SCENE THIRD.
Beyond the Euphrates and Tigris. A wide plain, with the imperial camp. Copses, to the left and in the background, hide the windings of the Tigris. Masts of ships rise over the thickets in long rows, stretching into the far distance. A cloudy evening.
Soldiers and men-at-arms of all sorts are busy pitching their tents on the plain. All kinds of stores are being brought from the ships. Watchfires far away. Nevita, Jovian, and other officers come from the fleet.
Nevita.
See, now, how rightly the Emperor has chosen! Here we stand, without a stroke, on the enemy’s territory; no one has opposed our passage of the river; not even a single Persian horseman is to be seen.
Jovian.
No, sir, by this route, the enemy certainly did not expect us.
Nevita.
You speak as if you still thought this route unwisely chosen.
Jovian.
Yes, sir, it is still my opinion that we should rather have taken a more northerly direction. Then our left wing would have rested on Armenia, which is friendly towards us, and all our supplies might have come from that fruitful province. But here? Hampered in our progress by the heavy freight-ships, surrounded by a barren plain, almost a desert—— Ah! the Emperor is coming. I will go; I am not in his good graces at present.
He goes out to the right. At the same time Julian enters with his retinue from the ships. Oribases, the physician, the philosophers Priscus and Kytron, with several others, appear from among the tents on the right, and advance to meet the Emperor.
Julian.
Thus does the empire grow. Every step I take towards the east shifts the frontier of my dominion.
[He stamps on the earth.
This earth is mine! I am in the empire, not beyond it.—Well, Priscus——?
Priscus.
Incomparable Emperor, your command has been executed. Your marvellous dream has been read to every division of the army.
Julian.
Good, good. And how did my dream seem to affect the soldiers?
Kytron.
Some praised you with joyful voices, and hailed you as divine; others on the contrary——
Priscus.
Those others were Galileans, Kytron!
Kytron.
Yes, yes, most of them were Galileans; and these smote upon their breasts and uttered loud lamentations.
Julian.
I will not let the matter rest here. The busts of myself, which I have provided for erection in the towns I am to conquer, shall be set up round the camp, over all the paymasters’ tables. Lamps shall be lighted beside the busts; braziers, with sweet-smelling incense, shall burn before them; and every soldier, as he comes forward to receive his pay, shall cast some grains of incense on the fire.
Oribases.
Most gracious Emperor, forgive me, but—is that expedient?
Julian.
Why not? I marvel at you, my Oribases!
Priscus.
Ah, sire, you may well marvel![marvel!] Not expedient to——?
Kytron.
Should not a Julian dare what less god-like men have dared?
Julian.
I, too, think that the more daring course would now be to disguise the counsels of the mystic powers. If it be the case that the divinities have deputed their sovereignty into earthly hands—as many signs justify us in concluding—it would indeed be most ungrateful to conceal the fact. In such hazardous circumstances as these, ’tis no trifling matter that the soldiers should pay their devotions in a quite different quarter from that in which they are due.
I tell you, Oribases, and all of you,—if, indeed, there be present any one else who would set limits to the Emperor’s power,—that this would be the very essence of impiety, and that I should therefore be forced to take strong measures against it.
Has not Plato long ago enunciated the truth that only a god can rule over men? What meant he by that saying? Answer me—what did he mean? Far be it from me to assert that Plato—incomparable sage though he was—had any individual, even the greatest, in his prophetic eye. But I think we have all seen what disorders result from the parcelling out, as it were, of the supreme power into several hands.
Enough of that. I have already commanded that the imperial busts shall be displayed about the camp.
Ah! what seek you in such haste, Eutherius?
The Chamberlain Eutherius comes from the ships, accompanied by a man in girt-up garments.
Eutherius.
Exalted Emperor,—this man of Antioch is sent by the governor, Alexander, and brings you a letter which, he says, is of great importance.
Julian.
Ah, let me see! Light here!
[A torch is brought; the Emperor opens and reads the letter.
Julian.
Can this be possible! More light! Yes, here it is written—and here—; what next?—Truly this exceeds all I could have conceived!
Nevita.
Bad news from the west, sire?
Julian.
Nevita, tell me, how long will it take us to reach Ctesiphon?
Nevita.
It cannot be done in less than thirty days.
