Macaulay.
1. This extraordinary man was a native of Syracuse, a city of Sicily. He was born two hundred and eighty-eight years before the Christian era, and from fifty to one hundred years after the appearance of the far-famed Euclid. Who his parents were, and what was their rank in life are not known, though it is claimed that he was in some way related to Hiero the king of Syracuse. It is said that Hiero considered himself greatly honored by such a relation, and well he might be, for science and genius combined are much higher than royalty. Besides it is probable that the name of the monarch would never have been preserved except in connection with the great philosopher.
2. By whom he was instructed in the elements of education, history fails to inform us, but it tells us of the progress he made in mechanics and geometry, and for the sake of the quiet necessary to pursue these branches he gave up all the advantages of a political life derived from his connection with the king. His favorite studies had more charms for him than the glitter of events or the plunder of conquered cities.
3. After studying at home until he could learn nothing more in the city of his birth, he repaired to Alexandria in Egypt, at that time the educational center that had inherited the philosophy and culture of Athens. Here he studied for some years and became acquainted with the most distinguished scholars of his day. Among his most intimate friends was Conon, a famous mathematician from Samos, who often exchanged problems with him for solution. While staying at Alexandria he began his work of practical invention which he afterward turned to such good account.
A relaxing moodArchimedes.
Archimedes.
4. Some of his ardent admirers have maintained thatArchimedes taught the Egyptians more than they taught him; that while he imbibed philosophy and book learning, he more than repaid the New Athens by inventions which were of the greatest use in the ordinary work of the home and the shop. Although we do not know exactly what he turned his hand to, we are quite sure that in many ways he performed feats that have scarcely been surpassed in modern times.
5. After his return to his native city, Archimedes continued his studies with unabated vigor, often neglecting his food and the care of his person when a new problem was to be solved or a new invention perfected. The method of determining the relative amount of gold and base metal in Hiero's crown occurred to him while in his bath, and without stopping to put on his clothes, he is said to have rushed through the streets exclaiming "Eureka!Eureka!"
6. To prevent the ruin of his health his servants were sometimes obliged to take him by main force to the table and bath, and to take his daily exercise. Hiero at one time expressed an admiration of some of his inventions when Archimedes replied that had he a place to fix his machines upon he could move the earth itself. His days were passed in study and retirement until the safety of his native city called him out to take part in its defense.
7. During the wars between the Romans and Carthaginians, the people of Sicily, and especially the Syracusans, had for a long time remained neutral or been in alliance with the Romans. But a Carthaginian interest sprung up which mastered and sought to extend itself over the whole island. As soon as the news of this political movement and rebellion reached Marcellus, the Roman general, he hastened with a strong force intoSicily, and after the capture of the principalities he laid siege to Syracuse.
8. Here he met with an unexpected check. The inventive genius of Archimedes enabled the Syracusans to successfully defend their city for three years. He so improved the warlike instruments for the discharge of missiles, that he repeatedly beat back the most determined assault, and the Romans were more than once on the point of abandoning the siege, believing that the city was defended by the gods. By means of long and powerful levers, together with grappling irons, he is said to have destroyed many of the Roman galleys when they approached the walls of the city; and when they retired for safety he set them on fire by a combination of immense burning-glasses.
9. The story of these exploits is told by the Romans themselves, and there can be no doubt but here Science gained one of her greatest triumphs. The success of the new engine was evidently so great, that an element of superstition entered into the record. But the triumph of genius was not complete. During a festival in honor of Diana when wine flowed freely, the guards neglected to man some particular part of the walls. The Romans observing this scaled the walls and made themselves masters of the city.
10. Amid the plunder and carnage which followed, Archimedes was killed. Marcellus had given orders for his special protection, but the deed was done by a Roman soldier. One account says that he was slain in his laboratory where he was found studying a problem, and he refused to move until he had completed the solution. Another account says that he was put to death on the street while drawing a geometrical figure in the sand. The third and most rational account is that while bearing someboxes of mathematical instruments to Marcellus he was killed by a soldier who supposed that the boxes contained treasure. His death happened about 210B. C.at the age of seventy-six.
His imageCæsar (enlarged from a Roman Coin).
Cæsar (enlarged from a Roman Coin).
