EMPEROR JULIAN,

A PLAY IN FIVE ACTS.

CHARACTERS:

ACT ONE.

Emperor Julian (gazes far out over the water).

What a meeting! The dead emperor and the living. – Oh, that he had to draw his last breath in regions so far away! Oh, that I, for all my haste, was not granted to taste the sweetness of embracing my kinsman for the last time! A bitter lot for us both! – – –

Where is the funeral ship?

Nevita the Commander.

There it comes.

Emperor Julian.

That long boat?

Nevita the Commander.

Yes, most gracious emperor!

Emperor Julian.

Poor kinsman! So great in life; and now you must be content with so low a roof. Now you shall not strike your brow against the coffin-lid, you who bowed your head as you rode through Constantine's arch.

A citizen among the onlookers (to Potamon the goldsmith).

How young he looks, our new emperor.

Potamon the goldsmith.

Yet he has grown sturdy of limb. When I saw him last, he was slight and lean; – that is now some nine or ten years ago.

Another citizen.

Yes, he has done great deeds in those years.

A woman.

And all the dangers he has passed through, ever since he was a child!

A priest.

Wondrously saved from them all; the divine protection is over him.

Potamon the goldsmith.

Rumour says that in Gaul he has put himself under another sort of protection.

The priest.

Lies, lies; you may rely on that.

Emperor Julian.

Now he comes. The Sun, whom I invoke, and the great lightning-hurling god know that I have not wished Constantius's death. It has in truth been far from my thoughts. I have sent up prayers for his life. – Tell me, Caesarius, – you must surely know it best – has the imperial body been shown all seemly honour on the way?

Caesarius the Royal Physician.

The funeral procession was like a conqueror's triumph through all Asia Minor. In every town we passed through, the faithful thronged together in the street; whole nights the churches resounded with prayers and hymns; the darkness turned to bright day beneath the blaze of the thousand kindled tapers –

Emperor Julian.

Good, good, good! – I am seized by an incredible dread at the thought of taking up the government after so great and virtuous and dearly loved an emperor. Why was it not granted me to live in withdrawn quiet!

Mamertinus the orator.

And who, then, could have done justice to the great and difficult calling, as you, incomparable lord, will do it? I boldly call out to those others who have coveted the imperial dignity: come hither and take the helm of the realm; but take it as Julian takes it. Watch night and day for the welfare of all. Be lords in name and yet the servants of the citizens' freedom. Choose your place foremost in the ranks of the fighters and not at the banquets. Take nothing for yourselves; but pour out gifts to all. Let your justice be as far from indulgence as from cruelty. Live so that no maiden on the round earth shall wring her hands over you. Bid defiance – both to Gaul's impassability and Germania's cold. What would they answer? Appalled at demands so stern, they would stop up their effeminate ears and cry: only a Julian can do justice to all this!

Emperor Julian.

May the All-Ruler grant that hopes so great be not disappointed. But how much is not lacking in me? A shudder comes over me. To be compared with Alexander, with Marcus Aurelius, and with so many other excellent men! Has not Plato said that only a god can rule over men? Oh, pray with me that I may go free of ambition's snares and of power's temptations. Athens, Athens! Thither goes my longing! I was like a man who, for his health's sake, took some wholesome bodily exercise; – and now they come to me and say: step forth on the stage and conquer in the Olympic games. All the Greeks shall sit as spectators! Must not my mind be seized with terror even before I begin the contest?

Themistius the orator.

What terror, O emperor? Have you not already the Greeks' applause before the contest? Have you not come to reinstate all the exiled virtues in their ancient right? Is there not gathered in you, in one man, all that victory-winning power which Heracles, which Dionysus, which Solon, which –?

Emperor Julian.

Silence! Only the praise of the dead shall be heard today. There they put in to land. Take the brow-band and my chains; I will not wear imperial adornments at an hour like this.

Emperor Julian (lays his hand on the coffin and sighs aloud).

Ah!

An onlooker.

Did he make the sign of the cross over himself?

Another in the crowd.

No.

The first.

You see; you see!

A third onlooker.

Nor did he bow before the holy things.

The first onlooker (to the other).

You see! What did I say?

Emperor Julian.

So fare homeward in pomp and honour, you my kinsman's soul-bereft body! I do not hold this dust answerable for what your spirit did against me. What am I saying? Was it your spirit that dealt so harshly with our kindred that I now stand alone, the last one left? Was it your spirit that bade my childhood be darkened by a thousand fears? Was it your spirit that let yon noble Caesar's head fall? Was it you who set me, the untried youth, at so difficult a post in inhospitable Gaul, and who afterwards, when adversity and hardships failed to overcome me, grudged me the honour of my victories? Oh, Constantius, my kinsman, – all this had not its source in your great heart. Why did you writhe in rancour and torment; why did you see bloody shadows about you on your last painful bed? Evil counsellors have embittered your life and your dying hour. I know them, these counsellors; they were men who took harm from moving in the unceasing sunshine of your favour. I know them, these men, who so readily donned the raiment of that conviction which seemed most pleasing to the court.

Heathen citizens (among the bystanders).

Long live Emperor Julian!

Caesarius the Royal Physician.

Most gracious lord, the procession waits –

Emperor Julian (to the priests).

Let not your pious song fall silent for my sake. Onward, my friends!

Follow after, whoso will; and stay, whoso will. But this you shall all know on this day, that my place is here.

What am I? The emperor. But have I thereby said all? Is there not one imperial office that seems to have been scornfully wiped from memory in later years? What was the crowned friend of wisdom, Marcus Aurelius? Emperor? Only emperor? I had almost asked: was he not something more than emperor? Was he not high priest as well?

Voices in the crowd.

What does the emperor say? What was that? What did he say?

Themistius the orator.

Oh, lord, could it in truth lie in your thought –?

Emperor Julian.