Julian.
It must be done in less! Thirty days! A whole month! And while we are creeping forward here, I must let those madmen——
Nevita.
You know yourself, sire, that, on account of the ships, we must follow all the windings of the river. The current is rapid, and the bed, too, shallow and stony. I hold it impossible to proceed more quickly.
Julian.
Thirty days! And then there is the city to be taken,—the Persian army to be routed,—peace to be concluded. What a time all this will take! Yet there were some among you foolish enough to urge upon me an even more roundabout route. Ha-ha; they would compass my ruin!
Nevita.
Never fear, sire; the expedition shall advance with all possible speed.
Julian.
It must indeed. Can you imagine what Alexander tells me? The frenzy of the Galileans has passed all bounds since my departure. And it increases day by day. They understand that my victory in Persia will bring their extirpation in its train; and with that shameless Gregory as their leader, they now stand, like a hostile army in my rear; in the Phrygian regions secret things are preparing, no one knows to what end——
Nevita.
What does this mean, sire? What are they doing?
Julian.
What are they doing? Praying, preaching, singing, prophesying the end of the world. And would that that were all!—but they carry our adherents away, and entice them into their rebellious conspiracies. In Caesarea the congregation has chosen the judge Eusebius to be their bishop,—Eusebius, an unbaptised man—and he has been so misguided as to accept their call, which, moreover, the canon of their own church declares invalid.
But that is far from being the worst; worse, worse, ten times worse is it, that Athanasius has returned to Alexandria.
Nevita.
Athanasius!
Priscus.
That mysterious bishop who, six years ago, vanished into the desert.
Julian.
A council of the church expelled him on account of his unseemly zeal. The Galileans were tractable under my predecessor.
Yes, just think of it—this raging fanatic has returned to Alexandria. His entrance was like a king’s; the road was strewn with carpets and green palm-branches. And what followed? What do you think? The same night a riot broke out among the Galileans. George, their lawful bishop, that right-minded and well-disposed man, whom they accused of lukewarmness in the faith, was murdered—torn to pieces in the streets of the city.
Nevita.
But, sire, how were things suffered to go so far? Where was the governor, Artemius?
Julian.
You may well ask where Artemius was. I will tell you. Artemius has gone over to the Galileans. Artemius himself has broken by force of arms into the Serapeion, that most glorious of earthly temples,—has shattered the statues—has plundered the altars, and destroyed that vast treasury of books, which was of such inestimable value precisely in this age of error and ignorance. I could weep for them as for a friend bereft me by death, were not my wrath too great for tears.
Kytron.
Truly, this surpasses belief!
Julian.
And not to be within reach of these miserable beings to punish them! To be doomed to look idly on while such atrocities spread wider and wider around!—Thirty days, you say! Why are we loitering? Why are we pitching our tents? Why should we sleep? Do my generals not know what is at stake? We must hold a council of war. When I remember what the Macedonian Alexander achieved in thirty days——
Jovian, accompanied by a man in Persian garb, unarmed, enters from the camp.
Jovian.
Forgive me, sire, for appearing before you: but this stranger——
Julian.
A Persian warrior!
The Persian.
[Prostrating himself to the earth.] No warrior, oh mighty Emperor!
Jovian.
He came riding over the plains unarmed, and surrendered at the outposts——
Julian.
Then your countrymen are at hand?
The Persian.
No, no!
Julian.
Whence come you then?
The Persian.
[Throws open his garments.] Look at these arms, oh ruler of the world,—bleeding from rusty fetters. Feel this flayed back,—sore upon sore. I come from the torture chamber, sire!
Julian.
Ah—a fugitive from King Sapor?
The Persian.
Yes, mighty Emperor, to whom all things are known! I stood high in King Sapor’s favour until, impelled by the terror of your approach, I dared to prophesy that this war would end in his destruction. Would you know, sire, how he has rewarded me? My wife he gave as a prey to his archers from the mountains; my children he sold as slaves; all my possessions he divided among his servants; myself he tortured for nine days. Then he bade me ride forth and die like a beast in the desert.
Julian.
And what would you with me?
The Persian.
What would I after such treatment? I would help you to destroy my persecutor.
Julian.
Ah, poor tortured wretch,—how can you help?