1. The greatest of Rome's generals, and one of the greatest of military chieftains of all ages, was Julius Cæsar. Of a patrician family, he was one of the most accomplished men of Rome. He was great in civil as well as military life. He became the most popular of the greatest men of Rome's most brilliant days. His military feats rivaled those of Alexander, and he extended the rule of Rome through all central Europe, completely subduing all of the tribes with which he came in contact. From his northern victories he turned his victorious army south, crossed the Rubicon, which marked the border of his own province, and seized the control of Rome.
2. In the management of civil affairs he was as successfulas in the field. He corrected abuses that had crept into the political management of affairs, and placed new safeguards around the rights of the people.
3. His administration was almost as brilliant as that of Pericles in Athens; yet the principal nobles did not love him, and with the people at large he suffered still more, from a belief that he wished to be made king. On his return from Spain he had been named dictator and imperator for life. His head had for some time been placed on the money of the republic, a regal honor conceded to none before him. Quintilis, the fifth month of the old calendar, received from him the name which it still bears. The senate took an oath to guard the safety of his person.
4. He was honored with sacrifices, and honors hitherto reserved for the gods. But Cæsar was not satisfied. He was often heard to quote the sentiment of Euripides, that, "if any violation of law is excusable, it is excusable for the sake of gaining sovereign power." It was no doubt to ascertain the popular sentiments that various propositions were made toward an assumption of the title of king. His statues in the forum were found crowned with a diadem; but two of the tribunes tore it off, and the mob applauded.
5. On the 26th of January, at the great Latin festival on the Alban Mount, voices in the crowd saluted him as king; but mutterings of discontent reached his ears, and he promptly said; "I am no king, but Cæsar." The final attempt was made at the Lupercalia on the 15th of February. Antony, in the character of one of the priests of Pan, approached the dictator as he sat presiding in his golden chair, and offered him an embroidered band, like the diadem of Oriental sovereigns. The applause which followed was partial, and the dictator put the offered giftaside. Then a burst of genuine cheering greeted him, which waxed louder still when he rejected it a second time. Old traditional feeling was too strong at Rome even for Cæsar's daring temper to brave it. The people would submit to the despotic rule of a dictator, but would not have a king.
6. Other causes of discontent had been agitating various classes at Rome. The more fiery partisans of Cæsar disapproved of his clemency; the more prodigal sort were angry at his regulations for securing the provincials from oppression. The populace of the city complained—the genuine Romans, at seeing favor extended to provincials, those of foreign origin because they had been excluded from the corn bounty. Cæsar, no doubt, was eager to return to his army, and escape from the increasing difficulties which beset his civil government. But as soon as he joined the army, he would assume monarchical power in virtue of the late decree; and this consideration urged the discontented to a plot against his life.
7. The difficulty was to find a leader. At length Marcus Junius Brutus accepted the post of danger. This young man, a nephew of Cato, had taken his uncle as an example for his public life. But he was fonder of speculation than of action. His habits were reserved, rather those of a student than a statesman. He had reluctantly joined the cause of Pompey, for he could ill forget that it was by Pompey that his father had been put to death in cold blood. After the battle of Pharsalia he was treated by Cæsar almost like a son. In the present year he had been proclaimed prætor of the city, with the promise of the consulship. But the discontented remnants of the senatorial party assailed him with constant reproaches. The name of Brutus, dear to all Roman patriots, was madea rebuke to him. "His ancestors expelled the Tarquins; could he sit quietly under a king's rule?" At the foot of the statue of that ancestor, or on his own prætorian tribunal, notes were placed, containing phrases such as these: "Thou art not Brutus: would thou wert." "Brutus, thou sleepest." "Awake, Brutus." Gradually he was brought to think that it was his duty as a patriot to put an end to Cæsar's rule even by taking his life.
8. The most notable of those who arrayed themselves under him was Cassius. This man's motive is unknown. He had never taken much part in politics; he had made submission to the conquerer, and had been received with marked favor. Some personal reason probably actuated his unquiet spirit. More than sixty persons were in the secret, most of them, like Brutus and Cassius, under personal obligations to the dictator. Publius Servilius Casca was by his grace tribune of the plebs. Lucius Tullius Cimber was promised the government of Bithynia. Decius Brutus, one of his old Gallic officers, was prætor elect, and was to be gratified with the rich province of Cisalpine Gaul. Caius Trebonius, another trusted officer, had received every favor which the dictator could bestow; he had just laid down the consulship, and was on the eve of departure for the government of Asia. Quintius Ligarius had lately accepted a pardon from the dictator, and rose from a sick bed to join the conspirators.
