This is the ninth post of Henryk Sienkiewicz’s
historical novel, Quo Vadis.
You can find Post #1 here.
Post #2 here.
Post #3 here.
Post #4 here.
Post #5 here.
Post #6 here.
Post #7 here.
Post #8 here.
Chapters 57 thru 63
Summary
The games are interrupted by three days of rain and hail. Once they resume, Nero wants to arm Christians to fight each other to the death in the arena. The Christians refuse, throw their weapons to the ground, and kneel in prayer. Nero is forced to put an end to them by having real gladiators come in and slaughter the Christians as they passively kneel. Then Nero, inspired to exceed all past games, creates enactments of mythic and historic stories where the Christians will be raped and killed per the legends. Another spectacle put on in the arena is real crucifixions, and so Christians are nailed to crosses and lifted up, the arena filled with so many crosses it looks like a forest with the audience enjoying the slow deaths of the crucified. One such Christian is the old man Crispus, preaching the wrath of God as he is nailed and dies on the cross. The cross on which Crispus is nailed stood opposite the emperor’s podium, and Crispus and Nero faces look on each other. Crispus in his dying breath denounces Nero.
Chilo, trying to leave the games, tries to persuade Nero to leave for Greece, but Nero says not until after the games are over. Chilo insists he will no longer attend the games, but Nero stipulates that he be forced to sit next to him. Chilo feels that death is coming for him through the vengeance of the Christian God. Petronius says that the Christians in their passive deaths are actually arming and with patience will bring down Rome. Tigellinus says that this is insane.
Petronius believes that Vinicius is devising a new plan to free Lygia, but Vinicuis has lost hope. Still Vinicius decides to try to enter the new prison, just to see Lygia. Dressed as a slave the guards do not recognize him and he goes in. The prison is vast and he hears the groans of all those infected with fever. Deep in the dungeons he finally finds Lygia and Ursus. Lygia, asleep on the floor, is emaciated. He kneels by her and she awakes. She is weak but grateful to see her beloved. He tells her Christ will save them, but she believes she will die, either in the arena or in prison.
For three nights Vinicius similarly comes to the prison to be with Lygia. They talk about how they will love and live with each other beyond the grave. Petronius is astonished that Vinicius is at peace with the situation. Petronius informs him that the Christians will be human torches for Nero’s garden the next day. Vinicius again dresses as a slave and heads over to the prison. He gets there in time to see Christians being led out to go to Nero’s garden. Scanning their faces he does not find Lygia or Ursus, but he does notice Glaucus.
The Roman people have grown tired of the games, and
Nero and Tigellinus are hoping with the last of the Christians to bring the
spectacle to an end. In Nero’s garden,
Christians are tied to poles and plastered with pitch. At a given command, a slave beneath each pole
sets fire to a pile of straw. The fire
climbs the pole and ignites the pitch.
As the fire climbs the poles and up the bodies of the Christians,
screams can be heard, smell of burnt flesh can be smelled, and the garden is as
bright as day. Chilo is forced to attend
with Caesar, and is horrified at the distorted burning bodies, some still in
agony, some frozen in a death gaze. As
Nero’s entourage stroll through the garden they come to the pole where Glaucus is
strapped. Chilo lets out a cry upon
recognizing him. Nero laughs at the
shock he sees in Chilo’s face. Chilo
begs Glaucus to forgive him, and Glaucus does before he dies. Chilo drops to the ground in tears and the
Romans wonder what is happening to him.
Chilo gets up and pointing a finger at Nero and in a loud voice screams
that Nero had been responsible for the fire.
The Roman people within earshot believe him and question why the need
for the murderous games. In the chaos,
Chilo wanders away and comes across Paul the Apostle. Chilo makes a confession and Paul baptizes
him into Christianity. Tigellinus finds
Chilo, and Chilo announces that he has become a Christian too. Tigellinus has guards apprehend Chilo who
torture him to retract what he said about Nero.