Not even my great uncle Constantius dared to renounce this dignity. Even after he had granted a certain new doctrine of faith such wholly extraordinary privileges, he still continued to be called high priest by all those who held fast to the ancient deities of the Greek people. That this office was in later times sorrowfully neglected, I will not here speak of, but only of this: that none of my exalted predecessors, not even he to whom we today with tear-wet face call out the last greeting, has dared to lay it down. Should I presume to something that emperors so wise and just did not find right and advisable? Far be it from me!

Themistius the orator.

Oh, great emperor, do you then mean –?

Emperor Julian.

I mean thereby that there shall be full freedom for all citizens. Hold fast to the Christians' god, you who find it desirable for your peace of mind. As for me, I do not venture to build my hope on a god who has hitherto been hostile to me in all my undertakings. I have sure signs and omens that all the success I won on the borders of Gaul, I owe to those other deities who favoured Alexander in a somewhat similar way. Under the shelter and shield of these deities I slipped happily through all dangers; and it was they above all who bore me forward on my journey hither with so wondrous a speed and fortune that here in the streets I have heard cries that betoken men taking me for a divine being, – which is a great exaggeration, you friends! But sure it is that I dare not show myself ungrateful for such unremitting tokens of grace.

Voices in the crowd (subdued).

What will he do?

Emperor Julian.

So do I then reinstate our forefathers' venerable gods in their ancient right. But no injury shall be done to the Galileans' god, nor to that of the Jews. The temples that pious rulers in days of old had built with such great artistry shall be raised up again in renewed splendour, with altars and statues, each for its own particular gods, so that seemly worship may there find place anew. Yet I will by no means suffer that any hateful usage befall the Christians' churches; neither shall any outrage be wrought upon their burial-places or upon other spots that a strange delusion leads them to hold sacred. We will bear with the others' error; I myself have been ensnared in mistakes; – yet, over this I cast a veil. What I have thought since my twenty-first year concerning divine things, I will not dwell upon; I will only say that I congratulate those who imitate me, – that I smile at those who will not tread in my footsteps, – that I will try to persuade, but without willing to force anyone.

Emperor Julian (more vehemently).

With good reason I had counted on grateful acclamations, where now I trace only a curious astonishment. Yet, I should have known it; – there reigns a sorrowful indifference among those who profess to have held fast to our old faith. Oppression and mockery have brought the venerable customs of the fathers into oblivion. I have inquired, high and low; but hardly one has been able to give me trustworthy word of how a sacrifice to Apollo or to Fortuna is in each and every point to be performed. I must then go before in this, as in other things. It has cost me many a night's sleep to find out from old books what was of old the usage in this regard; but I do not complain of it when I consider how great a debt of thanks we owe to those very deities; nor am I ashamed to perform everything myself – –. Whither, Caesarius?

Caesarius the Royal Physician.

To the church, most gracious emperor; I will pray for my departed lord's soul.

Emperor Julian.

Go, go! Everyone has his freedom in such matters.

But the freedom that I grant the meanest citizen, that I reserve also for myself. – So do I proclaim to you, you Greeks and Romans, that I turn back again with all my heart to the doctrines and customs that were holy to our forefathers, – that they may freely be spread abroad and practised alongside all new and foreign opinions, – and since I am a child of this city, and therefore hold it especially dear, I proclaim this in the name of the deities that protect the city.

Themistius the orator.

Oh, well may I, as a Greek, melt away in tears at the sight of so much humility and pious zeal!

A citizen.

See, he breaks the firewood himself.

Another citizen.

Over his left thigh. Is that how it is to be broken?

The first citizen.

So it must be, I suppose.

Mamertinus the orator.

The fire that you there kindle, O great emperor, in it shall inquiry and learning shine, yea, rise again renewed, even as that wondrous bird –

Nevita the Commander.

This fire will temper the Greek weapons. I do not know much of the Galilean fancies; but I have marked this, that all those who cling to them are faint-hearted and useless for greater things.

Themistius the orator.

In this fire, O you incomparable one, I see wisdom cleansed of all accusation and of all charges. The wine that you pour out is like a purple with which you adorn truth and set it upon a royal seat. Now, as you raise up your hands –

Mamertinus the orator.

Now, as you raise up your hands, it is as though you honour the brow of science with a golden wreath; and the tears you pour out –

Themistius the orator (presses nearer).

Yes, yes; the tears I see you pour out, they are like precious pearls, with which eloquence shall again be rewarded in imperial fashion. Oh, so it is then once more permitted to the Greeks to lift their eyes to heaven and follow the eternal stars on their course! How long is it not since this was granted us! Did we not, for fear of informers, have to tremble and bow our faces to the earth like the beasts? Who among us dared venture to gaze upon the sun's rising and setting?

Not even you tillers of the soil, who have streamed hither in such great throngs today, not even you dared to mark the position of the heavenly bodies, though you should yet order your labours by them –

Mamertinus the orator.

And you seamen, – have you or your fathers dared to utter the names of the constellations by which you should steer your course? Now you dare it; now it is forbidden to none to –

Themistius the orator.

Now no Greek any longer needs to live on land or water without consulting the unchangeable laws of heaven; he need not let himself be tossed about like a ball at the mercy of chances and happenings; he –

Mamertinus the orator.

Oh, what a man is not this emperor, to whom we owe such great benefits!

Emperor Julian (before the altar with uplifted arms).

