BOOK
FOURTH
"Alva.
Should the monarch prove unjust -
And, at this time -
Queen.
Then I must wait for justice
Until it come; and they are happiest far
Whose consciences may calmly wait their
right."
Schiller, Don Carlos
(act iv., sc. xv.)
CHAPTER I
The month to
which we now come is July, the year that of our Lord 29, and the place Antioch,
then Queen of the East, and next to Rome the strongest, if not the most
populous, city in the world.
There is an
opinion that the extravagance and dissoluteness of the age had their origin in
Rome, and spread thence throughout the empire; that the great cities but
reflected the manners of their mistress on the Tiber. This may be doubted. The
reaction of the conquest would seem to have been upon the morals of the
conqueror. In Greece she found a spring of corruption; so also in Egypt; and
the student, having exhausted the subject, will close the books assured that
the flow of the demoralizing river was from the East westwardly, and that this
very city of Antioch, one of the oldest seats of Assyrian power and splendor,
was a principal source of the deadly stream.
A transport
galley entered the mouth of the river Orontes from the blue waters of the sea.
It was in the forenoon. The heat was great, yet all on board who could avail
themselves of the privilege were on deck - Ben-Hur among others.
The five years
had brought the young Jew to perfect manhood. Though the robe of white linen in
which he was attired somewhat masked his form, his appearance was unusually
attractive. For an hour and more he had occupied a seat in the shade of the
sail, and in that time several fellow-passengers of his own nationality had
tried to engage him in conversation, but without avail. His replies to their
questions had been brief, though gravely courteous, and in the Latin tongue.
The purity of his speech, his cultivated manners, his reticence, served to
stimulate their curiosity the more. Such as observed him closely were struck by
an incongruity between his demeanor, which had the ease and grace of a
patrician, and certain points of his person. Thus his arms were
disproportionately long; and when, to steady himself against the motion of the
vessel, he took hold of anything near by, the size of his hands and their
evident power compelled remark; so the wonder who and what he was mixed
continually with a wish to know the particulars of his life. In other words,
his air cannot be better described than as a notice - This man has a story to
tell.
The galley, in
coming, had stopped at one of the ports of Cyprus, and picked up a Hebrew of
most respectable appearance, quiet, reserved, paternal. Ben-Hur ventured to ask
him some questions; the replies won his confidence, and resulted finally in an
extended conversation.
It chanced also
that as the galley from Cyprus entered the receiving bay of the Orontes, two
other vessels which had been sighted out in the sea met it and passed into the
river at the same time; and as they did so both the strangers threw out small
flags of brightest yellow. There was much conjecture as to the meaning of the
signals. At length a passenger addressed himself to the respectable Hebrew for
information upon the subject.
"Yes, I know
the meaning of the flags," he replied; "they do not signify
nationality - they are merely marks of ownership."
"Has the
owner many ships?"
"He
has."
"You know
him?"
"I have
dealt with him."
The passengers
looked at the speaker as if requesting him to go on. Ben-Hur listened with
interest.
"He lives in
Antioch," the Hebrew continued, in his quiet way. "That he is vastly
rich has brought him into notice, and the talk about him is not always kind.
There used to be in Jerusalem a prince of very ancient family named Hur."
Judah strove to
be composed, yet his heart beat quicker.
"The prince
was a merchant, with a genius for business. He set on foot many enterprises,
some reaching far East, others West. In the great cities he had branch houses.
The one in Antioch was in charge of a man said by some to have been a family
servant called Simonides, Greek in name, yet an Israelite. The master was
drowned at sea. His business, however, went on, and was scarcely less
prosperous. After a while misfortune overtook the family. The prince's only
son, nearly grown, tried to kill the procurator Gratus in one of the streets of
Jerusalem. He failed by a narrow chance, and has not since been heard of. In
fact, the Roman's rage took in the whole house - not one of the name was left
alive. Their palace was sealed up, and is now a rookery for pigeons; the estate
was confiscated; everything that could be traced to the ownership of the Hurs
was confiscated. The procurator cured his hurt with a golden salve."
The passengers
laughed.
"You mean he
kept the property," said one of them.
"They say
so," the Hebrew replied; "I am only telling a story as I received it.