The Persian.
I can lend wings to your soldiers’ feet.
Julian.
What mean you by that? Rise and explain yourself.
The Persian.
[Rising.] No one in Ctesiphon expected you to choose this route——
Julian.
I know that.
The Persian.
Now ’tis no longer a secret.
Julian.
You lie, fellow! You Persians know nought of my designs.
The Persian.
You, sire, whose wisdom is born of the sun and of fire, know well that my countrymen are now acquainted with your designs. You have crossed the rivers by means of your ships; these ships, more than a thousand in number, and laden with all the supplies of the army, are to be towed up the Tigris, and the troops are to advance abreast of the ships.
Julian.
Incredible——!
The Persian.
When the ships have approached as near Ctesiphon as possible—that is to say, within two days’ march—you will make straight for the city, beleaguer it, and compel King Sapor to surrender.
Julian.
[Looking round.] Who has betrayed us?
The Persian.
This plan is now no longer practicable. My countrymen have hastily constructed stone dams in the bed of the river, on which your ships will run aground.
Julian.
Man, do you know what it will cost you if you deceive me?
The Persian.
My body is in your power, mighty Emperor! If I speak not the truth, you are free to burn me alive.
Julian.
[To Nevita.] The river dammed! It will take weeks to make it navigable again.
Nevita.
If it can be done at all, sire! We have not the implements——
Julian.
And that this should come upon us now—just when so much depends on a speedy victory.[[12]]
The Persian.
Oh ruler of the world, I have said that I can lend your army wings.
Julian.
Speak! Do you know of a shorter way?
The Persian.
If you will promise me that after your victory you will restore the possessions of which I have been robbed, and give me a new wife of noble birth, I will——
Julian.
I promise everything; only speak,—speak!
The Persian.
Strike straight across the plains, and in four days you will be under the walls of Ctesiphon.
Julian.
Do you forget the mountain chain on the other side of the plains?
The Persian.
Sire, have you never heard of that strange defile among the mountains?
Julian.
Yes, yes, a chasm; “Ahriman’s Street” it is called. Is it true that it exists?
The Persian.
I rode through “Ahriman’s Street” two days ago.
Julian.
Nevita!
Nevita.
In truth sire, if it be so——
Julian.
Miraculous help in the hour of need——!
The Persian.
But if you would pass that way, oh mighty one, there is not a moment to be lost. The Persian army which had been assembled in the northern provinces, is now recalled to block the mountain passes.
Julian.
Know you that for certain?
The Persian.
Delay, and you will discover it for yourself.
Julian.
How many days will it take your countrymen to get there?
The Persian.
Four days, sire!
Julian.
Nevita, in three days we must be beyond the defiles!
Nevita.
[To the Persian.] Is it possible to reach the defiles in three days?
The Persian.
Yes, great warrior, it is possible, if you make use of this night as well.
Julian.
Let the camp be broken up! No time now for sleep, for rest! In four days—or five at the utmost—I must stand before Ctesiphon.—What are you thinking about! Ah, I know.
Nevita.
The fleet, sire!
Julian.
Yes, yes, yes, the fleet!
Nevita.
Should the Persian army reach the defiles a day later than we, they will—if they cannot injure you in any other way—turn westward against your ships——
Julian.
And seize a vast amount of booty, wherewith to continue the war——
Nevita.
If we could leave twenty thousand men with the ships, they would be safe——
Julian.
What are you thinking of! Twenty thousand? Well nigh a third of our fighting strength. Where would be the force with which I must strike the great blow? Divided, dispersed, frittered away. Not one man will I detach for such a purpose.
No, no, Nevita; but there may be a middle course——
Nevita.
[Recoiling.] My great Emperor—!
Julian.
The fleet must neither fall into the hands of the Persians, nor yet cost us men. There is a middle course, I tell you! Why do you falter? Why not speak it out?
Nevita.
[To the Persian.] Do you know whether the citizens of Ctesiphon have stores of corn and oil?
The Persian.
Ctesiphon overflows with supplies of all sorts.
Julian.
And when we have once taken the city, the whole rich country lies open to us.
The Persian.
The citizens will open their gates to you, sire. I am not the only one who hates King Sapor. They will rise against him and straightway submit to you, if you come upon them, unprepared and panic-stricken, with your whole united force.