So have I now, openly and in humility, poured out oil and wine for you, you beneficent deities, who so long have had to miss this remembrance so highly seemly to you. I have sent up my thanks to you, O Apollo, to whom some of the sages – and especially those of the Orient – give the name of the sun-king, because you bring and renew the light wherein life has its ground and its origin. – I have brought my offering to you, O Dionysus, you god of rapture, who lift the souls of men up out of baseness and bear them up to a communion, worthy of the spirit, with higher spirits. – And, though I name you last, I have not therefore least remembered you, O Fortuna! Did I stand here at all without your aid? Truly I know that you no longer show yourself in person, as was the case in the golden age of which that incomparable blind singer has told us. But this I do know – and herein all other friends of wisdom agree with me – that it is you who have an essential part in the choice of the attendant spirit, good or baneful, that shall follow every man on his life's path. I have no cause to complain of you, O Fortuna! Much more have I the highest summons to render you praise and glory. This duty, so precious to my heart, I have this day taken upon myself. I have not shunned even the meanest labour. Here I stand, in broad daylight; all the Greeks' eyes are turned upon me; I expect that all the Greeks' voices will join with mine in a shout to you, you immortal gods!

Emperor Julian (looks about him).

Ah, so! What became of them all? Are they slinking away?

Themistius the orator.

Yes, with a blush of shame at so many years' ingratitude.

Mamertinus the orator.

No, it was a blush of joy. They went to spread the great tidings through all the streets.

Emperor Julian (comes away from the altar).

The ignorant crowd never knows how to find its way in what is unaccustomed. I have a troublesome work to do; but no toil shall vex me. What is more seemly for a friend of wisdom than to root out errors? To that end I count on you, you enlightened friends! Yet, our thoughts must leave this for a short while. Follow me; I go now to other duties.

Emperor Julian.

Thus far the gods have helped. Now the work will roll forward, like the billows of a storm-flood. The mute defiance that I trace from certain quarters, where I should least expect it, shall not throw my mind off its balance. It is indeed the very mark of true wisdom to show forbearance. We all know that by fitting means one can heal the body's ills; – but can one, with fire and sword, annihilate errors concerning divine things? And what does it profit me that your hand sacrifices, if your souls condemn what the hand does?

So shall we live in concord with one another. My court shall be open to all distinguished men, whatever opinions they may hold. Let us show the world the unusual and exalted spectacle of a court without hypocrisy – assuredly the only court of its kind – a court where flattery is reckoned among the most dangerous enemies. We will accuse and censure one another, when such may be timely, yet without therefore loving one another the less.

Your face is beaming, Nevita; – what good tidings do you bring?

Nevita the Commander.

Truly the best and most joyful. A great number of envoys from princes in far-off India have come to bring you gifts and to sue for your friendship.

Emperor Julian.

Ah, tell me, then, – from what peoples?

Nevita the Commander.

From the Armenians and others beyond the Tigris. Yes, there are even some of the strangers who say they come from the islands of Diu and Serendib.

Emperor Julian.

So, then, from the world's uttermost bound, you friends!

Themistius the orator.

Even thither has rumour borne your name and your renown!

Mamertinus the orator.

Even in those unknown regions your sword is a terror to princes and peoples!

Themistius the orator.

Diu and Serendib! Far east in the Indian sea –

Mamertinus the orator.

I do not hesitate to say: beyond the circle of the earth –

Emperor Julian.

Let the barber come!

I will receive the envoys with seemliness, – yet without pomp and ornaments. Thus would the exalted Marcus Aurelius have received them; and I choose him rather for my model than the emperor who lately grieved us by his passing. No more of any display with perishable earthly things! Even the barbarians shall mark that wisdom – albeit in the shape of its meanest servant – has once more taken its place upon the imperial seat.

Emperor Julian (looks at him in wonder, goes to meet him and salutes him).

What do you seek here, sir?

Eunapius the barber.

Most gracious emperor, you have commanded me to come –

Emperor Julian.

You are mistaken, friend; I have not sent for any of my councillors.

Eunapius the barber.

Most gracious emperor –

Ursulus the treasurer.

Forgive me, lord; this man is the imperial barber.

Emperor Julian.

What do you say! Really? This man – oh, you jest – this man, in silk, with gold-embroidered boots, is supposed to be –? Ah, so! So you are the barber! (bows to him.) Never should I presume to let myself be served by such fine hands.

Eunapius the barber.

Most gracious emperor, – I beseech you, for God's and my Saviour's sake –

Emperor Julian.

Ho-ho! A Galilean! Yes, did I not think as much! Is this the self-denial that you boast of? But I know you well! What deity's temple have you plundered, or how many dips into the emperor's coffers have you made, to be able to deck yourself out like this? – You may go again; I have no use for you.

Tell me, Ursulus, what does this fellow have in wages?

Ursulus the treasurer.

Most gracious emperor, by your exalted predecessor's command there is allotted to him the daily maintenance of twenty men –

Emperor Julian.

See, see; no more?

Ursulus the treasurer.

Yes, lord; of late he has had free keep for his horses in the imperial stables, besides a certain yearly sum in money and a gold-piece each time he –

Emperor Julian.

And all that for a barber! What then must not the others –? A sudden end shall be made of this. – Let the foreign envoys come in!

I will receive them with unshorn hair. It is most seemly so; for although I well know that it is not the uncombed hair nor the tattered cloak that makes the true friend of wisdom, yet I hold that the example set by both Antisthenes and Diogenes well ought to be heeded by the man who – even upon the imperial seat – would gladly follow in the footsteps of such great teachers.

Nevita the Commander.

Most gracious emperor and lord! Not being masters of the noble tongue that so many eloquent men, and not least you yourself, have refined to perfection above all other tongues, – and withal guarding themselves well against letting barbarous sounds grate in your ears, these envoys from eastern princes have chosen me for their spokesman.

Emperor Julian (seated on the throne).

I am ready to hear you.

Nevita the Commander.

