these profane wretches?'

'The Christians! They must be seen to. I will consider. Now, Fronto,
shall I fill to the brim the cup of human glory. Now shall Rome by me
vindicate her lost honor and wipe off the foulest stain that since the
time of Romulus has darkened her annals.'

'You will do yourself and the empire,' rejoined the priest, 'immortal
honor. If danger ever threatened the very existence of the state it is
now from the secret machinations of this god-denying tribe.'

'I spake of the East and of Valerian, Fronto. Syria is now Rome's.
Palmyra, that mushroom of a day, is level with the ground. Her life is
out. She will be hereafter known but by the fame of her past greatness,
of her matchless Queen, and the glory of the victories that crowned the
arms of Aurelian. What now remains but Persia?'

'The Christians,' said the priest, shortly and bitterly.

'You are right, Fronto; the omens are not to be read otherwise. It is
against them they point. It shall be maturely weighed what shall be
done. When Persia is swept from the field, and Ctesiphon lies as low as
Palmyra, then will I restore the honor of the gods, and let who will
dare to worship other than as I shall ordain! Whoever worships them not,
or other than them, shall die.'

'In that spoke the chief minister of religion--the representative of the
gods. The piety of Aurelian is in the mouths of men not less than his
glory. The city resounds with the praise of him who has enriched the
temples, erected new ones, made ample provision for the priesthood, and
fed the poor. This is the best greatness. Posterity will rather honor
and remember him who saved them their faith, than him who gained a
Persian victory. The victory for Religion too is to be had without cost,
without a step taken from the palace gate or from the side of her who
is alike Aurelian's and the empire's boast.'

'Nay, nay, Fronto, you are over-zealous. This eastern purpose admits not
of delay. Hormisdas is new in his power. The people are restless and
divided. The present is the moment of success. It cannot bear delay.
To-morrow, could it be so, would I start for Thrace. The heavens are
propitious. They frown no longer.'

'The likeliest way, methinks,' replied the priest, 'to insure success
and the continued favor of the gods in that which they do not forbid,
were first to fulfil their commands in what they have enjoined.'

'That, Fronto, cannot be denied. It is of weight. But where, of t