Chilo refuses, and Tigellinus has his tongue pulled out.
Tigellinus comes up with a new idea for a spectacle. He will have a Christian hang on a cross while devoured by a real life bear. The Roman audience has begun to believe the Christian divinity will conquer Rome. When it is time for the bear scene, to the audience’s surprise two guards drag out Chilo, naked and decrepit from his broken bones. He lay calm, awaiting his fate with peace. They nail him to a low cross so a bear can reach up to him. The bear is curious but does not attack Chilo, as if in pity for the man. As Chilo looks up, he smiles as if in a vision of wonder, and then dies. A voice from the top of the amphitheater yells out, “Peace to the martyrs,” silencing the audience.
After the burning of the Christians as torches in Nero’s garden, there are not many Christians left. The Roman population is convinced the Christian God will take revenge. The rumors that Nero and Tigellinus are the real culprits of the fire spread through the city. To calm the populace more free food is provided. Vinicius is reassured that when Lygia dies he will be given her remains. He too has become emaciated from his stress. The thought of reuniting with her in the afterlife consoles him. Ursus too is consoled in the thought of serving Lygia in the afterlife. The prison guards admire the mild good temper of the gentle giant.
###
My
Comment:
Good Lord, the degradation on the Christians sinks lower and lower. The crowd is bored with the slaughter, so the powers have to devise more disgusting spectacles to hold the audience's interest. The slaughter of the Christians is a holocaust, which reminded me of Nazi Germany. The book, however, was published in 1896, well before WWII.
Michelle’s
Reply:
This was so very hard to
read about! It's hard to fathom how people could watch the Christians
brutalized in the "games" and see them as entertainment. It's very
disturbing.
On a lighter note, the reconciliation between Chilo and Glaucus was unexpected but touching, wasn't it? I was really glad that it happened.
My
Reply to Michelle:
It was very hard to read
Michelle. The blackness of the Roman people’s hearts to watch and be
entertained by this is chilling. I don’t believe the author is exaggerating. I
do think the Roman people were numb to cruelty.
Chilo surprised me at every turn. I did not expect him to betray the Christians nor convert to Christianity nor stand up for Christianity and accept martyrdom. He was a weak man who was strengthened by the grace of God and did the right thing in the end
Frances’s
Comment:
Over the weekend my
husband and I watched the movie “Gladiator,” which as many of you who saw it
when it first came out about 20 years may remember well. It takes place during
the reign of the Emperor Commodus (177-192 A.D.), while the events in Quo Vadis
occurred during the reign of Nero, around 54-68 A.D. (Christians were
persecuted, tortured and martyred during the first through fourth centuries, as
you doubtless know.)
Two observations: 1).
After seeing the film, I looked up reviews of it.
I was not that surprised
to read in one review that all mention of Jesus and Christianity were
deliberately left out. The hero, played by the actor Russell Crowe, dies a
martyr’s death; the afterlife he goes to resembles the Elysian Fields of
ancient mythology. Above, Manny referred to the blackness of the Roman people’s
hearts, to watch such cruelty as entertainment. This is not apparent in “Gladiator.”
Spectators are watching “the games.” We can deduce their attitudes, but they
aren’t highlighted by the filmmaker.
2) Now go to Tom Holland’s brilliant book, Dominion. In it Holland stresses he was surprised to learn what a savage and alien place the ancient world was. And he discovered there was a certain innocence about the citizens’ callousness: they lived with it, not aware of their attitudes toward savagery and slavery. Caring, sensitivity, respect for human rights: these were the gifts of Christianity. Our culture at large doesn’t recognize that the values of Western civilization trace their roots to early Christianity, but they do. I find it particularly sad that the makers of the movie “Gladiator” chose to ignore this. Quo Vadis did not.
My
Reply to Frances:
Oh I love the movie
Gladiator and caught a scene that same day you were watching Frances. My wife
was watching it. Unfortunately I had to go out.