9. A meeting of the senate was called for the Ides of March, at which Cæsar was to be present. This was the day appointed for the murder. The secret had oozed out. Many persons warned Cæsar that some danger was impending. A Greek soothsayer told him of the very day. On the morning of the Ides his wife arose so disturbed by dreams, that she persuaded him to relinquish his purpose of presiding in the senate, and he sent Antony in his stead.
10. This change of purpose was reported after the House was formed. The conspirators were in despair. Decius Brutus at once went to Cæsar, told him that the Fathers were only waiting to confer upon him the sovereign power which he desired, and begged him not to listen to auguries and dreams. Cæsar was persuaded to change his purpose, and was carried forth in his litter. On his way, a slave who had discovered the conspiracy tried to attract his notice, but was unable to reach him for the crowd. A Greek philosopher, named Artemidorus, succeeded in putting a roll of paper into his hand, containing full information of the conspiracy; but Cæsar, supposing it to be a petition, laid it by his side for a more convenient season. Meanwhile, the conspirators had reason to think that their plot had been discovered. A friend came up to Casca and said, "Ah, Casca, Brutus has told me your secret!" The conspirator started, but was relieved by the next sentence: "Where willyoufind money for the expenses of the ædileship?" More serious alarm was felt when Popillius Lænas remarked to Brutus and Cassius: "You have my good wishes; but what you do, do quickly"—especially when the same senator stepped up to Cæsar on his entering the house, and began whispering in his ear. So terrified was Cassius, that he thought of stabbing himself instead of Cæsar, till Brutus quietly observed, that the gestures of Popillius indicated that he was asking a favor, not revealing a fatal secret. Cæsar took his seat without further delay.
Trying to convince the peopleAntony delivering the Oration on the Death of Cæsar.
Antony delivering the Oration on the Death of Cæsar.
11. As was agreed, Cimber presented a petition praying for his brother's recall from banishment; and all the conspirators pressed round the dictator, urging his favorable answer. Displeased at their importunity, Cæsar attempted to rise. At that moment Cimber seized the lappet of his robe, and pulled him down; and immediatelyCasca struck him from the side, but inflicted only a slight wound. Then all drew their daggers and assailed him. Cæsar for a time defended himself with the gown folded over his left arm, and the sharp-pointed style which he held in his right hand for writing on the wax of his tablets. But when he saw Brutus among the assassins, he exclaimed, "You, too, Brutus!" and covering his face with his gown, offered no further resistance. In their eagerness, some blows intended for their victim fell upon themselves. But enough reached Cæsar to do the bloody work. Pierced by twenty-three wounds, he fell at the base of Pompey's statue, which had been removed after Pharsalia by Antony, but had been restored by the magnanimity of Cæsar.
12. Thus died "the foremost man of all the world," a man who failed in nothing that he attempted. He might, Cicero thought, have been a great orator; his "Commentaries" remain to prove that he was a great writer. As a general he had few superiors, as a statesman and politician no equal. That which stamps him as a man of true greatness, is the entire absence of vanity and self-conceit from his character. He paid, indeed, great attention to his personal appearance, even when his hard life and unremitting activity had brought on fits of an epileptic nature, and left him with that meager visage which is familiar to us from his coins. Even then he was sedulous in arranging his robes, and was pleased to have the privilege of wearing a laurel crown to hide the scantiness of his hair. But these were foibles too trifling to be taken as symptoms of real vanity. His successes in war, achieved by a man who in his forty-ninth year had hardly seen a camp, add to our conviction of his real genius. These successes were due not so much to scientific manœuvres, as to rapid audacity of movement, and mastery over the wills of men.
13. The effect of Cæsar's fall was to cause a renewal of bloodshed for another half generation; and then his work was finished by a far less general ruler. Those who slew Cæsar were guilty of a great crime, and a still greater blunder.
Liddell.
