Complete Works of Henrik Ibsen (158 page)

MAXIMUS.
You stand quite alone. Your whole army is either in headlong flight, or lying slain around you. Sound the battle-call, — and none will hear you; advance, — and none will follow you! Dream not that you can do anything for a cause which has despaired of itself. You will be beaten, I tell you! And where will you turn then? Disowned by Constantius, you will be disowned by all other powers on earth, — and over the earth. Or will you flee to the Galilean’s bosom? How stands the account between you and him? Did you not own, a moment ago, that you are under the terror? Have you his commands within you? Do you love your enemy, Constantius, even if you do not smite him? Do you hate the lusts of the flesh or the alluring joys of this world, even if you do not, like a heated swimmer, plunge into their depths? Do you renounce the world, because you have not courage to make it your own? And are you so very sure that — if you die here — you shall live yonder?

JULIAN.
[Pacing to and fro
.] What has he done for me, he who exacts so much? If he hold the reins of the world-chariot in his hands, it must have been within his power to —
[The psalm-singing in the church becomes louder.
Listen, listen! They call that serving him. And he accepts it as a sweet-smelling sacrifice. Praise of himself, — and praise of her in the coffin! If he be omniscient, how then can he — ?

THE CHAMBERLAIN EUTHERIUS.
[Coming hastily down through the passage on the left
.] My Caesar! My lord, my lord; where are you?

JULIAN.
Here, Eutherius? What would you with me?

EUTHERIUS.
You must come up, my lord; — you must see it with your own eyes; — the Princess’s body is working miracles.

JULIAN.
You lie I

EUTHERIUS.
I do not lie, my lord! I am no believer in this foreign doctrine; but what I have seen I cannot doubt

JULIAN, What have you seen?

EUTHERIUS.
The whole town is in a frenzy They are bearing the sick and crippled to the Princess’s bier; the priests let them touch it, and they go away healed.

JULIAN.
And this you yourself have seen?

EUTHERIUS.
Yes, my lord; I saw an epileptic woman go forth from the church healed, praising the Galileans’ God.

JULIAN.
Ah, Maximus, Maximus!

EUTHERIUS.
Hark, how the Christians exult; — some fresh miracle must have happened.

THE PHYSICIAN ORIBASES.
[
Calling out in the passage to the left
.] Eutherius, — have you found him? Eutherius, Eutherius, where is Caesar?

JULIAN.
[Meeting him.]
Here, here; — is it true, Oribases?

ORIBASES.
[Coming forward.]
Incredible, inexplicable, — and yet true; they touch the bier, the priests read and pray over them, and they are healed; from time to time a voice proclaims: “Holy, holy, is the pure woman!”

JULIAN.
A voice proclaims — ?

ORIBASES.
The voice of one invisible, my Caesar; a voice high up under the vaultings of the church — ; no man knows whence it comes.

JULIAN.
[Stands a moment immovable, then turns suddenly to
Maximus,
and cries
;] Life or the lie!

MAXIMUS.
Choose!

ORIBASES.
Come, come, my lord; the awe-stricken soldiers threaten you —

JULIAN.
Let them threaten.

ORIBASES.
They accuse you and me of the Princess’s death ——

JULIAN.
I will come; I will satisfy them —

ORIBASES.
There is only one way: you must turn their thoughts in another direction, my lord; — they are wild with despair over the fate awaiting them if you delay any longer.

MAXIMUS.
Now go to heaven, thou fool; now die for thy Lord and Master!

JULIAN.
[Grasping him by the arm
.] The Emperor’s empire for me!

MAXIMUS.
Achilles!

JULIAN.
What looses the covenant?

MAXIMUS.
[Handing him the sacrificial knife.]
This.

JULIAN.
What washes the water away?

MAXIMUS.
The blood of the sacrifice.
[He tears off the fillet from his own brow, and fastens it round Caesar’s,

ORIBASES.
[Drawing nearer
.] What is your purpose, my lord?

JULIAN.
Ask not.

EUTHERIUS.
Hark to the clamour! Up, up, my Caesar! Julian. First down, — then up. [
To
Maximus.] The sanctuary, my beloved brother — ?

