"The barbarians save the Capitol!" said Cethegus bitterly, and supported himself upon a spear which was handed to him by one of the mercenaries.
"I must get to my house."
And he turned to the right, the shortest way to the principal entrance to his house.
"O master, that way is dangerous!" cried one of the Isaurians. "The Goths will soon be there. I heard the Black Earl ask repeatedly after you. He was seeking you everywhere upon the Capitol. He will now seek you in your house."
"I must once more go to my house!"
But he had scarcely gone a few steps, when a troop of Goths and Romans, carrying torches and firebrands, came towards him from the city.
The foremost, who were Romans, recognised him.
"The Prefect!"
"The destroyer of Rome!"
"He has set the Capitol on fire! Down with him!"