1. The Roman house at first was extremely simple, being of but one room, called theatriumor darkened chamber, because its walls were stained by the smoke that rose from the fire upon the hearth, and with difficulty found its way through a hole in the roof. The aperture also admitted light and rain, the water that dripped from the roof being caught in a cistern that was formed in the middle of the room. The atrium was entered by way of a vestibule open to the sky, in which the gentleman of the house put on his toga as he went out. Double doors admitted the visitor to the entrance-hall, orostium.
2. There was a threshold upon which it was unlucky to place the left foot; a knocker afforded means of announcing one's approach, and a porter, who had a small room at the side, opened the door, showing the caller the wordsCave canem(beware of the dog), orSalve(welcome), or perchance the dog himself reached out toward the visitor as far as his chain would allow. Sometimes, too, there would be noticed in the mosaic of the pavement the representation of the faithful domestic animal which has so long been the companion as well as the protector of his human friend. Perhaps myrtle or laurel might be seen on a door, indicating that a marriage was in process of celebration,or a chaplet announcing the happy birth of an heir. Cypress, probably set in pots in the vestibule, indicated a death, as a crape festoon does upon our own door-handles, while torches, lamps, wreaths, garlands, branches of trees, showed that there was joy from some cause in the house.
3. In the "black room" the bed stood; there the meals were cooked and eaten, there the goodman received his friends, and there the goodwife sat in the midst of her maidens spinning. The original house grew larger in the course of time: wings were built on the sides—and the Romans called them wings as well as we (ala, a wing). Beyond the black room a recess was built in which the family records and archives were preserved, but with it for a long period the Roman house stopped its growth.
4. Before the empire came, however, there had been great progress in making the dwelling convenient as well as luxurious. Another hall had been built out from the room of archives, leading to an open court, surrounded by columns, known as theperistylum(peri, about,stulos, a pillar), which was sometimes of great magnificence. Bedchambers were made separate from the atrium, but they were small, and would not seem very convenient to modern eyes.
5. The dining-room, called thetriclinium(Greek,kline, a bed) from its three couches, was a very important apartment. In it were three lounges surrounding a table, on each of which three guests might be accommodated. The couches were elevated above the table, and each man lay almost flat on his breast, resting on his left elbow, and having his right hand free to use, thus putting the head of one near the breast of the man behind him, and making natural the expression that he lay in the bosom of the other. As the guests were thus arrangedby threes, it was natural that the rule should have been made that a party at dinner should not be less in number than the Graces, nor more than the Muses, though it has remained a useful one ever since.
6. Before the republic came to an end, it was so fashionable to have a book-room that ignorant persons who might not be able to read even the titles of their own books endeavored to give themselves the appearance of erudition by building book-rooms in their houses, and furnishing them with elegance. The books were in cases arranged around the walls in convenient manner, and busts and statues of the Muses, of Minerva, and of men of note were used then as they are now for ornaments. House-philosophers were often employed to open to the uninstructed the stores of wisdom contained in the libraries.
Inside a bathInterior of a Roman Bath-Room, Ruins of Pompeii.
Interior of a Roman Bath-Room, Ruins of Pompeii.
7. As wealth and luxury increased, the Romans addedthe bath-room to their other apartments. In the early ages they had bathed for comfort and cleanliness once a week, but the warm bath was apparently unknown to them. In time this became very common, and in the days of Cicero there were hot and cold baths, both public and private, which were well patronized. Some were heated by fires in flues, directly under the floors, which produced a vapor-bath. The bath was, however, considered a luxury, and at a later date it was held a capital offense to indulge in one on a religious holiday, and the public baths were closed when any misfortune happened to the republic.
8. Comfort and convenience united to take the cooking out of the atrium into a separate apartment known as theculina, or kitchen, in which was a raised platform on which coals might be burned, and the processes of broiling, boiling, and roasting might be carried on in a primitive manner, much like the arrangement still to be seen at Rome. On the tops of the houses, after a while, terraces were planned for the purpose of basking in the sun, and sometimes they were furnished with shrubs, fruit-trees, and even fish-ponds. Often there were upward of fifty rooms in a house on a single floor; but in the course of time land became so valuable that other stories were added, and many lived in flats. A flat was sometimes called aninsula, which meant, properly, a house not joined to another, and afterward was applied to hired lodgings.Domus, a house, meant a dwelling occupied by one family, whether it were aninsulaor not.