First, then, the king of Armenia lays at your feet this armour, which he begs you to wear in the fight against the enemies of the realm, though he well knows that you, invincible hero, stand under the sheltering eye of the gods, which allows no mortal's weapon to wound you. – Here are brought to you costly carpets, tents and saddle-gear from the princes beyond the Tigris river. They will thereby make known that, since the gods have granted those lands an exceeding wealth, it came to pass to the end that it should benefit the favourite of the gods. – The king of Serendib, and likewise the king of Diu, send you these weapons, swords, spears and shields, together with bows and arrows; for, they say, we deem it most advisable to stand defenceless before the conqueror who, like a deity, has shown himself mighty enough to break every resistance. – In return they all beg, as the highest grace, for your friendship, and in particular they beg that, if you, as a rumour has told them, mean in the spring to destroy the reckless Persian king, – that you will then spare their lands from hostile invasion.

Emperor Julian.

Such an embassy could not come to me wholly unlooked-for. The gifts they have brought shall be laid up in my treasury, and through you I let your rulers know that it is my purpose to keep friendship with all those peoples who do not – be it with weapons or with cunning – set themselves in the way of my designs. – As to the fact that, in your far-lying lands, men, misled by my fortunate victories, have let themselves be carried away to see in me a deity, upon that matter I will not further enter. I esteem the gods too highly to be willing to usurp an unseemly place among them, though I well know that there have often lived, and especially in older times, heroes and rulers who were so far advanced by the favour and grace of the gods that it was hard to say whether they were most rightly to be reckoned among the mortals or among the immortals. Concerning such things, however, it is a hazardous matter to judge, even for us Greeks. How much more, then, for you? So, enough of this. – You, Eutherius, lead the strangers to their rest and see that nothing is wanting to them.

Themistius the orator.

So young, – and already so highly honoured above all other emperors!

Mamertinus the orator.

I ask: will not Fame lack lungs to proclaim your renown, if the gods, as I surely hope, grant you a long life?

Themistius the orator.

That cry of terror which the fleeing Alemanni uttered on the farthest banks of the Rhine, it has rolled eastward until it struck against the Taurus and the Caucasus –

Mamertinus the orator.

– now it resounds, like a rumbling echo, over all Asia.

Nevita the Commander.

What has appalled the Indians is this likeness between our Greek Julian and yon Macedonian Alexander –

Mamertinus the orator.

Oh, what likeness! Had king Alexander secret enemies in his own camp? Had he an envious and slanderous imperial court to fight against?

Nevita the Commander.

True, true; and there were no incapable generals either to hamper Alexander's advance.

Emperor Julian.

Ursulus, it is my will that the coming of these envoys shall be made known both in the city and in all the provinces of the realm. Everything shall be told exactly, – whence they come and what gifts they have brought. I will not withhold from the citizens anything that concerns my governance. You may also let fall a few words about the strange notion among the Indians, that Alexander is supposed to have come again.

Ursulus the treasurer (hesitating).

Forgive me, most gracious emperor, but –

Emperor Julian.

Well?

Ursulus the treasurer.

You have yourself said that at this court no flattery shall be tolerated –

Emperor Julian.

Assuredly, friend!

Ursulus the treasurer.

Then let me honestly tell you that these envoys came hither to seek your predecessor and not you.

Emperor Julian.

What do you dare to try to make me believe!

Themistius the orator.

Nay, what unreasonable talk!

Mamertinus the orator.

What a fabrication!

Ursulus the treasurer.

It is the truth. I have long known that these men would come, – long before Emperor Constantius closed his eyes. Oh, my most gracious lord, let not a false vanity find entrance into your young mind –

Emperor Julian.

Enough, enough! You mean then to say that –?

Ursulus the treasurer.

Consider for yourself. How could your victories in Gaul, however renowned they have been, in such haste have reached the ears of those distant peoples? When the envoys spoke of the emperor's heroic deeds, they were thinking of the war against the Persian king –

Nevita the Commander.

I did not know that the war against king Sapor had been waged in such a way as to spread terror to the world's end.

Ursulus the treasurer.

True; fortune has been against our arms in those regions. But it was the rumour of the great armaments that Emperor Constantius was planning for the spring that alarmed the Armenians and the other peoples. – Oh, reckon up the time, lord; count the days, if you will, and then say whether anything else is possible. Your journey hither from Gaul was made with a wondrous speed; but those men's journey from the Indian islands –; it would surely be tenfold more wondrous if –; ask them, and you shall hear –

Emperor Julian (pale with anger).

Why do you tell me all this?

Ursulus the treasurer.

Because it is the truth, and because I cannot bear to see your young and fair renown darkened by a borrowed cloak.

Themistius the orator.

What foolhardy talk!

Mamertinus the orator.

What most foolhardy talk!

Emperor Julian.

You cannot bear it? So! Oh, I know you better. I know all you old men of this court. It is the gods whose honour you would diminish. For is it not the gods' honour that they achieve great things through a man? But you hate them – these gods – whose temples you have pulled down, whose statues you have smashed to pieces and whose treasures you have plundered. You have hardly even tolerated them, these most beneficent gods of ours. You have hardly suffered the pious to bear them secretly in their hearts. Now you would also tear down the temple of thankfulness that I have raised for them in my heart; you would take from me the grateful thought that I owe to the immortals a new and most desirable benefaction; – for is honour not to be reckoned such a boon?

Ursulus the treasurer.

The one God of heaven is my witness that –

Emperor Julian.

The only one! There we have it again! So are you always. What intolerance! Yet mirror yourselves in us. Do we say that our gods are the only ones? Do we not honour both the Egyptians' gods and that Jewish Jehovah, who has assuredly done great things among his people? But you, on the other hand, – and that, a man like you, Ursulus –! Are you a Roman, born of Greek forefathers? The only one! What barbaric insolence!

Ursulus the treasurer.

You have promised that you will not hate anyone for the sake of his opinions.

Emperor Julian.

That I have promised; but neither will I bear that you tread too near upon us. The envoys are not supposed to have come in order to –? That is, in other words, to say that the great and divine Dionysus, who has his power especially in revealing to men the hidden things, – that he is not to be active now, as well as in the days gone by. Should I bear this? Is it not an excessive impudence? Am I not driven to call you to account?