And, to go on, Simonides, who had been the prince's agent here in Antioch,
opened trade in a short time on his own account, and in a space incredibly
brief became the master merchant of the city. In imitation of his master, he
sent caravans to India; and on the sea at present he has galleys enough to make
a royal fleet. They say nothing goes amiss with him. His camels do not die,
except of old age; his ships never founder; if he throw a chip into the river,
it will come back to him gold."
"How long
has he been going on thus?"
"Not ten
years."
"He must
have had a good start."
"Yes, they say the procurator took only the prince's property
ready at hand - his horses, cattle, houses, land, vessels, goods. The money
could not be found, though there must have been vast sums of it. What became of
it has been an unsolved mystery."
"Not to
me," said a passenger, with a sneer.
"I
understand you," the Hebrew answered. "Others have had your idea.
That it furnished old Simonides his start is a common belief. The procurator is
of that opinion - or he has been - for twice in five years he has caught the
merchant, and put him to torture."
Judah griped the
rope he was holding with crushing force.
"It is
said," the narrator continued, "that there is not a sound bone in the
man's body. The last time I saw him he sat in a chair, a shapeless cripple,
propped against cushions."
"So
tortured!" exclaimed several listeners in a breath.
"Disease
could not have produced such a deformity. Still the suffering made no
impression upon him. All he had was his lawfully, and he was making lawful use
of it - that was the most they wrung from him. Now, however, he is past
persecution. He has a license to trade signed by Tiberius himself."
"He paid
roundly for it, I warrant."
"These ships
are his," the Hebrew continued, passing the remark. "It is a custom
among his sailors to salute each other upon meeting by throwing out yellow
flags, sight of which is as much as to say, 'We have had a fortunate
voyage.'"
The story ended
there.
When the
transport was fairly in the channel of the river, Judah spoke to the Hebrew.
"What was
the name of the merchant's master?"
"Ben-Hur,
Prince of Jerusalem."
"What became
of the prince's family?"
"The boy was
sent to the galleys. I may say he is dead. One year is the ordinary limit of
life under that sentence. The widow and daughter have not been heard of; those
who know what became of them will not speak. They died doubtless in the cells
of one of the castles which spot the waysides of Judea."
Judah walked to
the pilot's quarter. So absorbed was he in thought that he scarcely noticed the
shores of the river, which from sea to city were surpassingly beautiful with
orchards of all the Syrian fruits and vines, clustered about villas rich as
those of Neapolis. No more did he observe the vessels passing in an endless
fleet, nor hear the singing and shouting of the sailors, some in labor, some in
merriment. The sky was full of sunlight, lying in hazy warmth upon the land and
the water; nowhere except over his life was there a shadow.
Once only he
awoke to a momentary interest, and that was when some one pointed out the Grove
of Daphne, discernible from a bend in the river.
CHAPTER II
When the city
came into view, the passengers were on deck, eager that nothing of the scene
might escape them. The respectable Jew already introduced to the reader was the
principal spokesman.
"The river
here runs to the west," he said, in the way of general answer. "I
remember when it washed the base of the walls; but as Roman subjects we have
lived in peace, and, as always happens in such times, trade has had its will;
now the whole river front is taken up with wharves and docks. Yonder" -
the speaker pointed southward -”is Mount Casius, or, as these people love to
call it, the Mountains of Orontes, looking across to its brother Amnus in the
north; and between them lies the Plain of Antioch. Farther on are the Black
Mountains, whence the Ducts of the Kings bring the purest water to wash the
thirsty streets and people; yet they are forests in wilderness state, dense,
and full of birds and beasts."
"Where is
the lake?" one asked.
"Over north
there. You can take horse, if you wish to see it - or, better, a boat, for a
tributary connects it with the river."
"The Grove
of Daphne!" he said, to a third inquirer. "Nobody can describe it;
only beware! It was begun by Apollo, and completed by him. He prefers it to
Olympus. People go there for one look - just one - and never come away. They
have a saying which tells it all - 'Better be a worm and feed on the mulberries
of Daphne than a king's guest.'"
"Then you
advise me to stay away from it?"
