  But I shall convey the unconsumed body of my Corbulo in state exposed on his bier , in his military accoutrements all the way to Rhegium , then up the coast to Ostia and so to Gabii .  There will be talk !  ”  “ You will be cited in history as a widow the like of which the world has never seen .  As for Agrippina , in your superior blaze she will be eclipsed forever .  ”  “ I should prefer doing what Agrippina did — make a land journey from Brindisium , but — but — one must consider .  It would be vastly expensive , and — — ”  But the lady did not finish the sentence .  She considered that Nero might resent such a demonstration , as exciting indignation against himself , in having obliged Corbulo to put an end to his life .  But she did not dare to breathe her thought even into the ear of a slave .  “ No , ” she said ; “ it would come too expensive .  I will do what I can to honor my husband , but not ruin myself .  ”  When Longa Duilia had resolved to have her own way , and that was always , then all the entire family of slaves and retainers , freedmen and clients knew it must be done .  The vessel after a brief stay at Cenchræa had left for Diolcus where it had been placed on rollers and conveyed across the isthmus , and was launched in the Corinthian Gulf .  Nero had been engaged for some days in excavating a canal between the two seas .  He had himself turned the first sod , but after getting some little way , rock was encountered of so hard a quality that to cut through it would cost time , toil and money .  He speedily tired of the scheme , wanted the money it would have cost for some dramatic exhibition , and was urged by Helios , a freedman whom he had left in Rome , to return to Italy , to prevent an insurrection that was simmering .  Nero did not much believe in danger , but he had laden his fleet with the plunder of Greece , he had strutted and twittered on every stage , carried off every prize in every contest , and was desirous of being applauded in Italy and at Rome for what he had achieved , and exhibit there the chaplets he had won .  Accordingly he started , and hardly had he done so before the Artemis with spread sail swept down the Corinthian Gulf .  The ship , a Liburnian , of two banks of oars , was constructed very differently from a modern vessel .  The prow was armed above water-mark with three strong and sharp blades , called the rostra , the beaks , which when driven into the side of an enemy would tear her open and sink her .  The quarter-deck was midships , and served a double purpose , being raised as high as the bulwarks it served as an elevated place where the captain could stand and survey the horizon and watch the course of the vessel , and it also served to strengthen the mast .  On this quarter-deck , on a bed of state , lay the body of Cnæus Domitius Corbulo , with his sword at his side , and the wax mask over his face .  At his feet was a tripod with glowing coals on which occasionally incense and Cilician crocus were sprinkled , and on each side of his head blazed torches of pinewood dipped in pitch .  The poop had a covered place , called the aplaustre , in which sat the steerer .  The hinged rudder had not then been invented , it was a discovery of the Middle Ages , and the head of the vessel was given its direction by the helmsman , gubernator , who worked a pair of broad flat paddles , one on each side .  The rowers , under the deck , were slaves , but the sailors were freemen .  The rowers were kept in stroke by a piper , who played continually when the vessel was being propelled ; and the rowers were under the direction and command of a hortator , so called because his voice was incessantly heard , urging , reprimanding , praising , threatening .  The captain of a Roman vessel was not supreme in authority on board ship as with us , but if the vessel contained military , he was subject to the control of the superior military officer .  The passage down the Corinthian Bay was effected without difficulty , before a favorable wind , but as the vessel was about to pass out of it , the wind suddenly changed and blew a squall from the west .  And at this moment an accident occurred that was seriously embarrassing .  Whilst the captain was standing near the steersman giving him directions relative to the passage of the straits , a wave rolling in caught the paddle , and caused it by the blow to snap the bronze bolt of the eye in which it worked , and the handle flying up and forward , struck the captain on the forehead , threw him down , and he fell against the bulwark so as to cut open his head .  He had to be carried below insensible .  The Artemis lay under shelter till the gale abated , and then consultation arose as to what was to be done .  Lucius Lamia took the command , he was competent to manage the vessel , with the advice , if needed , of the mate .  He and all were reluctant to put back to Lechæum , the port of Corinth , on the Gulf , and the broken eye in which the paddle worked was repaired with a stout thong , which , as the steersman said , would hold till Adria was crossed and Rhegium was reached .  The squall had passed , and the look of the sky was promising ; moreover the wind was again favorable .  “ Sir , ” said the mate , “ my opinion is that we should make all speed across Adria .  This is a bad season of the year .  It is a month in which sailing is overpassed .  We must take advantage of our chances .  While the wind blows , let us spread sail .  The rowers can ship their oars ; should the wind fail , or prove contrary , they will be required , and they may have a hard time of it .  Therefore let them husband their strength .  ”  “ So be it , ” answered Lucius Lamia .  