A Captive of the Roman Eagles

The imperial galley was preparing to tow Saturninus's boat. This plan seemed best for the wounded General, who could not easily be lifted upon the lofty deck of the ship. Engage...

"Thanks to thee, god of wishes. Thou hast sent this, no one else, to thy sons. Look here! A plan of the entire camp! Exact: all the measurements. And here, marked on the margin,...

After allowing the excitement of the multitude time to find vent, the old Duke gave the twelve heralds a sign, and they hurried into the thick grove of oaks rustling behind the...

I wrote to you yesterday about the charming Barbarian child. Child? She is one no longer. The delicate, yet lovely outlines of her form have developed into exquisite roundness....

A frown darkened the Duke's brow. "Now for the last judgment of the assembly! Other gods are drawing near, unlike those which have just viewlessly hovered above the boy's fair l...

The morning after Ausonius had made this last entry in his diary, Bissula, as usual, shared the first meal in his tent with the uncle and nephew. The Prefect of Gaul was in exce...

But the Duke remained unmoved. "I fear no danger from this man." A shudder ran through the youth's limbs and he started, as the old chief, lightly raising the spear, added: "He...

After the surging to and fro of the men pressing forward into the circle, the loud voices, and the clank of weapons had somewhat died away, the Duke raised his spear and struck...

Ausonius was deeply grateful to his preserver, certainly; and he had wished to bestow a transcendent reward. Yet he was very keenly exasperated by this rude, fierce, foolish, na...

The Adeling and his followers would probably soon have forced their way through this gate, one of whose wings had already caught fire and was beginning to glow and smoke more an...

Hitherto Herculanus had remained concealed from both Romans and Germans in the tent on the cross street where he had sought refuge. Now everything around had become so still tha...

Outside of the Duke's tent also a huge fire was blazing, fed by slaves who were roasting on the ends of poles the haunches and back of a freshly killed stag. Adalo passed by, mo...

There was, in general, so total a lack of any feeling of unity among the various German tribes that the Alemanni did not think of openly reproaching the Batavians, or even cheri...

The experienced commanders had executed their tasks swiftly, skilfully, and successfully. Arbon, the strongly fortified station of the great military road, had, it is true, been...

So the hours of the day had passed. The sun had sunk majestically into the lake; darkness had gathered quickly; there was no moon. The Comes of Britannia had left Ausonius's tab...

A camp wall and ditch had been hurriedly made in the few hours after their arrival, merely for form's sake, because the good old Roman custom prescribed it, and Nannienus insist...

"Tell me everything once more, Zercho," he said earnestly, "until Waldrun has recovered and can add what you did not see. I have not yet clearly understood the one thing upon wh...

Ebarbold wished to cast a venomous glance at him, but was forced to lower his eyes in the presence of such lofty dignity. His lips curled bitterly as he replied:

Ever since the preceding day the rain clouds, which had so long densely veiled the mountain peaks and hung in gray curtains to the shore of the lake, had grown lighter and light...

Meanwhile Bissula had recovered consciousness. The loud summons of the tubas, giving the signal for the sally of the Romans, had roused her. Raising herself in her hiding-place...

In the midst of the intoxication of victory another joy filled the old leader's heart: delight in the progress which, within a single generation, the training in obedience had m...

"Stay," said Hariowald, when the heralds, last of all, had left the place of assembly, "you must know how this battle is to be fought, according to my plan and wish. For, if the...

The friendly feeling between the two Roman Generals had become strained, and Bissula's ingenuousness toward both was transformed into fear and distrust. The two friends, once so...

Before the nephew could answer, Ausonius interrupted: "But--thank the gods--our campaign will be bloodless: the Barbarians have abandoned the country. Where can they have gone?...

"Where is my nephew?" asked Ausonius, mounting the beautiful gray Cantabrian stallion, whose stirrup was held by old Prosper. "He is usually the first at my bedside to greet me."

An old woman, wrapped in a dark garment, sat almost motionless upon the bench in the warm sunshine. Thin locks of beautiful white hair escaped from beneath the edge of the brown...

"Stand, men of the Linzgau!" shouted a clear, resonant voice, and a youth with golden-brown locks fluttering around his handsome head forced a passage through the Alemanni and R...

Whoever has been at Friedrichshafen on beautiful Lake Constance, on a clear August day, and watched the sun setting in splendor behind the tops of the beeches of Manzell; whoeve...

"I am generous," replied Ausonius. "It pleases me to discover in this way a favorite dish of my usually Spartan friend. I will avenge myself by placing before you, if possible,...