The kitchenLares and Penates.
Lares and Penates.
9. The floors of these rooms were sometimes, but not often, laid with boards, and generally were formed of stones, tiles, bricks, or some sort of cement. In the richer dwellings they were often inlaid with mosaics of elegant patterns. The walls were often faced with marble,but they were usually adorned with paintings; the ceilings were left uncovered, the beams supporting the floor or the roof above being visible, though it was frequently arched over. The means of lighting either by day or night, were defective. The atrium was, as we have seen, lighted from above, and the same was true of other apartments, those at the side being illuminated fromthe larger ones in the middle of the house. There were windows, however, in the upper stories, though they were not protected by glass, but covered with shutters or lattice-work, and, at a later period, were glazed with sheets of mica. Smoking lamps, hanging from the ceiling or supported by candelabra, or candles gave a gloomy light by night in the houses, and torches without.
10. The sun was chiefly depended upon for heat, for there were no proper stoves, though braziers were used to burn coals upon, the smoke escaping through the aperture in the ceiling, and, in rare cases, hot-air furnaces were constructed below, the heat being conveyed to the upper rooms through pipes. There has been a dispute regarding chimneys, but it seems almost certain that the Romans had none in their dwellings, and indeed, there was little need of them for purposes of artificial warmth in so moderate a climate as theirs.
11. Such were some of the chief traits of the city-houses of the Romans. Besides these there were villas in the country, some of which were simply farm-houses, and others places of rest and luxury supported by the residents of cities. The farm-villa was placed, if possible, in a spot secluded from visitors, protected from the severest winds, and from the malaria of marshes, in a well-watered place, near the foot of a well-wooded mountain. It had accommodations for the kitchen, the wine-press, the farm superintendent, the slaves, the animals, the crops, and the other products of the farm. There were baths, and cellars for the wine and for the confinement of the slaves who might have to be chained.
A villaRoman Villa.
Roman Villa.
12. Varro thus describes life at a rural household: "Manius summons his people to rise with the sun, and in person conducts them to the scene of their daily work. The youths make their own bed, which labor renders soft tothem, and supply themselves with water-pot, and lamp. Their drink is the clear fresh spring; their fare bread, with onions as a relish. Everything prospers in house and field. The house is no work of art, but an architect might learn symmetry from it. Care is taken of the field that it shall not be left disorderly, and waste or go to ruin through slovenliness or neglect; and in return, grateful Ceres wards off damage from the produce, that the high-piled sheaves may gladden the heart of the husbandman. Here hospitality still holds good, the bread-pantry, the wine-vat, and the store of sausages on the rafter, lock and key are at the service of the traveler, and piles of food are set before him; contented, the sated guest sits, looking neither before him, nor behind, dozing by the hearth in the kitchen. The warmest double wool sheepskin is spread as a couch for him. Here peoplestill, as good burgesses, obey the righteous law which neither out of envy injures the innocent, nor out of favor pardons the guilty. Here they speak no evil against their neighbors. Here they trespass not with their feet on the sacred hearth, but honor the gods with devotion and with sacrifices; throw to the familiar spirit his little bit of flesh into his appointed little dish, and when the master of the household dies accompany the bier with the same prayer with which those of his father and of his grandfather were borne forth."
Arthur Gilman, M. A. "The Story of Rome."
Putnam's "Stories of the Nations Series."
An engraving
1. Some time before Gregory became Pope, perhaps about the year 574, he went one day through the market at Rome, where, among other things, there were still men, women, and children to be sold as slaves. He saw there some beautiful boys who had just been brought by a slave-merchant, boys with a fair skin and long fair hair, as English boys then would have.
2. He was told that they were heathen boys from the Isle of Britain. Gregory was sorry to think that forms which were so fair without should have no light within, and he asked again what was the name of their nation. "Angles," he was told. "Angles," said Gregory; "they have the faces ofangels, and they ought to be made fellow-heirs of the angels in heaven. But of what province or tribe of the Angles are they?" "OfDeira," said the merchant. "De ira!" said Gregory; "then they must be delivered from the wrath of God. Andwhat is the name of their king?" "Ælla." "Ælla; thenAlleluiashall be sung in his land."