I think the Roman people were probably mixed on the gladiatorial games. But the fact that they were a big source of entertainment suggests that most supported them. As with anything, repetition without challenge will normalize all sorts of hideous behavior. There are many things in society today that is accepted as normal that would have been disgraceful 100 years ago. You can probably make a list resulting from the sexual revolution.
Kerstin’s
Comment:
I found these scenes very
disturbing too. I actually skipped much of it, it was too much.
From the beginning Sienkiewicz has been very consistent in depicting the Romans as people without the gentling influences of Christianity. It exposes the inner tension that must exist in a person who will love those close to him and not care one whit about anyone else.
###
The
first excerpt I’ll post is from Chapter LXI; Nero, Tigillianus, and Chilo are
walking through Nero’s garden with the Christians hung on poles as human torches.
Darkness had not come
when the first waves of people began to flow into Cæsar's gardens. The crowds,
in holiday costume, crowned with flowers, joyous, singing, and some of them
drunk, were going to look at the new, magnificent spectacle. Shouts of
"Semaxii! Sarmentitii!" were heard on the Via Tecta, on the bridge of
Æmilius, and from the other side of the Tiber, on the Triumphal Way, around the
Circus of Nero, and off towards the Vatican Hill. In Rome people had been seen
burnt on pillars before, but never had any one seen such a number of victims.
Cæsar and Tigellinus,
wishing to finish at once with the Christians and also to avoid infection,
which from the prisons was spreading more and more through the city, had given
command to empty all dungeons, so that there remained in them barely a few tens
of people intended for the close of the spectacles. So, when the crowds had
passed the gates, they were dumb with amazement. All the main and side alleys,
which lay through dense groves and along lawns, thickets, ponds, fields, and
squares filled with flowers, were packed with pillars smeared with pitch, to
which Christians were fastened. In higher places, where the view was not
hindered by trees, one could see whole rows of pillars and bodies decked with
flowers, myrtle, and ivy, extending into the distance on high and low places,
so far that, though the nearest were like masts of ships, the farthest seemed
colored darts, or staffs thrust into the earth. The number of them surpassed
the expectation of the multitude. One might suppose that a whole nation had
been lashed to pillars for Rome's amusement and for Cæsar's. The throng of
spectators stopped before single masts when their curiosity was roused by the
form or the sex of the victim; they looked at the faces, the crowns, the
garlands of ivy; then they went farther and farther, asking themselves with
amazement, "Could there have been so many criminals, or how could children
barely able to walk have set fire to Rome?" and astonishment passed by
degrees into fear.
Meanwhile darkness came,
and the first stars twinkled in the sky. Near each condemned person a slave
took his place, torch in hand; when the sound of trumpets was heard in various
parts of the gardens, in sign that the spectacle was to begin, each slave put
his torch to the foot of a pillar. The straw, hidden under the flowers and
steeped in pitch, burned at once with a bright flame which, increasing every
instant, withered the ivy, and rising embraced the feet of the victims. The
people were silent; the gardens resounded with one immense groan and with cries
of pain. Some victims, however, raising their faces toward the starry sky,
began to sing, praising Christ. The people listened. But the hardest hearts
were filled with terror when, on smaller pillars, children cried with shrill
voices, "Mamma! Mamma!" A shiver ran through even spectators who were
drunk when they saw little heads and innocent faces distorted with pain, or
children fainting in the smoke which began to stifle them. But the flames rose,
and seized new crowns of roses and ivy every instant. The main and side alleys
were illuminated; the groups of trees, the lawns, and the flowery squares were
illuminated; the water in pools and ponds was gleaming, the trembling leaves on
the trees had grown rose-colored, and all was as visible as in daylight. When
the odor of burnt bodies filled the gardens, slaves sprinkled between the
pillars myrrh and aloes prepared purposely. In the crowds were heard here and
there shouts,—whether of sympathy or delight and joy, it was unknown; and they
increased every moment with the fire, which embraced the pillars, climbed to
the breasts of the victims, shrivelled with burning breath the hair on their
heads, threw veils over their blackened faces, and then shot up higher, as if
showing the victory and triumph of that power which had given command to rouse
it.