MAXIMUS.
Straight below, in the second vault.

ORIBASES.
Caesar, Caesar, — whither are you going? Maximus. To freedom.

JULIAN.
Through darkness to light. Ah — !
[He descends into the lower galleries.

MAXIMUS.
[Softly, looking after him.]
So it has come at last! Eutherius.
Speak, speak; what mean these hidden arts? Oribases. And now, when every instant is precious —

MAXIMUS.
[
Whispering uneasily, as he shifts his place.]
These gliding, clammy shadows! Faugh! The slimy things crawling underfoot — !

ORIBASES.
[
Listening
.] The turmoil waxes, Eutherius! It is the soldiers; listen, listen!

EUTHERIUS.
It is the song in the church —

ORIBASES.
No, ‘tis the soldiers! — here they come!
The Knight
Sallust
appears tip in the gallery, surrounded by a great crowd of excited soldiers. The Standard-Bearer
Maurus
is amongst them.

SALLUST.
Be reasonable, I entreat you — !

THE SOLDIERS.
Caesar has betrayed us! Caesar shall die!

SALLUST.
And what then, madmen!

MAURUS.
What then? With Caesar’s head we will buy forgiveness —

THE SOLDIERS.
Come forth, come forth, Caesar!

SALLUST.
Caesar, — my Caesar, where are you?

JULIAN.
[
Calling out, in the vault underneath
.] Helios! Helios!

MAXIMUS.
Free!

THE CHOIR IN THE CHURCH ABOVE.
Our Father which art in heaven!

SALLUST.
Where is he? Eutherius, Oribases, — what is here afoot?

THE CHOIR.
[In the church
.] Hallowed be Thy name!

JULIAN.
[Comes up the steps; he has blood on his forehead, on his breast, and on his hands.
] It is finished

THE SOLDIERS.
Caesar!

SALLUST.
Blood-stained — ! What have you done?

JULIAN.
Cloven the mists of terror.

MAXIMUS.
Creation lies in your hand.

THE CHOIR.
[In the church
.] Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven!
[The chant continues during what follow
s.

JULIAN.
Now Constantius has no longer a bodyguard.

MAURUS.
What say you, my lord?

JULIAN.
Ah! My faithful ones! Up into the daylight to Rome, and to Greece!

THE SOLDIERS.
Long live the Emperor Julian!

JULIAN.
We will not look back; all ways lie open before us. Up into the daylight! Through the church! The liars shall be silenced — !
[He rushes up the steps in the background.
The army mine, the treasure mine, the throne mine!

THE CHOIR.
[In the church.]
Lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil! [JULIAN THROWS
wide the doors, revealing the brightly-lighted interior of the church. The priests stand before the high altar; crowds of worshippers kneel below, around the Princess’s bier.

JULIAN.
Free, free! Mine is the kingdom!

SALLUST.
[Calls to him.]
And the power and the glory! The Choir.
[In the church.]
Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory ——

JULIAN.
[Dazzled by the light.]
Ah!

MAXIMUS.
Victory!

THE CHOIR.
[In the church
.] — For ever and ever, amen!

PART II. THE EMPEROR JULIA
N

CHARACTERS.

THE EMPEROR JULIAN.

NEVITA,
a general.

POTAMON,
a goldsmith.

CAESARIUS OF NAZIANZUS,
court physician.

THEMISTIUS,
an orator.

MAMERTINUS,
an orator.

URSULUS,
treasurer.

EUNAPIUS,
a barber.

BARBARA,
a procuress.

HEKEBOLIUS,
a theologian.

Courtiers and Officers of State.

Citizens of Constantinople.

People taking part in the procession of Dionysus, flute-players, dancers, jugglers
,
and women.

Envoys from Eastern Kings.

THE CHAMBERLAIN EUTHERIUS.

Servants of the palace.

Judges, orators, teachers
,
and citizens of Antioch.

MEDON,
a corn-dealer.

MALCHUS,
a tax-gatherer.

GREGORY OF NAZIANZUS,
Caesarius’s brother.

PHOCION,
a dyer.

PUBLIA,
a woman of Antioch.

HlLARION,
son of Publia.

