"Shame, yes, but it pleases the people and gratifies the priests, two things very essential to him who sits upon the throne."
"Dost think—"
"Aye, I think much that I do not say. Hundreds of Christians have been herded into the prisons, the uprising of the multitude yesterday was but part of the game. It was all planned. They say, too, that a dark man, with great gold rings in his ears and a scar on his face, has been tracking these Christians for weeks. No doubt he was an emissary of the priests."
"I have seen him myself. There he goes, now."
Alyrus walked through the crowd like a king, as if he expected them to bow before him.
"I've seen him before," said the first man. "Where was it? I remember now. It was he who sat in the ante-chamber of Aurelius Lucanus' office. He is his slave."
"And is the honorable lawyer mixed up in this business?"
"Who knows? One thing is certain. The people will be amused and forget the cruelties of the Emperor, for there will be a grand show in the amphitheatre, far grander than any gladiatorial show."
"Thou meanest—"
"That these Christians must be disposed of, or they will rebel. The lions are even now growling in the underground cages."