"Not I! Go
you will. Everybody goes, cynic philosopher, virile boy, women, and priests -
all go. So sure am I of what you will do that I assume to advise you. Do not
take quarters in the city - that will be loss of time; but go at once to the
village in the edge of the grove. The way is through a garden, under the spray
of fountains. The lovers of the god and his Penaean maid built the town; and in
its porticos and paths and thousand retreats you will find characters and
habits and sweets and kinds elsewhere impossible. But the wall of the city!
there it is, the masterpiece of Xeraeus, the master of mural
architecture."
All eyes followed
his pointing finger.
"This part
was raised by order of the first of the Seleucidae. Three hundred years have
made it part of the rock it rests upon."
The defense
justified the encomium. High, solid, and with many bold angles, it curved
southwardly out of view.
"On the top
there are four hundred towers, each a reservoir of water," the Hebrew
continued. "Look now! Over the wall, tall as it is, see in the distance
two hills, which you may know as the rival crests of Sulpius. The structure on
the farthest one is the citadel, garrisoned all the year round by a Roman
legion. Opposite it this way rises the Temple of Jupiter, and under that the
front of the legate's residence - a palace full of offices, and yet a fortress
against which a mob would dash harmlessly as a south wind."
At this point the
sailors began taking in sail, whereupon the Hebrew exclaimed, heartily,
"See! you who hate the sea, and you who have vows, get ready your curses
and your prayers. The bridge yonder, over which the road to Seleucia is
carried, marks the limit of navigation. What the ship unloads for further
transit, the camel takes up there. Above the bridge begins the island upon
which Calinicus built his new city, connecting it with five great viaducts so
solid time has made no impression upon them, nor floods nor earthquakes. Of the
main town, my friends, I have only to say you will be happier all your lives
for having seen it."
As he concluded,
the ship turned and made slowly for her wharf under the wall, bringing even
more fairly to view the life with which the river at that point was possessed.
Finally, the lines were thrown, the oars shipped, and the voyage was done. Then
Ben-Hur sought the respectable Hebrew.
"Let me
trouble you a moment before saying farewell."
The man bowed
assent.
"Your story
of the merchant has made me curious to see him. You called him Simonides?"
"Yes. He is
a Jew with a Greek name."
"Where is he
to be found?"
The acquaintance
gave a sharp look before he answered,
"I may save
you mortification. He is not a money-lender."
"Nor am I a
money-borrower," said Ben-Hur, smiling at the other's shrewdness.
The man raised
his head and considered an instant.
"One would
think," he then replied, "that the richest merchant in Antioch would
have a house for business corresponding to his wealth; but if you would find
him in the day, follow the river to yon bridge, under which he quarters in a
building that looks like a buttress of the wall. Before the door there is an
immense landing, always covered with cargoes come and to go. The fleet that
lies moored there is his. You cannot fail to find him."
"I give you
thanks."
"The peace
of our fathers go with you."
"And with
you."
With that they
separated.
Two
street-porters, loaded with his baggage, received Ben-Hur's orders upon the
wharf.
"To the
citadel," he said; a direction which implied an official military
connection.
Two great
streets, cutting each other at right angles, divided the city into quarters. A
curious and immense structure, called the Nymphaeum, arose at the foot of the
one running north and south. When the porters turned south there, the
new-comer, though fresh from Rome, was amazed at the magnificence of the
avenue. On the right and left there were palaces, and between them extended
indefinitely double colonnades of marble, leaving separate ways for footmen,
beasts, and chariots; the whole under shade, and cooled by fountains of
incessant flow.
Ben-Hur was not
in mood to enjoy the spectacle. The story of Simonides haunted him. Arrived at
the Omphalus - a monument of four arches wide as the streets, superbly
illustrated, and erected to himself by Epiphanes, the eighth of the Seleucidae
- he suddenly changed his mind.
"I will not
go to the citadel to-night," he said to the porters. "Take me to the
khan nearest the bridge on the road to Seleucia."
The party faced
about, and in good time he was deposited in a public house of primitive but
ample construction, within stone's-throw of the bridge under which old
Simonides had his quarters. He lay upon the house-top through the night. In his
inner mind lived the thought, "Now - now I will hear of home - and mother
- and the dear little Tirzah. If they are on earth, I will find them."