AGATHON OF CAPPADOCIA.

MARIS,
Bishop of Chalcedon.

People taking part in the procession of Apollo, priests, servants of the temple, harp-players and watchmen of the city.

Agathon’s younger brother.

A procession of Christian prisoners.

HERACLIUS,
a poet.

ORIBASES,
court physician.

LIKANIUS,
an orator, and chief magistrate of Antioch.

APOLLINARIS,
a hymn writer.

CYRILLUS,
a teacher.

An old priest of Cybele.

Psalm-fingers of Antioch.

FROMENTINUS,
a captain.

JOVIAN,
a general.

MAXIMUS the Mystic.

NUMA,
a soothsayer.

Two other Etruscan soothsayers.

PRINCE HORMISDAS,
a Persian exile.

ANATOLUS,
captain of the lifeguard.

PRISCUS,
a philosopher.

KYTRON,
a philosopher.

AMMIAN,
a captain.

BASIL OF CAESAREA.

MAKRINA,
his sister.

A Persian deserter.

Roman and Greek soldiers.

Persian warriors.

ACT FIRST
.

SCENE FIRST.

 
The port of Constantinople. In the foreground to the right, a richly-decorated, landing-stage, spread with carpets. On the elevated quay, at a little distance from the landing-stage, is seen a veiled stone, surrounded by a guard. Far out on the Bosphorus lies the imperial fleet, hung with flags of mourning. A countless multitude, in boats and on the beach. Near the end of the landing-stage stands the
Emperor Julian,
robed in purple and decked with golden ornaments. He is surrounded by
Courtiers
and
High Officers of State.
Among those standing nearest to him are
Nevita,
the commander of the forces, and the court physician,
Caesarius,
together with the orators,
Themistius
and
Mamertinus.

JULIAN.
[Looking out over the water
What a meeting! The dead Emperor and the living. — Alas that he should have drawn his last breath in such distant regions! Alas that, in spite of all ray haste, I should not have had the sweet consolation of embracing my kinsman for the last time! A bitter lot for both of us! — Where is the ship with the body?

NEVITA.
There it comes.

JULIAN.
That long boat?

NEVITA.
Yes, most gracious Emperor.

JULIAN.
My poor kinsman! So great in life; and now to have to content you with so low a roof! Now you will not strike your forehead against the coffin lid, you who bowed your head in riding through the Arch of Constantine.

A CITIZEN AMONG THE SPECTATORS.
[To the Goldsmith
Potamon.] How young he looks, our new Emperor!

POTAMON.
But he has grown more stalwart. When I last saw him he was a lean stripling; that is now nine or ten years ago.

ANOTHER CITIZEN.
Ay, he has done great things in those years.

A WOMAN.
And all the dangers he has passed through, ever since his childhood! A Priest. Marvellously has he been shielded from them ail; the hand of heaven is over him.

POTAMON.
Rumour says that in Gaul he placed himself in very different hands.

THE PRIEST.
Lies, lies; you may depend upon it.

JULIAN.
Now he comes. The Sun, whom I invoke, and the great thunder-wielding God, know that I never desired Constantius’s death. That was far indeed from being my wish. I have offered up prayers for his life. — Tell me, Caesarius, — you must know best, — have they shown all due honour, on the journey, to the imperial corpse?

CAESARIUS.
The funeral procession was like a conqueror’s triumph through the whole of Asia Minor. In every town we traversed, believers thronged the streets; through whole nights the churches echoed with prayers and hymns; thousands of burning tapers transformed the darkness into high noon —

JULIAN.
Good, good, good! — I am seized with an unspeakable misgiving at the thought of taking the helm of state after so great and virtuous and well beloved an Emperor. Why was it not my lot to live in peaceful retirement?

MAMERTINUS.
And who could have sufficed to this high and difficult calling so completely as you, incomparable lord? I call fearlessly to all those others who have aspired to the empire: Come, then, and take the helm of government; but take it as Julian takes it. Be on the alert night and day for the common welfare. Be masters in name, and yet servants to civic freedom. Choose the foremost places in battle, and not at the feasts. Take nothing for yourselves, but lavish gifts upon all. Let your justice be equally remote from laxity and from inhumanity. Live so that no virgin on earth shall wring her hands because of you. Bid defiance — both to impenetrable Gaul, and inhospitable Germany. What would they answer? Appalled by such stern conditions, they would stop their effeminate ears, and cry:
“
Only a Julian is equal to such a task!”