At the very beginning of
the spectacle Cæsar had appeared among the people in a magnificent quadriga of
the Circus, drawn by four white steeds. He was dressed as a charioteer in the
color of the Greens,—the court party and his. After him followed other chariots
filled with courtiers in brilliant array, senators, priests, bacchantes, naked
and crowned, holding pitchers of wine, and partly drunk, uttering wild shouts.
At the side of these were musicians dressed as fauns and satyrs, who played on
citharas, formingas, flutes, and horns. In other chariots advanced matrons and
maidens of Rome, drunk also and half naked. Around the quadriga ran men who
shook thyrses ornamented with ribbons; others beat drums; others scattered
flowers.
All that brilliant throng
moved forward, shouting, "Evoe!" on the widest road of the garden,
amidst smoke and processions of people. Cæsar, keeping near him Tigellinus and
also Chilo, in whose terror he sought to find amusement, drove the steeds
himself, and, advancing at a walk, looked at the burning bodies, and heard the
shouts of the multitude. Standing on the lofty gilded chariot, surrounded by a
sea of people who bent to his feet, in the glitter of the fire, in the golden
crown of a circus-victor, he was a head above the courtiers and the crowd. He
seemed a giant. His immense arms, stretched forward to hold the reins, seemed
to bless the multitude. There was a smile on his face and in his blinking eyes;
he shone above the throng as a sun or a deity, terrible but commanding and mighty.
At times he stopped to
look with more care at some maiden whose bosom had begun to shrink in the
flames, or at the face of a child distorted by convulsions; and again he drove
on, leading behind him a wild, excited retinue. At times he bowed to the people,
then again he bent backward, drew in the golden reins, and spoke to Tigellinus.
At last, when he had reached the great fountain in the middle of two crossing
streets, he stepped from the quadriga, and, nodding to his attendants, mingled
with the throng.
He was greeted with
shouts and plaudits. The bacchantes, the nymphs, the senators and Augustians,
the priests, the fauns, satyrs, and soldiers surrounded him at once in an
excited circle; but he, with Tigellinus on one side and Chilo on the other,
walked around the fountain, about which were burning some tens of torches;
stopping before each one, he made remarks on the victims, or jeered at the old
Greek, on whose face boundless despair was depicted.
At last he stood before a lofty mast decked with myrtle and ivy. The red tongues of fire had risen only to the knees of the victim; but it was impossible to see his face, for the green burning twigs had covered it with smoke. After a while, however, the light breeze of night turned away the smoke and uncovered the head of a man with gray beard falling on his breast.
###
The
second excerpt is from Chilo’s crucifixion and death in Chapter LXII.
But others spoke of
Chilo.
"What has happened
to him?" asked Eprius Marcellus. "He delivered them himself into the
hands of Tigellinus; from a beggar he became rich; it was possible for him to
live out his days in peace, have a splendid funeral, and a tomb: but, no! All
at once he preferred to lose everything and destroy himself; he must, in truth,
be a maniac."
"Not a maniac, but
he has become a Christian," said Tigellinus.
"Impossible!"
said Vitelius.
"Have I not
said," put in Vestinius, "'Kill Christians if ye like; but believe me
ye cannot war with their divinity. With it there is no jesting'? See what is
taking place. I have not burned Rome; but if Cæsar permitted I would give a
hecatomb at once to their divinity. And all should do the same, for I repeat:
With it there is no jesting! Remember my words to you."
"And I said
something else," added Petronius. "Tigellinus laughed when I said
that they were arming, but I say more,—they are conquering."
"How is that? how is
that?" inquired a number of voices.
