A Thorny Path (Paperback)

Excerpt: ...speak of the gibes of the Alexandrians. Surrounded as he was by servile favorites, whose superior he was in gifts and intellect, what had here come under his notice seemed to interest him above measure. He desired to know where and from whom the painter had got these epigrams. But again Alexander declared that he did not know the names of the authors; that he had found one at the public baths, the second in a tavern, and the third at a hairdresser's shop. Caesar looked sadly at the youth's abundant brown curls which had been freshly oiled, and said: "Hair is like the other good gifts of life. It remains fine only with the healthy. You, happy rascal, hardly know what sickness means " Then again he sat staring in silence, till he suddenly started up and asked Alexander, as Philostratus had yesterday asked Melissa: "Do you and your sister belong to the Christians?" When he vehemently denied it, Caracalla went on: "And yet these epigrams show plainly enough how the Alexandrians feel toward me. Melissa, too, is a daughter of this town, and when I remember that she could bring herself to pray for me, then-My nurse, who was the best of women, was a Christian. I learned from her the doctrine of loving our enemies and praying for those who despitefully treat us. I always regarded it as impossible; but now-your sister-What I was saying just now about the hair and good health reminds me of another speech of the Crucified one which my nurse often repeated-how long ago -'To him that hath shall be given, and from him that hath not shall be taken even that which he hath.' How cruel and yet how wise, how terribly striking and true A healthy man What more can he want, and what abundant gifts that best of all gifts will gain for him If he is visited by infirmity-only look at me -how much misery I have suffered from this curse, terrible enough in itself, and tainting everything with the bitterness of wormwood " He laughed softly but scornfully, and...