Julian.
Yes; yes.
The Persian.
Burn the ships, sire!
Nevita.
Ah!
Julian.
His hate has eyes where your fidelity is blind, Nevita!
Nevita.
My fidelity saw, sire; but it shrank from what it saw.
Julian.
Are not these ships like fetters on our feet? We have provisions for four full days in the camp. It is well that the soldiers should not be too heavily laden. Of what use, then, are the ships? We have no more rivers to pass——
Nevita.
Sire, if it be indeed your will——
Julian.
My will,—my will? Oh, on an evening like this,—so angry and tempestuous,—why cannot a flash of lightning descend and——
Maximus.
[Entering hastily from the left.] Oh chosen son of Helios—hear me, hear me!
Julian.
Not now, my Maximus!
Maximus.
Nothing can be more pressing than this. You must hear me!
Julian.
Then in the name of fortune and wisdom, speak, my brother!
Maximus.
[Draws him apart, and says in a low voice.] You know how I have striven to search and spell out, both in books and through auguries, the issue of this campaign?
Julian.
I know that you have been unable to foretell anything.
Maximus.
The omens spoke and the writings confirmed them. But the answer which always came was so strange that I could not but think myself mistaken.
Julian.
But now——?
Maximus.
When we departed from Antioch, I wrote to Rome to consult the Sibylline Books——
Julian.
Yes, yes——!
Maximus.
This very moment the answer has arrived; a courier from the governor of Antioch brought it.
Julian.
Ah, Maximus,—and its purport——?
Maximus.
The same as that of the omens and the books; and now I dare interpret it. Rejoice, my brother,—in this war you are invulnerable.
Julian.
The oracle,—the oracle?
Maximus.
The Sibylline Books say: “Julian must beware of the Phrygian regions.”
Julian.
[Recoiling.] The Phrygian——? Ah, Maximus!
Maximus.
Why so pale, my brother?
Julian.
Tell me, dear teacher—how do you interpret this answer?
Maximus.
Is more than one interpretation possible? The Phrygian regions? What have you to do in Phrygia? In Phrygia—a remote province lying far behind you, where you need never set your foot. No danger threatens you, fortunate man—that is the interpretation.
Julian.
This oracle has a twofold meaning. No danger threatens me in this war,—but from that distant region——
Nevita, Nevita!
Nevita.
Sire——!
Julian.
In Phrygia? Alexander writes of secret things preparing in Phrygia. It has been foretold that the Galilean is to come again——
Burn the ships, Nevita!
Nevita.
Sire, is this your firm and irrevocable will——?
Julian.
Burn them! No delay! Lurking dangers threaten us in the rear.
[To one of the captains.
Give close heed to this stranger. He is to be our guide. Refresh him with food and drink, and let him have thorough rest.
Jovian.
My Emperor, I implore you—build not too securely on the reports of a deserter like this.
Julian.
Aha—you seem perturbed, my Galilean councillor! All this is not quite to your mind. Perhaps you know more than you care to tell.
Go, Nevita,—and burn the ships!
[Nevita bows and goes out to the left. The captain leads the Persian away among the tents.
Julian.
Traitors in my own camp! Wait, wait,—I shall get to the bottom of these machinations.
The camp shall break up! Go, Jovian, see that the vanguard is afoot within an hour. The Persian knows the way. Go!
Jovian.
As you command, my august Emperor!
[He goes out to the right.
Maximus.
You would burn the fleet? Then surely you have great things in your mind.
Julian.
Tell me, would the Macedonian Alexander have ventured this?
Maximus.
Did Alexander know where the danger threatened?
Julian.
True, true! I know it. All the powers of victory are in league with me. Omens and signs yield up their mystic secrets to advance my empire.
Is it not said of the Galilean, that spirits came and ministered unto him?—To whom do the spirits now minister?
What would the Galilean say, were he present unseen among us?
Maximus.
He would say: the third empire is at hand.
Julian.
The third empire is here, Maximus! I feel that the Messiah of the earth lives in me. The spirit has become flesh and the flesh spirit. All creation lies within my will and my power.
See, see,—there are the first sparks drifting aloft. The flames are licking up the cordage and the clustered masts.