"By Pollux, they
are! For if such a man as Chilo could not resist them, who can? If ye think
that after every spectacle the Christians do not increase, become coppersmiths,
or go to shaving beards, for then ye will know better what people think, and
what is happening in the city."
"He speaks pure
truth, by the sacred peplus of Diana," cried Vestinius.
But Barcus turned to
Petronius.
"What is thy
conclusion?"
"I conclude where ye
began,—there has been enough of bloodshed."
Tigellinus looked at him
jeeringly,—"Ei!—a little more!"
"If thy head is not
sufficient, thou hast another on thy cane," said Petronius.
Further conversation was
interrupted by the coming of Cæsar, who occupied his place in company with
Pythagoras. Immediately after began the representation of "Aureolus,"
to which not much attention was paid, for the minds of the audience were fixed
on Chilo. The spectators, familiar with blood and torture, were bored; they
hissed, gave out shouts uncomplimentary to the court, and demanded the bear
scene, which for them was the only thing of interest. Had it not been for gifts
and the hope of seeing Chilo, the spectacle would not have held the audience.
At last the looked-for
moment came. Servants of the Circus brought in first a wooden cross, so low
that a bear standing on his hind feet might reach the martyr's breast; then two
men brought, or rather dragged in, Chilo, for as the bones in his legs were
broken, he was unable to walk alone. They laid him down and nailed him to the
wood so quickly that the curious Augustians had not even a good look at him,
and only after the cross had been fixed in the place prepared for it did all
eyes turn to the victim. But it was a rare person who could recognize in that
naked man the former Chilo. After the tortures which Tigellinus had commanded,
there was not one drop of blood in his face, and only on his white beard was
evident a red trace left by blood after they had torn his tongue out. Through
the transparent skin it was quite possible to see his bones. He seemed far
older also, almost decrepit. Formerly his eyes cast glances ever filled with
disquiet and ill-will, his watchful face reflected constant alarm and
uncertainty; now his face had an expression of pain, but it was as mild and
calm as faces of the sleeping or the dead. Perhaps remembrance of that thief on
the cross whom Christ had forgiven lent him confidence; perhaps, also, he said
in his soul to the merciful God,
"O Lord, I bit like
a venomous worm; but all my life I was unfortunate. I was famishing from
hunger, people trampled on me, beat me, jeered at me. I was poor and very
unhappy, and now they put me to torture and nail me to a cross; but Thou, O
Merciful, wilt not reject me in this hour!" Peace descended evidently into
his crushed heart. No one laughed, for there was in that crucified man
something so calm, he seemed so old, so defenceless, so weak, calling so much
for pity with his lowliness, that each one asked himself unconsciously how it
was possible to torture and nail to crosses men who would die soon in any case.
The crowd was silent. Among the Augustians Vestinius, bending to right and
left, whispered in a terrified voice, "See how they die!" Others were looking for the bear, wishing the
spectacle to end at the earliest.
The bear came into the
arena at last, and, swaying from side to side a head which hung low, he looked
around from beneath his forehead, as if thinking of something or seeking
something. At last he saw the cross and the naked body. He approached it, and
stood on his hind legs; but after a moment he dropped again on his fore-paws,
and sitting under the cross began to growl, as if in his heart of a beast pity
for that remnant of a man had made itself heard.
Cries were heard from
Circus slaves urging on the bear, but the people were silent.
Meanwhile Chilo raised
his head with slow motion, and for a time moved his eyes over the audience. At
last his glance rested somewhere on the highest rows of the amphitheatre; his
breast moved with more life, and something happened which caused wonder and
astonishment. That face became bright with a smile; a ray of light, as it were,
encircled that forehead; his eyes were uplifted before death, and after a while
two great tears which had risen between the lids flowed slowly down his face.
And he died.
At that same moment a
resonant manly voice high up under the velarium exclaimed,—
"Peace to the
martyrs!" Deep silence reigned in the amphitheatre.
This video clip is not from any of the movies but a historical retelling of the events.
As you can see, the novel follows the historical events very closely.
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