And now the Artemis , with sail spread , leaning on one side , drave through the rippling water , passed the Straits into the Adriatic , with the mountains of Ætolia to the north , and the island of Cephalonia in the blue west before her ; and as she flew , she left behind her a trail of foam in the water , and a waft of smoke in the air from the torches that glowed about the dead general on the quarter-deck .  CHAPTER VI .  “ I DO NOT KNOW . ”  The day was in decline , and although the season was winter yet the air was not cold .  The mountains of Greece lay in the wake like a bank of purple cloud tinged with gold .  On the quarter-deck reposed the corpse , with the feet turned in the direction of the prow ; the torches spluttered , and cast off sparks that flew away with the smoke .  On each side were three slave women , detailed to wail , but Longa Duilia had issued instructions that they were not to be noisy in their demonstration so as to disturb or swamp conversation aft .  The undulating lament swerving through semi-tones and demi-semitones , formed a low and sad background to the play of voices on the lower deck , where , sheltered from the wind , the widow reclined on cushions , and her daughter Domitia sat at her side in conversation .  A change had come over the girl , so complete , so radical , that she seemed hardly to be the same person as before her father’s death .  This was noticeable as being in appearance and manner , — noticeable even to the slaves , not the most observant in matters that did not particularly concern their comfort and interests .  She had been transmuted from a playful child into a sad and serious woman .  The sparkle had left her eyes to make way for an eager , searching fire .  The color had left her cheek ; and her face had assumed a gloomy expression .  The change , in fact , was much like that in a landscape when a sunny May day makes place for one that is overcast and threatening .  The natural features are unaltered , but the aspect is wholly different in quality and character .  A mighty sorrow contracting , bruising , oppressing the heart sometimes melts it into a sweetness of patient endurance that inspires pity and love .  But grief seemed to have frozen Domitia and not to have dissolved her into tears .  The philosopher approached with solemn stalk , walking on the flat of his soles .  Such men were retained in noble households as family chaplains , to advise , comfort , and exhort .  And this man at intervals approached the widow , who on such occasions assumed a woe-begone expression , beat her brow and emitted at intervals long-drawn sighs .  At such times , the Magus , standing near , curled his lip contemptuously , and endeavored by shrugs and sniffs to let the bystanders perceive how little he valued the words of the stoic .  The philosopher Senecio now in formal style addressed the widow , and then turned to harangue the daughter , on the excellence of moderation in grief as in joy , on the beauty of self-control so as to suffer the storms of life to roll over the head with indifference .  In this consisted the Highest Good , and to attain to such stolidity was the goal of all virtuous endeavor .  Then he thrust his hand into the folds of his toga , and withdrew , to be at once attacked and wrangled with by the Chaldæan .  Domitia , who had listened with indifference , turned to her mother as soon as he was gone , and said —  “ The Summum Bonum , the crown and glory of Philosophy is to become in mind what the slave becomes after many bastinadoes , as callous in soul as he is on the soles of his feet .  The lesson of life is not worth the acquisition .  ”  “ I think he put it all very well .  ”  “ Why are the strokes applied ?  Why should we bear them without crying out ?  After all , what profit is there in this philosophy ?  ”  “ Really , my dear , I cannot tell .  But it is the correct thing to listen to and to talk philosophy , and good families keep their tame stoics , — even quite new and vulgar people , wretched knights who have become rich in trade — in a word , they all do it .  ”  “ But , mother , what is this Highest Good ?  ”  “ You must inquire of Claudius Senecio himself .  It is , I am sure something very suitable to talk about , on such solemn occasions as this .  ”  “ But what is it ?  A runner in the course knows what is the prize for which he contends , a singer at the games sees the crown he hopes to earn — but this Highest Good , is it nothing but not to squeal when kicked ?  ”  “ I really do not know .  ”  “ Mother , would to the Gods I did know !  My sorrow is eating out my heart .  I am miserable .  I am in darkness , like Theseus in the labyrinth , but without a clue .  And the Highest Good preached by philosophy is to sit down in the darkness and despair of the light .  I want to know .  Has my father’s life gone out forever , like an extinguished torch cast into the sea ?  or is it a smouldering ember that may be blown again into flame ?  ”  “ Have you not heard , Domitia , how Senecio has assured you that your father will live .  ”  “ Where ?  ”  “ On the page of history .  ”  “ First assure me that the page will be written , and that impartially .  What I know of historians is that they scribble all the scurrility they can against the great and noble , in the hope of thereby advancing the credit of their own mean selves .  Has a man no other hope of life than one built on the complaisance of the most malignant of men ?  ”  “ My dear , — positively , I do not know .  You turn my head with your questions .  Call Plancus that I may scold him , to ease my overwrought nerves .  The fellow has been stopping up his wrinkles with a composition of wax , lard and flour , and really , at his age , and in his social position — it is absurd .  ”  “ But , mother , I want to know .  ”  “ Bless me , you make me squeamish .  Of course we want to know a vast number of things ; and the Highest Good , I take it , is to learn to be satisfied to know nothing .  Cats , dogs , donkeys , don’t worry themselves to know — and are happy .  They have , then , the Summum Bonum .  If you want to know more , ask the philosopher .  He is paid for the purpose , and eats at our expense , and ye gods !  how he eats .  I believe he finds the Highest Good in the platter .  ”  The lady made signs , and a slave , ever on the watch , hastened to learn her desire , and at her command summoned the Stoic .  The philosopher paced the deck with his chin in the air , and came aft .  “ My daughter , ” said the widow , “ is splitting my suffering head with questions .  Pray answer her satisfactorily .  Here Felicula , Procula , Lucilla , help me to the cabin .  ”  When the lady had withdrawn , the philosopher said :  “ Lady , you will propound difficulties , and I shall be pleased to solve them .  ”  “ I ask plain answers to plain questions , ” said Domitia .  “ At death — what then ?  ”  “ Death , young lady , is the full stop at the end of the sentence , it is the closing of the diptychs of life , on which its story is inscribed .  ”  “ I asked not what death is — but to what it leads ?  ”  “ Leads !  — it — leads !  ahem !  Death encountered with stoic equanimity is the highest point to which — ”  “ I do not ask how to meet death , but what it leads to .  You seem unable or unwilling to answer a plain question .  My dear father , does he live still — as a star that for a while sets below the horizon but returns again ?  ”  “ He lives , most assuredly .  In all men’s mouths — on the snowy plains of Germany , on the arid wastes of Syria , the fame of Cnæus Domitius Corbulo — — ”  “ I asked naught about his fame , but about himself .  Does he still exist , can he still think of , care for , love me — as I still think of , care for , love him — ”  Her voice quivered and broke .  “ Young lady — Socrates could say no more of the future than that it is a brilliant hope which one may run the risk of entertaining .  And our own Immortal Cicero declared that the hope of the soul living after death is a dream , and not a doctrine .  The Immortals have seen fit to cut the thread of his life — — ”  “ The Immortals had no scissors wherewith to do it .  He fell on his own sword .  Is there a soul ?  And after death where does it go ?  Is it a mere shadow ? ”  “ My dear lady , philosophy teaches us to hope — — ”  “ Natural instinct does that without the cumbrous assistance of philosophy — but what is that hope built on ?  ”  “ I cannot tell .  ”  “ Then of what avail is it to lead a good life ?  ”  “ On the page of history — — ”  “ That is where the great man lives — but the poor girl or the mechanic ?  Of what avail is a good life ?  What motive have we to induce us to lead it ?  ”  “ The approval of the conscience .  ”  “ But why should it approve ?  What is good ?  Where is it written that this is good and that is evil ?  ”  “ I cannot tell .  ”  “ So , ” said the girl , and she signed to Elymas to approach .  He came up with a sneer at the philosopher , who retired in discomfiture .  “ You , Chaldæan , answer me that which confounds the Stoic .  You have learning in the East which we have not in the West .  Tell me — what is the human soul ?  and has it an existence after death ?  ”  “ Certainly , lady .  The soul is a ray of Divine light , an æon out of infinite perfection .  This ray is projected into space and enters into and is entangled in matter , and that is life , in the plant , in the fish , in the bird , in the beast , in man .  ”  “ And what after death ?  ”  “ Death is the disengagement of this ray from its envelope .  It returns to the source , to the pleroma or fulness of being and light whence it emanated , and loses itself in the one urn of splendor !  ”  “ But when Pactolus and Styx run into the sea , the waters are mingled and lost , as to their individuality .  ”  “ And so with the spirits of men .  ”  “ What !  ” exclaimed Domitia .  “ When I die my little ray re-enters the sun and is lost in the general glory — and my father’s ray is also sucked in and disappears !  There is no comfort in a thought where individuality is extinguished .  But say .  How know you that what you have propounded is the truth ?  ”  The Magus hesitated and became confused .  “ It is , ” said he , “ a solution at which the minds of the great thinkers of the East have arrived .  ”  “ I see , ” said Domitia , “ it is no more than a guess .  You and all alike are stagnant pools , whose muddy bottoms ferment and generate and throw up guesswork bubbles .  One bubble looks more substantial than another , yet are all only the disguise of equal emptiness .  ”  The Chaldæan withdrew muttering in his beard .  Domitia looked after him and noticed the physician Luke standing near , leaning over the bulwarks .  He was an elderly man , with kindly soft eyes , and a short beard in which some strands of gray appeared .  A modest man , ready when called on to advise , but never self-assertive .  Domitia had noticed him already and had taken a liking to him , though she had not spoken to him .  An unaccountable impulse induced her to address him .  “ They are all quacks , ” she said .  “ They must needs be seekers , and the best they can produce , is out of themselves , and that conjecture .  From the depths of the intellect what can be brought up than a more or less plausible guess ?  ”  “ And on these guesses we must live , like those who float across the Tigris and Euphrates — on rafts supported by inflated bladders .