Spartacus by Howard Fast

Author:Howard Fast [FAST, HOWARD]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 1588241386
Publisher: ibooks, Inc.

III

Daylight eases the fears and the perplexities of man, and most often it is like a balm and a benediction. Most often, but not always; for there are certain categories of human beings who do not welcome the light of day. A prisoner hugs the night, which is a robe to warm and protect him and comfort him, and daylight brings no cheer to a condemned man. But most often, daylight washes out the confusions of the night. Great men assume the mantle of their greatness anew each morning, for even great men become like all other men in the night time, and some of them do despicable things and others of them weep and still others huddle in fear of death and of a darkness deeper than that which surrounds them. But in the morning they are great men again, and Gracchus, sitting on the terrace, mantled in a fresh snow-white toga, his big fleshy face cheerful and confident, was a picture of what a Roman senator should be. It has been said many times, then and later, that no finer and nobler and wiser body of men ever came together for legislative debate than the Senate of Republican Rome, and looking at Gracchus, one was inclined to accept this. It was true that he was not nobly born and that the blood in his veins was of exceedingly dubious ancestry, but he was very rich, and it was a virtue of the Republic that a man was measured in terms of himself as much as in terms of his ancestors. The very fact that the gods gave a man wealth was an indication of his inborn qualities, and if one wanted proof of this, one had only to see how many were poor and how few were rich.

As Gracchus sat there, he was joined by the others of the company which graced the Villa Salaria. It was an extraordinary group of men and women who had gathered there for the night, and they enjoyed the knowledge that they were remarkable and very important persons. It put them at ease with each other, and it underlined their trust in Antonius Caius, who never made the mistake of mixing people improperly at his plantation. But in general terms of Roman country life, they were not too unusual. It is true that among them were two of the richest people in the world, a young woman who would become a remarkable whore of the ages, and a young man who through a life of calculated and cold intrigue and plotting would remain famous for many centuries to come, and another young man whose degeneracy would become a matter of fame in itself; but at almost any time, similar folk would be found at the Villa Salaria.

This morning, they grouped themselves around Gracchus. He was the only one among them who wore a toga. He was the immovable senior magistrate, sitting there with his scented water, peeling an apple, and granting a word here or there.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.