THE CAPTAIN. The women will be conducted into the arena with the wild beasts of the Imperial Menagerie, and will suffer the consequences. The men, if of an age to bear arms, will be given weapons to defend themselves, if they choose, against the Imperial Gladiators. LAVINIA. Captain: is there no hope that this cruel persecution— CENTURION. (_shocked_) Silence! Hold your tongue, there. Persecution, indeed! THE CAPTAIN. (_unmoved and somewhat sardonic_) Persecution is not a term applicable to the acts of the Emperor. The Emperor is the Defender of the Faith. In throwing you to the lions he will be upholding the interests of religion in Rome. If you were to throw him to the lions, that would no doubt be persecution. _The Christians again laugh heartily._ CENTURION. (_horrified_) Silence, I tell you! Keep silence there. Did anyone ever hear the like of this? LAVINIA. Captain: there will be nobody to appreciate your jokes when we are gone. THE CAPTAIN. (_unshaken in his official delivery_) I call the attention of the female prisoner Lavinia to the fact that as the Emperor is a divine personage, her imputation of cruelty is not only treason, but sacrilege. I point out to her further that there is no foundation for the charge, as the Emperor does not desire that any prisoner should suffer; nor can any Christian be harmed save through his or her own obstinacy. All that is necessary is to sacrifice to the gods: a simple and convenient ceremony effected by dropping a pinch of incense on the altar, after which the prisoner is at once set free. Under such circumstances you have only your own perverse folly to blame if you suffer. I suggest to you that if you cannot burn a morsel of incense as a matter of conviction, you might at least do so as a matter of good taste, to avoid shocking the religious convictions of your fellow citizens. I am aware that these considerations do not weigh with Christians; but it is my duty to call your attention to them in order that you may have no ground for complaining of your treatment, or of accusing the Emperor of cruelty when he is showing you the most signal clemency. Looked at from this point of view, every Christian who has perished in the arena has really committed suicide. LAVINIA. Captain: your jokes are too grim. Do not think it is easy for us to die. Our faith makes life far stronger and more wonderful in us than when we walked in darkness and had nothing to live for. Death is harder for us than for you: the martyr’s agony is as bitter as his triumph is glorious. THE CAPTAIN. (_rather troubled, addressing her personally and gravely_) A martyr, Lavinia, is a fool. Your death will prove nothing. LAVINIA. Then why kill me? THE CAPTAIN. I mean that truth, if there be any truth, needs no martyrs. LAVINIA. No; but my faith, like your sword, needs testing. Can you test your sword except by staking your life on it?