Ursulus the treasurer.

Then all the Christians will say that it is their faith you are persecuting.

Emperor Julian.

No one shall be persecuted for his faith's sake. But have I the right to draw a line through whatever you may make yourselves guilty of, merely because you are Christians? Shall your errors shield your faults? What have you foolhardy men not long been doing, both here at the court and elsewhere? How have you not flattered every vice and bowed to every whim? Yes, what have you not, Ursulus, yourself turned a blind eye to? I am thinking of that shamelessly bedecked barber, that reeking, pomaded fool, who just now filled me with disgust here. Are you not treasurer? How could you give way to his shameless demands?

Ursulus the treasurer.

Is it a crime that I have been my lord's servant?

Emperor Julian.

I do not make use of such lavish servants. All those insolent half-men shall be driven out of the palace; and all the cooks and jugglers and dancers likewise. A seemly frugality shall be brought in again.

You, my friends, shall lend me your aid in this. – And you, Nevita, on whom I, that you may come forward with the greater authority, bestow the dignity of a general, – to you I entrust the inquiry into how the offices of the state have been administered under my predecessor, and especially in the later years. You may summon such fitting men as you please to judge with you in these matters.

I have no use for you. When my lamented kinsman on his deathbed appointed me his heir, he also bequeathed to me the justice that his long infirmity had hindered him from exercising himself. Go home; and when you have rendered a true account of yourselves, then you may go whithersoever you please.

Ursulus the treasurer.

God the Lord uphold and shield you, my emperor!

Nevita the general.

My exalted ruler, how shall I fully thank you for the mark of your favour that you just now –

Emperor Julian.

No thanks. In these few days I have learned to value your loyalty and your judgment. The proclamation concerning the eastern envoys I also entrust to you to draw up. Write it in such a way that the beneficent gods shall find in it no cause to take offence at any of us.

Nevita the general.

I shall act according to my emperor's will both in the one thing and in the other.

Emperor Julian.

And now, you faithful ones, now let us praise the immortal powers who have shown us the right way.

Themistius the orator.

The immortals and their more than mortal favourite! What rejoicing shall we not hear throughout the realm, when it is bruited that you have removed those violent and self-seeking men!

Mamertinus the orator.

With what suspense and with what impatient hope will men not await the choice of their successors!

Themistius the orator.

All the Greeks will cry with one mouth: Plato himself has taken the helm of state!

Mamertinus the orator.

No, no, worthy friend; all the Greeks will cry: Plato's saying has become reality, – only a god can rule over men!

Themistius the orator.

Now I only wish that the favour of the fortune-bringers may follow Nevita. He has been given a great and difficult charge; I do not know him very closely; but we ought surely all to hope that he may prove himself to be the right man –

Mamertinus the orator.

Quite so; though there might well be found other men who –

Themistius the orator.

I would not thereby have said that the choice which you, O incomparable emperor –

Mamertinus the orator.

No, no, by no means!

Themistius the orator.

But if it is a fault to burn with zeal to serve a beloved ruler –

Mamertinus the orator.

– then you have in truth more than one erring friend –

Themistius the orator.

– even though you do not honour them as you have honoured the most fortunate Nevita –

Mamertinus the orator.

– even though they must do without every visible token of your favour –

Emperor Julian.

We will leave no able man unused, nor yet unrewarded. As for you, Themistius, I hereby entrust to you the city-governorship here in Constantinople; and you, Mamertinus, may prepare yourself, in the coming year, to journey to Rome and take over one of the vacant consulates.

Themistius the orator.

My emperor! I grow dizzy at so much honour –!

Mamertinus the orator.

So high an honour! Consul! Was there ever a consul so highly honoured as I? Was it Lucius, was it Brutus, was it Publius Valerius? What was their honour beside mine? Those were appointed by the people, but I by Julian!

A courtier.

Praised be the emperor who lets justice rule!

Another courtier.

Praised be he whose mere name strikes the barbarians with dismay!

Themistius the orator.

Praised be all the exalted gods, who in concord have cast their enamoured eyes upon a single man, so that this single one, when for the first time – may it be late! – he brings us sorrow and departs, must be said to have cast Socrates and Marcus Aurelius and Alexander into the shade!

Emperor Julian.

There you struck the heart of the matter, my Themistius! It is to the gods that we shall lift up our hands and our hearts. I do not say this in order to instruct you, but to remind you of what has for so long been neglected at this court. Far be it from me to wish to compel anyone. But am I to be blamed, because I would gladly make others partakers in the sweet rapture that flows through me as I feel myself cradled in the communion of the immortals? Praised, praised be you, vine-leaf-crowned Dionysus! For it is you above all who work such great and mysterious things. Go now, each of you, to his own task. I, for my part, have proclaimed a festive procession through the streets of the city. It shall be no banquet for my courtiers, nor yet a feast within four walls. Freely may the citizens join themselves to me, or keep away; I will sift the pure from the impure, the pious from the erring. –

O sun-king, cast light and beauty over the day! O Dionysus, let your swelling glory sink upon the minds of men; fill the souls with your holy storm-rush, fill them until all bonds burst and the freed rejoicing draws breath in dance and song! – Life, life, life in beauty!

A shoemaker (in his doorway, calls across the street).

What is afoot, dear neighbour?

A shopkeeper (in the house directly opposite).

They say it is some Syrian jugglers who have come to the city.

A fruit-seller (in the street).

No indeed; it is an Egyptian troupe, going about with monkeys and dromedaries.

Eunapius the barber (meanly dressed, seeks in vain to get through the crowd).

Make way, you fools! How the devil can anyone jest and chatter on such a day of calamity!

A woman (in a little window).

Pst, pst; Eunapius! Handsome sir!

Eunapius the barber.

Do not speak to me in the open street, you bawd!

The woman in the window.

Slip in by the back way, sweet friend!

Eunapius the barber.