"Ha, more, far more than this! Like the wolf of hell, this Rome opens her jaws to swallow all Mittelgard. What? They are not willing to grant us land enough on the northern shor...

Directly after, Ausonius and Saturninus entered the Praefectorian tent from the _Via Principalis_, while Herculanus, coming from the rear, passed in with them. The host shared h...

"I do not consult old women, when I am to fight; but neither will I risk the victory for young ones. The moon must not shine; the night must be dark. And another thing: the torr...

During the following night Saturninus made a little reconnoitring expedition northward and, as far as it was possible to venture into the swamps without trustworthy guides, towa...

Saturninus, no longer occupied with his prisoner, stepped forward into the centre of the tent, saying: "In the name of the Emperor Gratianus! As General and Commander of this ca...

Oppressed by sad yearning and anxiety, the usually light-hearted child had again walked this evening from her tent to the lake gate, and thence, driven back by the shouts of the...

Bissula, too, on whose burning eyes sleep had not descended, had soon perceived what was happening. She heard with joyous terror the battle cry of the Alemanni, the war horns of...

As we have seen, the Romans were still ignorant whether the Barbarians were aware of the bands approaching simultaneously from several directions to menace the inhabitants of th...

"A joyful duty now awaits you," the Duke began again: "a boy of noble family asks the bestowal of the sword, the first weapon granted. Many of us know him, and all who do, wish...

The words uttered by Adalo, evidently from sincere belief, and with warm feeling, produced a deep impression. Herculanus shrugged his shoulders scornfully. Saturninus, with a gr...

"I am not superstitious. I rely possibly too much upon my sword and too little upon heaven; and I care nothing about the Vestal virgins. But I do not like the second step your p...

To Adalo's impatience the time seemed very long--in his wrath he believed the delay intentional--during which he was led through the spacious camp till at last his guide stopped...

The underbrush grew thinner, evidently removed by human hands; a few steps more and the pursuer stood in an open space in the forest which had been cleared by fire. Here stood a...

"How it throbs!" she murmured. Then, raising her left hand, as if to keep the youth back, her right drew the folds of her ample cloak over the brushing girl's sweet face. "Go,"...

Herculanus was mistaken: Ausonius was not slain. In the attempt to leap from one cart to another he had fallen between them and slightly hurt his foot. But Decius and some legio...

"You must and will survive me, my noble friend! The Tribune will soon lie where he belongs: on his shield. But you still belong to Burdigala, in your tasteful house filled with...

It was really as Zercho the bondman had believed: Bissula had become the captive, not of Ausonius, but another; and his captive she remained. To the extreme surprise, nay, barel...

A slender bluish flame, burning in a marble vessel supported by a bronze pedestal of exquisite Corinthian workmanship, diffused both light and perfume through the Prefect's sump...

The Prefect drew the young girl to the couch by his side and kissed her hands and brow. She submitted, for she was weeping. He would fain have kissed her lips too, but he forebo...

"'Sharp is the bite of the squirrel, but Bissula's is sharper still.' You yourself classed me with the biting animals, so do not wonder that I fled to my red, snarling, biting s...

Even the reënforcements of Saturninus's troops could not have changed the result of the battle around the ships and the camp on the lake-shore: the die had fallen long before, n...

During those days the vicinity of the Holy Mountain, where a large number of fugitives had taken refuge, was full of busy life, and from the north, the quarter not threatened by...

On a wooded hill, the hill of Zio, named the Geerebühl, east of the Holy Mountain, almost directly opposite to Arbor, a little band of Alemanni spies watched night and day, one,...

The largest galley, an old war ship which still bore the figure of Amphitrite on its prow, displayed a purple streamer, and the smallest foresail was of the same color; for she...

It is useless to conceal it from myself any longer, and what I admit to myself must also be confessed to you, my Paulus, my second self, at the same moment. Alas, I fear you rea...

But the Batavian was suddenly startled from his mythological studies. He heard from the east a shout in German: "Romans! Romans! On them!" and saw a boat filled with Alemanni st...

Days had passed since the incident related in the last chapter. The Romans had entered the country without encountering the slightest resistance. After encamping on the summit o...

It was now broad daylight. The sun was shining radiantly on the mountain and the lake. Light clouds which hitherto had hung like a veil thrown over a long spear about the peak o...

A handsome boy about fourteen, whose strong resemblance to Adalo marked him as his brother--only his curling locks were light yellow, almost white--was dragging by the ear a hug...

But meanwhile, from amid the dense foliage in the centre of the tree a figure clad in the dress of a girl slid nimbly down the trunk, and as soon as she reached the ground, smoo...