The Project Gutenberg EBook of Quo Vadis, by Henryk Sienkiewicz

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Title: Quo Vadis
A Narrative of the Time of Nero

Author: Henryk Sienkiewicz

Translator: Jeremiah Curtin

Posting Date: December 31, 2008 [EBook #2853]
Release Date: October, 2001

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK QUO VADIS ***

Produced by David Reed

QUO VADIS

A NARRATIVE OF THE TIME OF NERO

by Henryk Sienkiewicz

Translated from the Polish by Jeremiah Curtin

TO AUGUSTE COMTE,

Of San Francisco, Cal.,

MY DEAR FRIEND AND CLASSMATE, I BEG TO DEDICATE THIS VOLUME.

JEREMIAH CURTIN

INTRODUCTORY

IN the trilogy "With Fire and Sword," "The Deluge," and "Pan Michael,"
Sienkiewicz has given pictures of a great and decisive epoch in modern
history. The results of the struggle begun under Bogdan Hmelnitski have
been felt for more than two centuries, and they are growing daily in
importance. The Russia which rose out of that struggle has become a
power not only of European but of world-wide significance, and, to all
human seeming, she is yet in an early stage of her career.

In "Quo Vadis" the author gives us pictures of opening scenes in the
conflict of moral ideas with the Roman Empire,--a conflict from which
Christianity issued as the leading force in history.

The Slays are not so well known to Western Europe or to us as they
are sure to be in the near future; hence the trilogy, with all its
popularity and merit, is not appreciated yet as it will be.

The conflict described in "Quo Vadis" is of supreme interest to a vast
number of persons reading English; and this book will rouse, I think,
more attention at first than anything written by Sienkiewicz hitherto.

JEREMIAH CURTIN

ILOM, NORTHERN GUATEMALA,

June, 1896

QUO VADIS

Quo Vadis A Narrative of the Time of Nero

Chapter I

PETRONIUS woke only about midday, and as usual greatly wearied. The
evening before he had been at one of Nero's feasts, which was prolonged
till late at night. For some time his health had been failing. He said
himself that he woke up benumbed, as it were, and without