Fie upon you! Am I in the mood to jest –

The woman in the window.

You will soon be in the mood. Come, handsome Eunapius; the day before yesterday I got a consignment of fresh doves –

Eunapius the barber.

Oh, you sinful world! (tries to get past.) Make way, make way, in Satan's name; let me get forward!

Hecebolius the scripture-scholar (dressed for travel and followed by a couple of laden slaves, comes from a side street).

Has the city become a madhouse? All are shouting over one another, and no one can give me any information. Ah, see, – Eunapius, my pious brother!

Eunapius the barber.

Greeting and salutation, venerable sir! So you have come back to the city?

Hecebolius the scripture-scholar.

This very moment; – I have consecrated the hot autumn months to quiet devotion on my estate in Crete. But tell me, I beg you, what is going on here?

Eunapius the barber.

Calamity and confusion. The new emperor –

Hecebolius the scripture-scholar.

Yes, yes, I have heard strange rumours –

Eunapius the barber.

Tenfold worse than the rumours. All faithful servants are driven out of the palace.

Hecebolius the scripture-scholar.

Do you speak the truth?

Eunapius the barber.

Woe is me; I myself was the first –

Hecebolius the scripture-scholar.

Frightful! So perhaps I too am –?

Eunapius the barber.

Assuredly. All accounts are to be examined, all gifts are to be taken back, all irregular collections –

Hecebolius the scripture-scholar (pale).

God have mercy!

Eunapius the barber.

The Lord be praised, I have a good conscience.

Hecebolius the scripture-scholar.

I too, I too; but nevertheless –; ah, so it is doubtless true, then, that the emperor has sacrificed to Apollo and Fortuna?

Eunapius the barber.

Oh yes; but who cares about such trifles?

Hecebolius the scripture-scholar.

Trifles? Do you not understand, then, blinded friend, that it is our disposition, as good Christians, that he is persecuting?

Eunapius the barber.

What do you say? By the Lord's cross, could it be possible?

Women (in the crowd).

There they come!

A man (on a housetop).

I can see him!

Other voices.

Who is coming? Who, who?

The man on the roof.

Emperor Julian. He has vine-leaves in his hair.

People in the street.

The emperor!

Eunapius the barber.

The emperor!

Hecebolius the scripture-scholar.

Come, come, pious brother!

Eunapius the barber.

Let me go, sir; I am not pious at all.

Hecebolius the scripture-scholar.

Not pious –?

Eunapius the barber.

Who dares charge me with –? Do they want to ruin me? Pious? When was I ever pious? I once belonged to the fellowship of the Donatists; that is many years ago. May the devil take the Donatists! (knocks on the window.) Hey, Barbara, Barbara; open up, you old hag!

The crowd.

There he is! There he comes!

Hecebolius the scripture-scholar.

All irregular collections –! An inquiry! Oh, thunderbolt of terror!

The dancers (sing).

The women (sing).

Emperor Julian.

Make way! Clear the road, you citizens! Draw reverently aside; not for us, but for him whom we honour!

A voice in the crowd.

The emperor in the company of harlots and jugglers!

Emperor Julian.

Shame on you, that I must content myself with such as these. Are you not ashamed to find greater piety and more zeal in these than in yourselves?

An old man.

May Christ enlighten you, lord!

Emperor Julian.

Aha, you are a Galilean! And you will have your say? Did not your great master sit at table with sinners? Did he not go in and out of houses that were held to be little seemly? Answer me that.

Eunapius the barber. (surrounded by girls in the doorway of the woman Barbara.)

Yes, answer, answer, if you can, you fool!

Emperor Julian.

Why, look, – are you not that barber who –?

Eunapius the barber.

A liberated man, most gracious emperor! – Make way, you bacchants; make way for a brother!

Emperor Julian.

That pleases me well. Mirror yourselves in this Greek, if you have a spark of the ancients' spirit left. And it is much needed, this, you citizens; for no god has been so misjudged – yea, made a laughing-stock – as this rapture-bringing Dionysus, whom the Romans also call Bacchus. Do you think he is a god for drunkards? Oh, you most ignorant ones, I pity you if you think so. To whom other than him do the seers and the poets owe their wondrous gifts? Well do I know that some ascribe this activity to Apollo, and that assuredly not without all ground; but then the connection is to be understood quite otherwise, – which I can prove from various writings. Yet, on this I will not dispute with you in the open street. Neither does the time allow it. Yes, mock away! Make the sign of the cross, then! I see it well. You would gladly whistle through your fingers; you would gladly throw stones after me, if you dared. – Oh, must I not be ashamed of this city, which has sunk down below the barbarians, and which knows nothing better than to hold fast to the erring fancy of an ignorant Jew! – Forward! Aside; – do not stop us!

The dancers.

The women.

Eutherius the steward (calls toward the room on the right).

Agilo, Agilo, warm rose-water! The emperor will bathe.

Emperor Julian.

Was there beauty in this? – –

Where were the old men with the white beards? Where were the pure maidens with fillets about their brows, with seemly bearing, chaste amid the joy of the dance?

Fie upon you, you harlots! – –

What has become of beauty? Can the emperor not bid it rise up again, and so it rises?

Fie upon this stinking lewdness! – –

What faces! Every vice cried out of those distorted features. The boils of body and soul –

Fie, fie! A bath, Agilo! The stench chokes me.

Agilo the bath-attendant (in the doorway to the right).

The bath is ready, most gracious lord!

Emperor Julian.

The bath? Let it be. What is the body's filth, reckoned against all the rest? Go!

The seer of Nazareth sat at the high table between publicans and sinners. –

Wherein lies the gulf between that and this? – –

Emperor Julian.

What do you want, man?

Hecebolius the scripture-scholar (on his knees).

Lord!

Emperor Julian.

Ah, what do I see? Hecebolius; – is it really you?