JULIAN.
The Omnipotent grant that such high hopes may not be disappointed. But how great are my shortcomings! A shudder comes over me. To affront comparison with Alexander, Marcus Aurelius, and so many other illustrious princes! Has not Plato said that only a god can rule over men? Oh pray with me that I may escape the snares of ambition and the temptations of power. Athens, Athens! Thither my longings turn! I was as a man taking reasonable exercise for the sake of his health; — and now, they come and say to me,
“
Go forth into the arena, and conquer in the Olympian games. The eyes of all Greece are upon you!” May I not well be panic-stricken even before the contest begins?

THEMISTIUS.
Panic-stricken, oh Emperor? Have you not already the applause of Greece? Are you not come to reinstate all exiled virtues in their ancient rights? Do we not find concentred in you all the victorious genius of Herakles, of Dionysus, of Solon, of —

JULIAN.
Hush! Only the praise of the dead shall be heard to-day. The boat has reached the wharf. Take my crown and my chains; I will not wear the insignia of empire at such a time as this.
[He hands the ornaments to one of the bystanders. The funeral procession advances along the landing-stage, with great pomp. Priests with lighted candles walk at its head; the coffin is drawn on a low wheeled carriage; church banners are borne before and after the carriage; choristers swing censers; crowds of Christian citizens follow after.

JULIAN.
[Laying his hand on the coffin, and sighing audibly
.] Ah! — A Spectator. Did he cross himself?

ANOTHER IN THE CROWD.
No.

THE FIRST.
You see; you see! A Third Spectator. And he did not bow before the sacred image.

THE FIRST.
[To the second
.] You see! What did I tell you?

JULIAN.
Pass onward to thy home, amid pomp and honour, soulless body of my kinsman! I make not this dust answerable for the wrongs thy spirit did me. What do I say? Was it thy spirit that dealt so hardly with my house, that I alone am left? Was it thy spirit that caused my childhood to be darkened with a thousand terrors? Was it thy spirit that bade fall that noble Caesar’s head? Was it thou who didst allot to me, an untried stripling, so difficult a post in inhospitable Gaul, and afterwards, when disaffection and mischance had failed to crush me, didst seek to rob me of the honour of my victories? Oh Constantius, my kinsman, — not from thy great heart did all this spring. Wherefore didst thou writhe in remorse and anguish; why didst thou see gory shades around thee, on thy last bed of pain? Evil councillors embittered thy life and thy death. I know them, these councillors; they were men who took hurt from living in the ceaseless sunshine of thy favour. I know them, these men, who so obsequiously clothed themselves in that garb of faith, which was most in favour at court.

HEATHEN CITIZENS.
[Among the spectators
.] Long live the Emperor Julian!

CAESARIUS.
Most gracious lord, the procession waits —

JULIAN.
[To the priests.]
Stay not your pious hymns on my account. Forward, my friends!
[The procession passes slowly out to the left.
Follow whoso will, and remain whoso will. But this you shall all know to-day, that my place is here.
[Uneasiness and movement in the crowd.
What am I? The Emperor. But in saying that, have I said all? Is there not one imperial office, which seems to have been shamefully wiped out of remembrance in these later years? What was that crowned philosopher, Marcus Aurelius? Emperor? Only Emperor? I could almost ask: was he not something more than Emperor? Was he not also the Supreme Pontiff?

VOICES IN THE CROWD.
What says the Emperor? What was that? What did he say?

THEMISTIUS.
Oh sire, is it indeed your purpose ——
 
—— ?

JULIAN.
Not even my uncle Constantine the Great dared to renounce this dignity. Even after he had conceded to a certain new doctrine such very extraordinary privileges, he was still called the Chief Priest by all who held fast to the ancient divinities of the Grecian race. I will not here enlarge upon the melancholy disuse into which this office has fallen of late years, but will merely remark that none of my exalted predecessors, not even he to whom, with tear-stained faces, we to-day bid our last farewell, has dared to reject it. Should I presume to take any step which so wise and just emperors did not deem right or expedient? Far be it from me!