3. Gregory then went to the Pope, and asked him to send missionaries into Britain, of whom he himself would be one, to convert the English. The Pope was willing, but the people of Rome, among whom Gregory was a priest and was much beloved, would not let him go. So nothing came of the matter for some time.
4. We do not know whether Gregory was able to do anything for the poor English boys whom he saw in the market, but he certainly never forgot his plan for converting the English people. After a while he became Pope himself. Of course, he now no longer thought of going into Britain himself, as he had enough to do in Rome. But he now had power to send others. He therefore presently sent a company of monks, with one called Augustine at their head, who became the first Archbishop of Canterbury, and is called the Apostle of the English.
5. This was in 597. The most powerful king in Britain at this time was Æthelbert, of Kent, who is said to have been lord over all the kings south of the Humber. This Æthelbert had done what was very seldom done by English kings then or for a long time after; he had married a foreign wife, the daughter of Chariberth, one of the kings of the Franks, in Gaul.
6. Now, the Franks had become Christians; so when the Frankish queen came over to Kent, Æthelbert promised that she should be allowed to keep to her own religion without let or hindrance. She brought with her, therefore, a Frankish bishop named Lindhard, and the queen and her bishop used to worship God in a little church near Canterbury, called Saint Martin's, which had been built in the Roman times. So you see that bothÆthelbert and his people must have known something about the Christian faith before Augustine came.
7. It does not, however, seem that either the king or any of his people had at all thought of turning Christians. This seems strange when one reads how easily they were converted afterward. One would have thought that Bishop Lindhard would have been more likely to convert them than Augustine, for, being a Frank, he would speak a tongue not very different from English, while Augustine spoke Latin, and, if he ever knew English at all, he must have learned it after he came into the island. I can not tell you for certain why this was. Perhaps they did not think that a man who had merely come in the queen's train was so well worth listening to as one who had come on purpose all the way from the great city of Rome, to which all the West still looked up as the capital of the world.
8. So Augustine and his companions set out from Rome, and passed through Gaul, and came into Britain, even as Cæsar had done ages before. But this time Rome had sent forth men not to conquer lands, but to win souls. They landed first in the Isle of Thanet, which joins close to the east part of Kent, and thence they sent a message to King Æthelbert, saying why they had come into his land. The king sent word back to them to stay in the isle till he had fully made up his mind how to treat them; and he gave orders that they should be well taken care of meanwhile.
9. After a little while he came himself into the isle, and bade them come and tell him what they had to say. He met them in the open air, for he would not meet them in a house, as he thought they might be wizards, and that they might use some charm or spell, which he thought would have less power out-of-doors. So they came, carryingan image of our Lord on the cross, wrought in silver, and singing litanies as they came. And when they came before the king, they preached the gospel to him and to those who were with him.
10. So King Æthelbert hearkened to them, and he made answer like a good and wise man. "Your words and promises," said he, "sound very good unto me; but they are new and strange, and I can not believe them all at once, nor can I leave all that I and my fathers, and the whole English folk, have believed so long. But I see that ye have come from a far country to tell us that which ye yourselves hold for truth; so ye may stay in the land, and I will give you a house to dwell in and food to eat; and ye may preach to my folk, and if any man of them will believe as ye believe, I hinder him not."
11. So he gave them a house to dwell in in the royal city of Canterbury, and he let them preach to the people. And, as they drew near to the city, they carried their silver image of the Lord Jesus, and sang litanies, saying, "We pray Thee, O Lord, let thy anger and thy wrath be turned away from this city, and from thy holy house, because we have sinned. Alleluia!"
12. Thus Augustine and his companions dwelt at Canterbury, and worshiped in the old church where the queen worshiped, and preached to the men of the land. And many men hearkened to them and were baptized, and before long King Æthelbert himself believed and was baptized; and before the year was out there were added to the Church more than ten thousand souls.
Freeman.
1. InA. D.533, the Franks had fully gained possession of all the north of Gaul, except Brittany. Clovis had made them Christians in name, but they still remained horribly savage, and the life of the Gauls under them was wretched. The Burgundians and Visigoths, who had peopled the southern and eastern provinces, were far from being equally violent. They had entered on their settlements on friendly terms, and even showed considerable respect for the Roman-Gallic senators, magistrates, and higher clergy, who all remained unmolested in their dignity and riches. Thus it was that Gregory, Bishop of Langres, was a man of high rank and consideration in the Burgundian kingdom, whence the Christian Queen Clotilda had come; and even after the Burgundians had been subdued by the four sons of Clovis, he continued a rich and prosperous man.