Hecebolius the scripture-scholar.

The same, and yet another.

Emperor Julian.

My old teacher. What do you want? Stand up!

Hecebolius the scripture-scholar.

No, no, let me lie. And be not angry that I make use of my former right to go in and out of your quarters.

Emperor Julian (coldly).

I asked what you wanted of me.

Hecebolius the scripture-scholar.

My old teacher, you said. Oh, that I could cast oblivion's veil over those times!

Emperor Julian (as before).

I understand. You mean that –

Hecebolius the scripture-scholar.

Oh, that I could sink into the earth and hide my shame! See, see, – here I lie before you, a man whose hair is on the point of turning grey, – a man who has searched and pondered all his days and who now must confess that he went astray and that he led his beloved pupil astray!

Emperor Julian.

What do you wish to say by that?

Hecebolius the scripture-scholar.

You called me your old teacher. See, here I lie at your feet, look up in wonder to you, and call you my new teacher.

Emperor Julian.

Rise, Hecebolius!

Hecebolius the scripture-scholar (rises).

You shall hear all, lord, and then judge me according to your justice. – When you were gone, it became almost unbearable to me to live at your high predecessor's court. I do not know whether you have learned that I was advanced to be the empress's reader and distributor of alms? Alas, could posts of honour make up to me for the loss of my Julian? I could hardly bear any longer to look on at how men who paraded a showy virtue took bribes and gratuities of every kind. It grew hateful to me, this intercourse with greedy fortune-hunters, whose intercession was for sale to anyone who could outweigh ringing words with ringing gold. Oh, my emperor, you do not know what has been going on here –!

Emperor Julian.

I know it, I know it.

Hecebolius the scripture-scholar.

A frugal life in solitude enticed me. As often as it could be, I went off to Crete, to my modest Tusculum – my little country house –, where not all virtue seemed to have fled from the world. There I have lived this summer too, meditating on human things and heavenly truths.

Emperor Julian.

Happy Hecebolius!

Hecebolius the scripture-scholar.

Then the rumour of all your wondrous deeds reached Crete –

Emperor Julian.

Ah!

Hecebolius the scripture-scholar.

I asked myself: is he more than a man, this most matchless youth? Under whose protection does he stand? Is it in such a way that the Christians' god is wont to reveal his power –?

Emperor Julian (tensely).

Well; well!

Hecebolius the scripture-scholar.

I set myself to search through the writings of the ancients anew. Light after light dawned upon me –; oh, to have to confess this!

Emperor Julian.

Speak out, – I conjure you!

Hecebolius the scripture-scholar (casts himself on his knees).

Punish me in your justice, lord; but turn away from the errors of your youth concerning divine things! Yes, most gracious emperor, you are ensnared in error; and I – oh, unthinkable that shame does not slay me –, I, I have had a part in leading you astray –

Emperor Julian (with outstretched arms).

Come to my inmost embrace!

Hecebolius the scripture-scholar.

Oh, I beseech you, show thankfulness toward the immortal gods, whose favourite you are! And if you cannot do this, then punish me because I do it in your stead –

Emperor Julian.

Come, come into my open embrace, I say!

My Hecebolius! What a great and unlooked-for joy!

Hecebolius the scripture-scholar.

Lord, how am I to understand this?

Emperor Julian.

Oh, do you not know then –? When did you come to the city?

Hecebolius the scripture-scholar.

I came from the ship an hour ago.

Emperor Julian.

And hurried straight hither?

Hecebolius the scripture-scholar.

On the wings of anguish and remorse, lord!

Emperor Julian.

Without speaking to anyone?

Hecebolius the scripture-scholar.

Yes, yes, without speaking to anyone; but –?

Emperor Julian.

Oh, then you cannot know –

My Hecebolius, learn it, then, now! I, as well as you, have cast off the yoke of error. The immortal sun-king, to whom we men owe so much, I have reinstated in his ancient right; Fortuna has received her offering from my humble hands, and if at this moment you find me weary and a little worn out, it is because I lately celebrated a festival in honour of the divine Dionysus.

Hecebolius the scripture-scholar.

I hear, and I am astounded!

Emperor Julian.

See here, – the wreath still sits in my hair. Amid the crowd's glad acclamations –, yes, there were a good many –

Hecebolius the scripture-scholar.

And I, who have not divined such great things!

Emperor Julian.

Now we will gather about us all friends of truth and lovers of wisdom, all seemly and honourable worshippers of the gods; – there are already some, – though not very many –

Emperor Julian.

Ah, here we have the good Caesarius, – in numerous company, and with a face that betokens something important.

Caesarius the Royal Physician.

Most gracious emperor, will you permit your servant a question, in his own name and in the name of all these troubled men?

Emperor Julian.

Ask, my dearest Caesarius! Are you not my beloved Gregory's brother? Ask, ask!

Caesarius the Royal Physician.

Tell me then, O lord –

What do I see! Hecebolius here?

Emperor Julian.

Newly come home –

Caesarius the Royal Physician (is about to withdraw).

Then I beg leave to wait –

Emperor Julian.

By no means, my Caesarius; this friend may hear all.

Caesarius the Royal Physician.

Friend, you say? Oh, my emperor, these imprisonments do not happen, then, by your will?

Emperor Julian.

What are you talking about?

Caesarius the Royal Physician.

You do not know it, then? Nevita the Commander – the general, as he now calls himself – causes, under pretext that it is done on your behalf, persecutions to be set on foot against all your predecessor's trusted men.

Emperor Julian.

Inquiries, most necessary inquiries, my Caesarius!

Caesarius the Royal Physician.

Oh, but, lord, forbid him to proceed so violently. The bookkeeper Pentadius is being hunted by soldiers, and likewise a certain praetorian commander whose name you have forbidden to be spoken; you know whom I mean, lord, – that unhappy man, who already with his whole household keeps hidden in dread of you.

Emperor Julian.