THEMISTIUS.
Oh great Emperor, mean you by this — ?

JULIAN.
I mean by this, that there shall be perfect freedom for all citizens. Cling to the Christians’ God, you who find it conduce to your souls’ repose. As for me, I dare not build my hopes on a god who has hitherto been my foe in all my undertakings. I know by infallible signs and tokens that the victories I won on the Gallic frontier I owe to those other divinities who favoured Alexander in a somewhat similar way. Under watch and ward of these divinities, I passed unscathed through all dangers; and, in especial, it was they who furthered my journey hither with such marvellous speed and success that, as I gathered from cries in the streets, some people have come to look upon me as a divine being, — which is a great exaggeration, my friends! But certain it is, that I dare not show myself ungrateful for such untiring proofs of favour.

VOICES IN THE CROWD.
[Subdued.]
What is he going to do?

JULIAN.
Therefore, I restore to their pristine rights the venerable Gods of our forefathers. But no injury shall be done to the God of the Galileans, nor to the God of the Jews. The temples, which pious rulers of old erected with such admirable art, shall rise again in rejuvenated splendour, with altars and statues, each for its especial God, so that seemly worship may once more be offered them. But I will by no means tolerate any vengeful assaults upon the churches of the Christians; neither shall their graveyards be molested, nor any other places which a strange delusion leads them to regard as sacred. We will bear with the errors of others; I myself have laboured under illusions; — but over that I cast a veil. What I have thought upon things divine since my one and-twentieth year, I will not now dwell upon; I will only say that I congratulate those who follow my example, — that I smile at those who will not tread in my footsteps, — that I will doubtless try to persuade, but will not coerce any one.
[He stops a moment expectantly; feeble applause is heard here and there among the crowd. He continues with more warmth.
I had reckoned, not unreasonably, on grateful acclamations, where I find only wondering curiosity. Yet I ought to have known it; — there reigns a deplorable indifference among those who profess to hold fast to our ancient faith. Oppression and mockery have caused us to forget the venerable rites of our forefathers. I have inquired high and low, but scarcely a single person have I found who could speak with authority as to the ceremonies to be observed in sacrificing to Apollo or Fortuna. I must take the lead in this, as in other matters. It has cost me many sleepless nights to search out in the ancient records what tradition prescribes in such cases; but I do not complain when I remember how much we owe to these very divinities; nor am I ashamed to do everything with my own hands — Whither away, Caesarius?

CAESARIUS.
To the church, most gracious Emperor; I would pray for the soul of my departed master.

JULIAN.
Go, go! In these matters every one is free. [Caesarius,
with several of the older courtiers and officers of state, goes out to the left.
But the freedom I concede to the meanest citizen, I claim for myself as well. ——
 
— Be it known, therefore, to you all, Greeks and Romans, that I return with my whole heart to the beliefs and rites which our forefathers held sacred, — that they may be freely propagated and exercised, no less than all new and foreign opinions; — and as I am a son of this city, and therefore hold it pre-eminently dear, this I proclaim in the name of its guardian deities. [Julian
gives a sign; some of the attendants withdraw the veil from the stone: an altar is seen, and
,
at its base
,
a flagon of wine
,
a cruse of oil, a little heap of wood, and other appurtenances. Strong but speechless emotion in the multitude, as
Julian
goes up to the altar, and prepares for the offering.

THEMISTIUS.
Oh well may I, as a Greek, melt into tears at the sight of so much humility and pious zeal!

A CITIZEN.
See, he breaks the fuel himself!

ANOTHER.
Over his left thigh. Is that how it ought to be broken?

THE FIRST CITIZEN.
Doubtless, doubtless.

MAMERTINUS.
In the light of the fire you there kindle, oh, great Emperor, shall research and learning shine forth, ay, and rise rejuvenated, like that miraculous bird —

NEVITA.
That fire will temper the weapons of Greece. I know little of the Galilean figments; but this I have noted, that all who believe in them are spiritless and unfit for greater things.