2. After one of the many quarrels and reconciliations between these fierce brethren, there was an exchange of hostages for the observance of the terms of the treaty. These were not taken from among the Franks, who were too proud to submit to captivity, but from among the Gaulish nobles, a much more convenient arrangement for the Frankish kings, who cared for the life of a "Roman" infinitely less than even for the life of a Frank. Thus many young men of senatorial families were exchanged between the domains of Theodoric to the south, and of Hildebert to the northward, and quartered among Frankish chiefs, with whom at first they had nothing more to endure than the discomfort of living as guests with such rude and coarse barbarians.
3. But ere long fresh quarrels arose between Theodoric and Hildebert, and the unfortunate hostages were at onceturned into slaves. Some of them ran away, if they were near the frontier; but Bishop Gregory was in the utmost anxiety about his nephew Attalus, who had been last heard of as being placed under the charge of a Frank who lived between Trèves and Metz. The bishop sent emissaries to make secret inquiries, and they brought back the word that the unfortunate youth had been reduced to slavery, and was made to keep his master's herds of horses. Upon this the uncle again sent off his messengers with presents for the ransom of Attalus; but the Frank rejected them, saying, "One of such high race can only be redeemed for ten pounds weight of gold."
4. This was beyond the bishop's means, and, while he was considering how to raise the sum, the slaves were all lamenting for their young lord, to whom they were much attached, till one of them, named Leo, the cook to the household, came to the bishop, saying to him, "If thou wilt give me leave to go, I will deliver him from captivity." The bishop replied that he gave free permission, and the slave set off for Trèves, and there watched anxiously for an opportunity of gaining access to Attalus; but, though the poor young man, no longer daintily dressed, bathed, and perfumed, but ragged and squalid, might be seen following his herds of horses, he was too well watched for any communication to be held with him.
5. Then Leo went to a person, probably of Gallic birth, and said: "Come with me to this barbarian's house, and there sell me for a slave. Thou shalt have the money; I only ask thee to help me thus far." Both repaired to the Frank's abode, the chief among a confused collection of clay and timber huts, intended for shelter during eating and sleeping. The Frank looked at the slave, and asked him what he could do. "I can dress whatever is eaten at lordly tables," replied Leo. "I am afraid of no rival;I only tell thee the truth when I say that, if thou wouldst give a feast to the king, I could send it up in the neatest manner." "Ha!" said the barbarian, "the Sun's day is coming. I shall invite my kinsmen and friends. Cook me such a dinner as may amaze them, and make them say, 'We saw nothing better in the king's house.'" "Let me have plenty of poultry, and I will do according to my master's bidding," returned Leo.
6. Accordingly, he was purchased for twelve gold-pieces, and on the Sunday, as Bishop Gregory of Tours, who tells the story, explains, that the barbarians called the Lord's day, he produced a banquet after the most approved Roman fashion, much to the surprise and delight of the Franks, who had never tasted such delicacies before, and complimented their host upon them all the evening. Leo gradually became a great favorite, and was placed in authority over the other slaves, to whom he gave out their portions of broth and meat. But from the first he had not shown any recognition of Attalus, and had signed to him that they must be strangers to one another.
7. A whole year passed away in this manner, when one day Leo wandered, as if for pastime, into the plain where Attalus was watching the horses, and sitting down on the ground at some paces off, and with his back toward his young master so that they might not be seen talking together, he said: "This is the time for thoughts of home! When thou hast led the horses to the stable to-night, sleep not. Be ready at the first call!"
8. That day the Frank lord was entertaining a large number of guests, among them his daughter's husband, a jovial young man, given to jesting. On going to rest he fancied he should be thirsty at night, and called Leo to place a pitcher of hydromel by his bedside. As the slave was setting it down, the Frank looked slyly from underhis eyelids and said in joke, "Tell me, my father-in-law's trusty man, wilt thou not some night take one of his horses and run away to thine own home?"
