Egypt -- History -- 30 B.C.-640 A.D. -- Fiction; German fiction -- Translations into English; Hadrian, Emperor of Rome, 76-138 -- Fiction
"Now you have earned the right to pronounce sentence of death on the
works of other masters." Euphorion's son lived in honor and prosperity
to see his children, the children of his faithful wife Arsinoe--who was
greatly admired by the Tiber-grow up to be worthy citizens. They
remained heathen; but the Christian love which Eumenes had taught
Paulina's foster-daughter was never forgotten, and she kept a kindly
place for it in her heart and in her household. A few months before the
young couple left Alexandria, Doris had peacefully gone to her last rest,
and her husband died soon after her; the want of his faithful companion
was the complaint he succumbed to.
On the shores of the Tiber, Pontius was still the sculptor's friend.
Balbilla and her husband gave their corrupt fellow-citizens the example
of a worthy, faithful marriage on the old Roman pattern. The poetess's
bust had been completed by Pollux in Alexandria, and with all its tresses
and little curls, it found favor in Balbilla's eyes.
Verus was to have enjoyed the title of Caesar even during Hadrian's
lifetime, but after a long illness he died the first. Lucilla nursed him
with unfailing devotion and enjoyed the longed-for monopoly of his
attentions through a period of much suffering. It was on their son that
in later years the purple devolved.
The predictions of the prefect Titianus were fulfilled, for the Emperor's
faults increased with years and the meaner side of his mind and nature
came into sharper relief. Titianus and his wife led a retired life by
lake Larius, far from the world, and both were baptized before they died.
They never pined for the turmoil of a pleasure-seeking world or its
dazzling show, for they had learnt to cherish in their own hearts all
that is fairest in life.
It was the slave Mastor who brought to Titianus the news of the
sovereign's death. Hadrian had given him his freedom before he died and
had left him a handsome legacy.
The prefect gave him a piece of land to farm and continued in friendly
relations with his Christian neighbor and his pretty daughter, who grew
up among her father's co-religionists.
When Titianus had told his wife the melancholy news he added solemnly:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account