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Christians in the empire.
Two more ships Casca went through before the word of Nero's death came. Casca
chuckled as he thought: One down, and an empire to go.
But if the news of Nero's death pleased Casca, it pleased the man next to him
on the oars even more. This man had been a merchant who had failed to give a
proper accounting. He loved to talk of his friends in high places and how they
would soon set him free now that Galba was emperor. He delighted in the
telling of Nero's history-probably because he also delighted in hearing the
sound of his own voice. Casca listened. There wasn't much else to do when they
lay at anchor. The merchant's voice assumed that slightly superior tone that
some priests and lawyers use-or that women have when talking to people they
consider their inferiors. The essence of his story was:
"Well, all things considered, Nero started off well enough. But the incipient
degeneracy that he had kept hidden while under the control of his mother
Agrippina soon vanished once he had the reins of power in his hands. He had
been known to murmur to his friends that his mother needed to have her tongue
stilled, so he did just that and had her murdered along with Britannicus,
Claudius's legitimate son. Claudius had never renounced the boy even though
the fact of his being sired by Claudius was open to conjecture, especially
after Claudius had hiss other killed for her infidelities
"Unlike Claudiijs with his somewhat austere tastes, Nero leaned toward the
opulence of decadent Greece and the Orient. By exercising the treason law he
kept down any opposition to him, and he plundered the rich families through a
form of imperial blackmail. But he soon had the empire in turmoil with
uprisings against him in Britain led by Queen Boadicea eventually being
crushed. However, other disturbances arose in ever-trouble-some Parthia, and a
disastrous defeat at Rhandeia led many provincial governors to rise against
him, including Vindex in Gaul and Galba in Spain. Nero's last success was the
detection and destruction of a plot against him by Gaius Piso, but at last
even the Praetorian Guard could stand no more of the insanities and
depravities of their sworn emperor, and they abandoned him. The simple act of
their leaving him without their protection was enough to end his reign and he
was forced to flee from Rome.
"Nero sought sanctuary, but found none. Everywhere his enemies were searching
for him, and no friends could be found. In a poverty-stricken farmer's hut he
fell upon his knife and, with the help of a slave, died in filth and poverty.
The last of the Juho-Claudian emperors left the empire in rebellion and civil
war." The merchant finished his tale with obvious relish.
Casca felt a small sense of satisfaction at the news of Nero's death, but then
a thought struck bim, and he laughed out loud, startling his oar mate. "What
was it Nero said, there was room for only one immortal, and he already had
that honor?" Casca laughed again, bitterly, drawing the oar master's attention
to him and getting him another light dose of the lash in order to keep his
mind on the oars. They were casting off. The drumming beat of the timer
striking the drum with his mallets settled into his brain like a pulse
throbbing in his temple. He let himself fall into the pattern, losing all
track of time until the orders came to ship oars and the sails were run up so
that the silent wind could do the job of the hundred and sixty slaves below.
The oarsmen then collapsed over their oars, the old-timers controlling their
breathing and letting their bodies relax, the new slaves often throwmg up at
what seemed to be the impossible strain of sending a hundred tons racking
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through the ocean with only men's backs for power. Casca recalled well the
first galley he had slaved on. The oar master was a bitter and petty man who
took pleasure in the pain of his helpless charges. On that galley Casca had
added to his collection or thin hairline white crisscrossing scars on his
back, scars that spoke reams about his years of service.
On one voyage his heart had jumped into his throat when he heard a familiar
tinkling laugh come from the upper deck above. Shiu was on board! Straining
his ears, Casca caught the words of the yellow man telling of his returning
home to tell his brothers of the wonders he had seen and how there was one
special person that he had met and loved like a son and hoped one day would
find his way to Khitai...
Khitai... the word seemed like a dream to Casca. Good journey, old friend,
Casca thought. It's best if you don't know where I am. But you are right about
things repeating. One day I will go to Khitai, and if you are not there, then
there will be as you said one like you. Who knows? If I live long enough,
perhaps I will see you in your reincarnation, for surely you would not come
back as anything other than what you are now. Vale, old friend, vale...
They let Shiu off in Antioch where he followed the path of the great Alexander
to the Indus river. Once there, the way to his home was open.
Casca was on a bireme out of Antium when Yesuvius blew and smothered
Herculaneum and Pompeii beneath tons of ash and lava. The ashes reached the
bireme far out at sea and turned the ship into a filthy mess of wet ash and
powdered pumice that invaded everything from the pores of their skins to the
food they ate. They sailed into Pompeji, amazed to see that the sea had pulled
back and left the wharves bare to the sand. People by the hundreds tried to
crowd on deck, but only those with permits issued by the harbor master were
taken aboard. The rest had to take their chances that other ships were on the
way and would reach them in time. Some did. But not all . . . The two cities
died.
And Casca lived to see another four emperors pass. From time to time he was
moved from one side of the ship to the other so as not to let him get lopsided
from rowing on only one side. His captains passed his story around, but most
did not believe it, thinking it only an exaggeration. No one knew how long he
had really been rowing since his papers had long since been lost or destroyed. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]