Fabiola : or, The church of the catacombs - Digital Repository Services

with the words: "From the camp ; Lucius to liis beloved
mother, health and happiness."
ny months have passed since I have crossed the Alps and
i lie clouds of heaven so near at hand. But, dear mother,
6 me, that not a day passed without my thinking of you.
1 remembered you particularly, when first I beheld the Danube
from Noricum.* You once read to me, as a boy, from a Roman
Historian, that towards the end of the world, this river will no
longer flow at the foot of the mountain, but will swell to the summit,
tear up rocks, and carry with it chains of mountains. You
can imagine with what ideas I reached this renowned river, yet
notwithstanding its great breadth, I was still disappointed when I
saw, that it was no wider than our flower garden at Kephissia.
You have already heard how matters stood in our tedious war,
before we reached Aquileia, and that the Marcomanni had gained
a victory over the Prefect Vindex, who with twenty thousand
Romans, was killed, and the retreating army pursued as far as
the Adriatic Sea. This had all occurred previous to our leaving
Athens, It is now nearly five years since the Emperor entered
Pannonia.f and we have been watting week after week, expecting
to come to a decided engagement, which is to conclude the campaign.
Our conquest over the Jazygan was accomplished in a
droll manner. The barbarians held us at bay on the frozen Dan-
ube, trusting that they could fight famously on the masses of ice,
their horses being much better accustomed to slippery ground
than ours, but we threw our shields upon the ice, stood on them,
and then drew over to us our horses and riders at once, and we
fought a magnificent battle. Also in the two succeeding battles
the Marcomanni and Jazygan were well humbled. Another time,
when the Danube was free of ice, we wished to frighten the bar-
barians, and sent amongst them some lions we had just received
from Rome. The animals crossed the stream, and attacked the
enemy, who bravely met their antagonists, and killed them with
their clubs, and stood laughing and exulting over their newly
acquired booty.
You can scarcely believe, dear mother, how difficult it is to
finish with such an enemy. The trumpets of war are to them
an agreeable music ; they entrench themselves behind their for-
tifications, and wait courageously for the attack. To fear, they
are strangers. They tie up deserters to the enemy, but cowards,
and those who take to flight, are suffocated without mercy in the
swamps and morasses. But incomparably worse than all this,
is their climate, which is so cold and damp, that we have a fog
nearly every day. At home in Athens, months pass on, and the
heavens cheer us with their clear blue, whilst in Germany, we
find even in the midst of summer, scarcely a cloudless day.
how I now prize our clear Grecian climate! The fur cloak you
have sent me by Bogus, is of the greatest service to me, particularly
when we sleep in the cold damp. We fought our battles
best in the hot summer days, for though the Germans bear hunger
and cold with heroic patience, they succumb to thirst and heat
much quicker than we do. Their food would not suit our Athenian
epicures. Many of them are satisfied with crab-apples and
thick milk. But if they had as much beer to drink, as they can
take, we could vanquish them better by their drunkenness than
by our arms. In their time of peace, they give themselves up
to idleness or to the chase. The principal difference existing
between the Romans and Germans, is that the former are masters
in eating and the latter in drinking. Not long since, we discov-
ered in a field a large mound, and on a nearer approach, we curi-
/, )' II I A .
ously examined it, and found beneath, huge stores of apples,
pears and corn. Suddenly the ground gave way, and some of
the soldiers fell into a subterraneous cave, whence alas! they
never more came out. We were obliged to leave them behind us,
and discovered, when too late, that the Germans, with wives,
children and cattle, frequently dwell in such caves, to protect
themselves from the inclemency of Winter. Dear mother, would
you could see these gigantic hardy men, one like the other!
Their clothing, and the effects of the climate, render them unsusceptible
of sickness. They generally die of old age. They
The land to the cast of the river Inn in Bavaria,
t A part of the present Styrla as far as Hungary,
O
are trained up in such endurance and hardihood, that for the
most part, they never spend a thought on either their clothing or
their food. May those souls and bodies which know nothing of
effeminacy, riches or debauchery, receive wisdom and well ordered
armies. Perhaps, dear mother, you would like to hear
a little about the religion of these barbarians? I regret, that up
to the present time, I have been able to learn but very little on
the subject. They have ancient poetry from time immemorial,
and this is the only trace of knowledge they possess. They sing
of a god.Tuisko, who sprung from the earth, and that he had a
son, called Mannus, and these they style their ancestors. Also
Mercury is held by them in great veneration, and they bring into
their dark forests and sacred groves, all those taken in war, to
offer them to him in sacrifice. The reputation they have gained
for morality is well founded. A female may be as beautiful and
rich as you please, but if her reputation be once sullied, she falls
into general contempt. There are tribes amongst them that only
marry virgins, and the widows after the death of their husbands
remain single. Should a married woman injure her husband's
honor by incontinency, the husband cuts off her hair, and whips
her with rods out of his dwelling in the presence of her relations.
This morality of the barbarians, dear mother, we do not find
amongst our cultivated people. But I can assure you, that in
our legion, in which there are many Cappadocian Christians, quite
as great a morality reigns as with the barbarians. They are very
industrious, they neither drink or swear, nor make what are
r called soldiers' jests. They believe in only one God, and pra) to
Him daily. Nothing is more interesting than to live amongst
them.
"
I suppose you have heard that Verus is no more? He was
sitting in the chariot with Marcus Aurelius, when he was struck
with apoplexy, sank on his shoulder, and expired. His body
was not embalmed, but buried in the land of the barbarians.
The day previous to his death, I had the honor, with some Greek
nobles, of being invited to dine with him. I acknowledge, that I
was not a little rejoiced at the invitation, after having been
nearly five years without tasting a morsel of wholesome food,
leaving delicacies out of the question. The banquet far exceeded
our expectations; and not one amongst us could comprehend
how it was possible in this country, to keep so luxurious a table.
The Emperor was very gay and jested with me, asking me, as
each dish was placed on the table, if I knew its name; to my answers
in the affirmative, he always replied, "Ah! missed the
mark! " and then gave the dish its German name: so that we always
doubted what we were eating. Still more choice were the
wines. Verus had three cups beside him, one was of Alexandrian
crystal, the second of oriental Myrrha, a material unknown
to any of us, the third was of gold, and set with precious stones.
When we drank the health of the Emperor, he gave us a sign
to keep our cups.* After wine, we played at dice till the morn-
ing dawned. Claudius Pompeanus, son of a Roman knight, was
my companion at table. He was astonished when he heard my
name, and assured me, that he had known you in Rome. That
must certainly have been a long time ago, and when I told him
that I intended to send you, my dear mother, a present of my
valuable cup, he begged that I would afford him the pleasure of
on it.
having some verses engraved
"
Bogus, who arrived here, two months since, and offered him-
self as volunteer in the cavalry, could relate to you what beasts
there are in the dark forests. Not long since, he was dreadfully
beaten through mistake. Being very cold he sought to bring
down a bear for the sake of the skin. On our arrival at the
camp one evening, after an engagement, Bogus, with some others,
returned again to the hills, where we had left some dead bodies.
To entice the bears out of the adjacent forest, he cut the head
off a German, and seizing it by the hair, threw it down the hill,
and it rolled to the edge of the forest, he repeated the experiment
and at length he succeeded, for a hungry bear made his appearance.
As soon as he attacked the heads, Bogus laid him low
with an arrow. He stripped off the skin and clothed himself
It is related that this Emperor once before presented his guests with a chariot
each, and also with chariot drivers.