"It would mean war, bloody war, the upturning of the whole world!"
"War, or—" and Cæsar paused.
"What, my lord?" said the freedman.
"I cease either to be a care to myself or my enemies."
"I do not understand you, domine," ventured Antiochus, turning pale.
"I mean, good friend," said the proconsul, calmly, "that when I consider how little life often seems worth, and how much disaster the continuance of my act of living means to my fellow-men, I feel often that I have no right to live."
Antiochus staggered with dread. Cæsar was no longer talking wildly; and the freedman knew that when in a calm mood the proconsul was always perfectly serious.
"Domine, you have not rashly determined this?" he hinted.
"I have determined nothing. I never rashly determine anything. Hark! Some one is at the door."
There was a loud military knock, and the clang of armour.