[He shouts in the direction of the fire.
Spread; spread!
Maximus.
The wind anticipates your will. ’Tis rising to serve you.
Julian.
[Commanding with clenched hand.] Swell into a storm! More westerly! I command it!
Fromentinus.
[Enters from the right.] Most gracious Emperor,—suffer me to warn you. A dangerous disturbance has broken out in the camp.
Julian.
I will have no more disturbances. The army shall advance.
Fromentinus.
Yes, my Emperor,—but the refractory Galileans——
Julian.
The Galileans? What of them?
Fromentinus.
Before the tables where the paymasters were distributing the soldiers’ pay, your august image had been set up——
Julian.
It is always to be so for the future.
Fromentinus.
Every man was ordered, as he came forward, to cast a grain of incense into the braziers——
Julian.
Yes—well, well?
Fromentinus.
Many of the Galilean soldiers did so unthinkingly, but others refused——?
Julian.
What! they refused?
Fromentinus.
At first, sire; but when the paymasters told them that ’twas an old custom revived, in no wise pertaining to things divine——
Julian.
Aha! what then?
Fromentinus.
——they yielded and did as they were bidden.
Julian.
There you see; they yielded!
Fromentinus.
But afterward, sire, our own men laughed and mocked at them, and said, unthinkingly, that now they had best efface the sign of the cross and the fish which they are wont to imprint upon their arms; for now they had worshipped the divine Emperor.
Julian.
Yes, yes! And the Galileans?
Fromentinus.
They broke out into loud lamentations——; listen, listen, sire! It is impossible to bring them to reason.
[Wild cries are heard without, among the tents.
Julian.
The madmen! Rebellious to the last. They know not that their master’s power is broken.
[Christian soldiers come rushing in. Some beat their breasts; others tear their garments, with loud cries and weeping.
A Soldier.
Christ died for me, and I forsook him!
Another Soldier.
Smite me, oh wrathful Lord in heaven; for I have worshipped false gods!
The Soldier Agathon.
The devil on the throne has slain my soul! Woe, woe, woe![woe!]
Other Soldiers.
[Tearing off the leaden seals which they wear round their necks.] We will not serve idols!
Others Again.
The Apostate is not our ruler! We will go home! home!
Julian.
Fromentinus, seize these madmen! Hew them down!
[Fromentinus and many of the bystanders are on the point of falling upon the Christian soldiers. At that moment a vivid glare spreads over the sky, and flames burst from the ships.
Officers and Soldiers.
[Terror-stricken.] The fleet is burning!
Julian.
Yes, the fleet is burning! And more than the fleet is burning. In that blazing, swirling pyre the crucified Galilean is burning to ashes; and the earthly Emperor is burning with the Galilean. But from the ashes shall arise—like that marvellous bird—the God of earth and the Emperor of the spirit in one, in one, in one!
Several Voices.
Madness has seized him!
Nevita.
[Entering from the left.] It is done.
Jovian.
[Approaching hastily from the camp.] Quench the fire! Out, out with it!
Julian.
Let it burn! Let it burn!
Ammian.
[From the camp.] Sire, you are betrayed. That Persian fugitive was a traitor——
Julian.
Man, you lie! Where is he?
Ammian.
Fled!
Jovian.
Vanished like a shadow——
Nevita.
Fled!
Jovian.
His guards protest that he disappeared almost under their very eyes.
Ammian.
His horse, too, is gone from its pen; the Persian must have fled over the plains.
Julian.
Quench the fire, Nevita!
Nevita.
Impossible, my Emperor!
Julian.
Put it out, I say. It shall be possible!
Nevita.
Nothing could be more impossible. All the cables are cut; the rest of the ships are all drifting down upon the burning wrecks.
Prince Hormisdas.
[Coming from among the tents.] Curses upon my countrymen! Oh sire, how could you give ear to that deceiver?
Cries from the Camp.
The fleet on fire! Cut off from home! Death before us!
The Soldier Agathon.
False god, false god,—bid the storm to cease! bid the flames die down!
Jovian.
The storm increases. The fire is like a rolling sea——
Maximus.
[Whispers.] Beware of the Phrygian regions.
Julian.
[Shouts to the army.] Let the fleet burn! Within seven days you shall burn Ctesiphon.