Produced by Anne Soulard, Tiffany Vergon, Charles Aldarondo and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. ANDIVIUS HEDULIO Adventures of a Roman Nobleman in the Days of the Empire BY EDWARD LUCAS WHITE Mirum atque inscitum somniavi somnium. --PLAUTUS [Illustration: THE ROMAN EMPIRE IN THE SECOND CENTURY A.D. To Show The Wanderings Of ANDIVIUS HEDULIO] [Illustration: THE CITY OF ROME UNDER THE EMPIRE] THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED TO THE MEMORY OF ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON WHO, IN READING FICTION, LOVED "THE OPEN ROAD AND THE BRIGHT EYES OF DANGER" CONTENTS BOOK I. DISASTER HEDULIO'S PREFACE CHAPTER I. AN UNEXPECTED GUEST II. A COUNTRY DINNER III. TENANTRY AND SLAVERY IV. HOROSCOPES AND MARVELS V. ENCOUNTERS VI. A RATHER BAD DAY VII. A RATHER GOOD DAY VIII. THE WATER GARDEN IX. THE SQUALL OF THE LEOPARD BOOK II. DISAPPEARANCE X. ESCAPE XI. HIDING XII. SUCCOUR XIII. THE LONELY HUT XIV. WINTER IN THE MOUNTAINS XV. THE HUNT XVI. THE CAVE XVII. THE FESTIVAL XVIII. GALLOPING XIX. MARSEILLES AND TIBER WHARF XX. CHARIOTEERING XXI. MISADVENTURES BOOK III. DIVERSITIES XXII. THE MUTINEERS XXIII. THE EMPEROR XXIV. THE MASSACRE XXV. THE OPEN COUNTRY XXVI. THE OUTLAWS XXVII. THE POINT OF VIEW XXVIII. MOONLIGHT BOOK IV. DISSIMULATIONS XXIX. FELIX XXX. FESTUS XXXI. RECOGNITION XXXII. PHORBAS XXXIII. IMPOSTURE XXXIV. PALUS THE INCOMPARABLE XXXV. MURMEX XXXVI. ANXIETY XXXVII. ACCUSATION XXXVIII. TORTURE XXXIX. THE TULLIANUM XL. SEVERUS EPILOGUE NOTES ANDIVIUS HEDULIO HEDULIO'S PREFACE (PRAEFATIO HEDULIONIS) By no means absurd, it seems to me, but altogether reasonable, is the impulse which urges me to write out a detailed narrative of my years of adversity and of the vicissitudes which befell me during that wretched period of my life. My adventures, in themselves, were worthy of record and my memories of them and of the men and women encountered in them are clear and vivid. It is natural that I should wish to set them down for the edification of my posterity and of any who may chance to read them.