9. "Please God, it is what I mean to do this very night," answered the Gaul, so undauntedly that the Frank took it as a jest, and answered, "I shall look out, then, that thou dost not carry off anything of mine," and then Leo left him, both laughing.
10. All were soon asleep, and the cook crept out to the stable, where Attalus usually slept among the horses. He was broad awake now, and ready to saddle the two swiftest; but he had no weapon, except a small lance, so Leo boldly went back to his master's sleeping hut, and took down his sword and shield, but not without awakening him enough to ask who was moving. "It is I, Leo," was the answer; "I have been to call Attalus to take out the horses early. He sleeps as hard as a drunkard." The Frank went to sleep again, quite satisfied, and Leo, carrying out the weapons, soon made Attalus feel like a free man and a noble once more.
11. They passed unseen out of the inclosure, mounted their horses and rode along the great Roman road fromTrèves as far as the Meuse, but they found the bridge guarded, and were obliged to wait till night, when they cast their horses loose, and swam the river, supporting themselves on boards that they had found on the bank. They had as yet had no food since the supper at their master's, and were thankful to find a plum-tree in the wood, with fruit, to refresh them in small degree, before they lay down for the night. The next morning they went on in the direction of Rheims, carefully listening whether there were any sounds behind, until, on the broad, hard-paved causeway, they heard the trampling of horses. Happily a bush was near, behind which theycrept, and here the riders actually halted for a few moments to arrange their harness. Men and horses were both those they feared, and they trembled at hearing one say: "Woe is me that those rogues have made off, and have not been caught! On my salvation, if I catch them, I will have one hung, and the other chopped into little bits!"
12. It was no small comfort to hear the trot of the horses resumed, and soon dying away in the distance. That same night, the two faint, hungry, weary travelers, foot-sore and exhausted, came stumbling into Rheims, looking about for some person still awake, to tell them the way to the house of the priest Paul, a friend of Attalus's uncle. They found it just as the church-bell was ringing for matins, a sound that must have seemed very like home to these members of an episcopal household. They knocked, and in the morning twilight met the priest going to his earliest Sunday-morning service. Leo told his young master's name, and how they had escaped, and the priest's first exclamation was a strange one: "My dream is true! This very night I saw two doves, one white and one black, who came and perched on my hand."
13. The good man was overjoyed, but he scrupled to give them any food, as it was contrary to the Church's rules for the fast to be broken before mass; but the travelers were half-dead with hunger, and could only say, "The good Lord pardon us, for, saving the respect due to his day, we must eat something, since this is the fourth day since we have touched bread or meat." The priest, upon this, gave them some bread and wine, and after hiding them carefully, went to church, hoping to avert suspicion. But their master was already at Rheims, making strict search for them, and learning that Paul the priest was a friend of the Bishop of Langres, he went to the church, and there questioned him closely. But the priestsucceeded in guarding his secret, and though he incurred much danger—as the Salic law is very severe against concealers of runaway slaves—he kept Attalus and Leo for two days, till the search was over, and their strength restored, so that they could proceed to Langres. There they were welcomed like men risen from the dead; the bishop wept on the neck of Attalus, and was ready to receive Leo as a slave no more, but a friend and deliverer.
14. A few days after, Leo was solemnly led to the church. Every door was set open as a sign that he might henceforth go whithersoever he would. Bishop Gregorius took him by the hand, and, standing, before the archdeacon, declared that for the sake of the good services rendered by his slave Leo, he set him free, and created him a Roman citizen. Then the archbishop read a writing of manumission. "Whatever is done according to the Roman law is irrevocable. According to the constitution of the Emperor Constantine, of happy memory, and the edict that declares that whosoever is manumitted in church, in the presence of the bishops, priests, and deacons, shall become a Roman citizen under protection of the Church; from this day Leo becomes a member of the city, free to go and come where he will, as if he had been born of free parents. From this day forward he is exempt from all subjection of servitude, of all duty of a freedman, all bond of clientship. He is and shall be free, with full and entire freedom, and shall never cease to belong to the body of Roman citizens."
15. At the same time Leo was endowed with lands, which raised him to the rank of what the Franks called a Roman proprietor, the highest reward in the bishop's power, for the faithful devotion that had incurred such dangers in order to rescue the young Attalus from his miserable bondage.