Produced by Charles Bowen, from page scans provided by the Web Archive Transcriber's notes: 1. Page scan source: http://www.archive.org/details/scarletbanner00dahngoog 2. The diphthongs OE and oe is represented by [OE] and [oe]. THE SCARLET BANNER _Novels by Felix Dahn_ TRANSLATED BY MARY J. SAFFORD A CAPTIVE OF THE ROMAN EAGLES. $1.50 FELICITAS. $1.50 THE SCARLET BANNER. $1.50 PUBLISHED BY A. C. MCCLURG & CO. The Scarlet Banner _By_ FELIX DAHN Translated from the German by MARY J. SAFFORD TRANSLATOR OF "A Captive of the Roman Eagles," "Felicitas," etc. Chicago A. C. McClurg & Co. 1903 COPYRIGHT A. C. MCCLURG & CO. 1903 _Right of Dramatization Reserved_ Published October 14, 1903 UNIVERSITY PRESS . JOHN WILSON AND SON . CAMBRIDGE . U.S.A. DEDICATED IN DEEP REVERENCE AND WARM FRIENDSHIP TO HIS EXCELLENCY ACTING PRIVY-COUNCILLOR AND PROFESSOR HERR DR. KARL HASE OF JENA _Only through the same virtues by which they were founded will kingdoms be maintained._ SALLUSTIUS, Catilina. _O, what a noble mind is here o'erthrown!_ SHAKESPEARE, Hamlet. PREFACE This story, published in Germany under the title of _Gelimer_ is the third volume in the group of romances to which "Felicitas" and "The Captive of the Roman Eagles" belong, and, like them, deals with the long-continued conflict between the Germans and the Romans. But in the present novel the scene of the struggle is transferred from the forests of Germania to the arid sands of Africa, and, in wonderfully vivid pen-pictures, the author displays the marvellous magnificence surrounding the descendants of the Vandal Genseric, the superb pageants of their festivals, and the luxury whose enervating influence has gradually sapped the strength and courage of the rude, invincible warriors--once the terror of all the neighboring coasts and islands--till their enfeebled limbs can no longer support the weight of their ancestors' armor, and they cast aside their helmets to crown themselves with the rose-garlands of Roman revellers.