ted
horses again, galloping over the great highway to Athens; crossed by
trireme to Ephesus, thence to Antioch by the long sea-road, and,
agreeably with orders, they began to leave their men at forts along the
frontier.

Events on the way filled him with contempt for his country and for
himself. Here and there he met people travelling under imperial passes
that gave them the use of the road and a right of free levy for
subsistence, often much abused. These travellers were people of
leisure from the large cities, wont to stretch their power to the point
of robbery. He saw them seizing slaves and cattle from terrified
agrarians; he saw Manius strike a man down for resenting insults to his
daughter; he saw the deadly toil of the oarsmen, the bitter punishment
of the cross.

His heart was now sore and sensitive. Was it the new love which had
flung off its shield of sternness and left it exposed to every lash
that flew? The misery of others afflicted him. Thoughts of injustice
grew into motives of action, the loss of faith into the gain of
unutterable longing. Who were these gods who heard not the cry of the
weak and were ever on the side of the strong? Were they only in those
hands of power that flung their levin from the Palatine? Could he, who
had learned to love innocence and purity, love also the foul harpy
which Rome had become? It seemed to him difficult to reconcile the
love of Arria and the love of Rome. Was the time not, indeed, overdue
when the wicked should tremble and the proud should bow themselves,
according to that song of the slave-girl?

From Antioch they turned southward, passing the cloistered plain paved
with polished marble, and hurried to Damascus. Thence they rode to
Jerusalem. The troop had dwindled to a squad of six, and came slowly
into the ancient capital at dawn. From afar they could hear bugles at
the castle of Antonia.

"They are changing the guard," Manius remarked.

Having entered the city gates, they passed throngs of cattle and their
drivers and many worshippers hurrying to the temple. One of the latter
stopped, and, pointing to the eagles and the medallion of Augustus on
their signa, shouted loudly:

"I thank Thee, O God, and the God of my fathers, that I am not of them
who provoke Thine anger with the graven image."

A chant of many voices from the temple roof floated over the plain,
saying:

"The light has come as far as Hebron."

Vergilius turned, looking up