You do not know this man. In Gaul he entertained most foolhardy thoughts.

Caesarius the Royal Physician.

Be that as it may; but now he is surely harmless. Yet not he alone is threatened with ruin; the treasurer Ursulus too is imprisoned –

Emperor Julian.

Ah, Ursulus? So it was needful after all.

Caesarius the Royal Physician.

Needful! Was that needful, lord? Only think of Ursulus, that old man, on whom no stain rests, – that man, at whose word high and low bow in reverence –

Emperor Julian.

This man without any judgment, I say! Ursulus is a spendthrift who, without demur, has sated the greed of the court servants. And he is besides a useless man in affairs of state. I have myself experienced it. I would never dare to entrust to him the receiving of foreign princes' envoys.

Caesarius the Royal Physician.

And yet we beg you, lord, as many as we here stand before you: be magnanimous – both toward Ursulus and toward the rest.

Emperor Julian.

Who are the rest?

Caesarius the Royal Physician.

Far too many, I fear. I will name only the under-treasurer Evagrius, the former steward Saturninus, the chief judge Cyrenus, and – –

Emperor Julian.

Why do you stop?

Caesarius the Royal Physician (hesitating).

Lord, – among the accused is also Hecebolius the court-reader.

Emperor Julian.

What?

Hecebolius the scripture-scholar.

I? Impossible!

Caesarius the Royal Physician.

Accused of having taken bribes from unworthy office-seekers –

Emperor Julian.

And that Hecebolius –? A man like Hecebolius –?

Hecebolius the scripture-scholar.

What a shameful slander! O Christ – what was I about to say – oh, you heavenly deities!

Caesarius the Royal Physician.

Ah!

Emperor Julian.

What do you mean?

Caesarius the Royal Physician (coldly).

Nothing, my most gracious emperor!

Emperor Julian.

Caesarius!

Caesarius the Royal Physician.

Yes, my high lord?

Emperor Julian.

Not lord; call me your friend.

Caesarius the Royal Physician.

Dares a Christian call you so?

Emperor Julian.

I beg you: do not harbour such thoughts, Caesarius! You must not believe this. How can I help it that all those accused men are Christians? Does not that merely show that the Christians have contrived to grasp for themselves all the lucrative offices? But dare the emperor allow the realm's most important offices to be ill administered?

Surely you do not think that it is your faith that has kindled me to wrath against the dishonest? I call all the gods to witness that I do not wish anyone to proceed against you Christians except by law and judgment, nor that anyone should do you any harm at all. You, or at all events many of you, are indeed pious, since you too worship the Lord who is almighty and who rules over all the visible world. – Oh, my Caesarius, is it not he whom I also worship, only under other names?

Caesarius the Royal Physician.

Grant me, most gracious lord –

Emperor Julian.

For the rest, it is my intention to show mildness wherever such may seemly be done. As for Hecebolius, his secret enemies must not imagine that they shall be allowed to harm him with denunciations or with any other kind of base intrigues.

Hecebolius the scripture-scholar.

My emperor! My shield and my defence!

Emperor Julian.

Neither will I have the bread taken mercilessly from all the humbler court servants. I am thinking thus of that barber whom I drove away. I regret it. The man may stay. He looked to me like a man who understands his craft thoroughly. Honour to such men! So far can I go, my Caesarius, but no further. Ursulus must bear the consequences himself. I must act in such a way that the blind and yet so keen-sighted goddess of justice may find no cause to knit her brows at a mortal in whose hands she has laid so great a responsibility.

Caesarius the Royal Physician.

After this I have not a word more to say for the unfortunate. I only beg to be allowed to leave the court and the city.

Emperor Julian.

You wish that?

Caesarius the Royal Physician.

Yes, most gracious emperor!

Emperor Julian.

You are stiff-necked, like your brother.

Caesarius the Royal Physician.

The new things give me much to think about.

Emperor Julian.

I had great designs for you, Caesarius! It would be very dear to me if you could let go of your errors. Can you not do so?

Caesarius the Royal Physician.

God knows what I might have done a month ago; – now I cannot.

Emperor Julian.

A marriage into one of the mightiest families should stand open to you. Will you not think it over?

Caesarius the Royal Physician.

No, most gracious lord!

Emperor Julian.

A man like you could rise swiftly from post to post. Caesarius, should it not be possible that you would dare to be with me in furthering the new things?

Caesarius the Royal Physician.

No, most gracious lord!

Emperor Julian.

I do not mean here; but elsewhere. It is my intention to go away. Constantinople is highly repugnant to me; you Galileans have spoilt it for me in every way. I am going to Antioch; there I shall find a better soil. You should go with me. Will you, Caesarius?

Caesarius the Royal Physician.

Most gracious lord, I too will go to the eastern provinces; but I will travel alone.

Emperor Julian.

And what will you do there?

Caesarius the Royal Physician.

Seek out my old father; help Gregory to strengthen him for the struggle that lies ahead.

Emperor Julian.

Go!

Caesarius the Royal Physician.

Farewell, my emperor!

Emperor Julian.

Happy father, who has such unhappy sons!

Hecebolius the scripture-scholar.

What foolhardy and most unseemly defiance!

Emperor Julian.

My heart is wounded to the blood by this and by much else. You, my Hecebolius, shall follow me. The earth burns under me in this poisoned Galilean city! I will write to those friends of wisdom, Cytron and Priscus, who have won such great renown in these latter years. Maximus I may look for hither any day; he shall go with us. – I tell you, happy days of victory lie ahead of us, Hecebolius! In Antioch, friend, – there we shall meet with the incomparable Libanius, – and there we are nearer to Helios in his resurrection. – Oh, this pull of longing toward the sun-king –!

Hecebolius the scripture-scholar.

Yes, yes, yes –!

Emperor Julian (embraces him).

My Hecebolius! – Wisdom; light; beauty!