Saronia A Romance of Ancient Ephesus

Near to the fallen image of the goddess Diana were the smaller statues in marble, bronze, silver, and gold--lamps and paterii, vases richly chased and candelabrii, instruments o...

Nika was broken-hearted, and resolved to save him. What should she do? To betray intense emotion might convince Varro of her love for the ill-fated man. The Roman was aflame wit...

The evening sun had set behind great frowning clouds of crimson and gray; dark masses like funeral steeds moved slowly through the sky. The night came, dark and dreary; a sable...

The day had well-nigh lost its youth. Nika and her mother had retired to the room called 'Golden,' because of the rich chasings of gold on its walls of purest marble, and the th...

'That is not all. She has refused to aid me, even when Chios pleads for me, and he--what of him? The only man I ever loved, or ever shall, turns from my love and pities me. Curs...

The stars were shining softly through the mists of a summer night; the moon had touched the western rim; the winds were sleeping low upon the pine-clad hills, and Nature, weary,...

Saronia the priestess was agitated. She had resolved in her mind the events of the past few days. 'Why was Chios within the grove?' She could solve the problem--foolish man! 'Wh...

The day had arrived, and Varro and Chios were to meet the priests and priestesses concerning the picture of Saronia. Many eyes were turned upon them until they entered the Templ...

'Naught,' replied she; 'tired only. All night long have I watched through the storm. I knew by the signal-fires thou wert off the harbour mouth. Dost thou think I could rest whe...

'Now thou art well again, Nika. After thou hast rested, come with me, and see the sports. There will be rare tactics with the retiarii armed with nets. One of the swiftest, most...

As they passed the gateway, Endora, the witch, stood by and gazed at the girl and Chios. The maiden pitied her, and gave her a coin of gold. The old woman looked up, first at Ch...

'Yes, Saronia. Thou art her friend. True, her time as priestess has been very brief, but for that strange being it seems mortals suspend their laws just like the gods did theirs...

The day was glorious, and the hearts of the Ephesian people were brimming over with joy, for was not this the first day of the month Artemision? Eager crowds of people read the...

The meeting with Chios and the Christian in the cave of the Ephesian sorceress had worked on the mind of the priestess. She was agitated like a ship cast in the way where two se...

The day arrived for the election of High Priestess of Diana, and, as was generally expected within the Temple, Saronia was chosen to occupy that exalted position. When the peopl...

Great arches decorated with choice foliage and festooned with lovely flowers spanned the public way; banners of strange beauty waved on the morning breeze; jubilant strains of m...

When Saronia saw that Nika had fallen overpowered, and knew her lot was cast, she felt herself a new creature. Her young blood coursed wildly, and great thoughts trooped through...

'Saronia,' said Lucius, 'thou art here. Come this way; thou art safe at last. Rest calmly as to the future. Whilst brave sailors may defend thee, no harm can come. I go on shore...

Day after day passed in festive manner until half the Month of Joy had sped, still Chios had not heard from the wise man. Where was he? Had he forgotten his promise? Was it all...

The studio of Chios was very beautiful, and an artist is pretty well known by the place in which he paints, provided he has means to gratify his tastes. It was not a great room...

Chios sat lazily in his studio. Work he could not; something had come over him--an influence unseen hovered near. He was not sad, nor was he joyous. There was a deep quiet reign...

Arrived there, she offered sacrifice, and left the dying embers blackening the sacred altar. Perchance some priestess next day should secretly want proof of Saronia's visit. Thi...

The Cayster came south to the margin of the grove, moving rapidly northward and westward, sweeping by myriad blooms of the rose and iris, till it flowed from the land to the sea...

The story of the demoniac also filled the minds of the people, and a great crowd had gathered in the Agora, it being rumoured that converts to the new faith would at noon openly...

'Dost thou like the play?' she asked. 'They tell me the tragedy was wrought in Phoenicia, and has been played with great success in Sidon, from thence to Cyprus, and now here. I...

'Venusta,' said Lucius, 'I have been thinking of that slave girl, the dark Phoenician maid, Saronia; I see her not in her accustomed place. I feel a keen interest in that weird...

Where the river of Ephesus joins the sea the great rocks stand out as fortresses of the land, and the deep blue waters roll homewards to the shore, urged by a never-changing law...

'Seest thou the great city as it lies beneath us, its shrines and palaces like polished silver and burnished gold, and its frowning walls and battlements like a mighty circle of...

Bathed in the sunlight of an azure sky, the Temple of Diana raised its lovely head and shone the fairest mistress of the ancient East. Boasting a long list of ancestors, she, th...

Saronia had been sent on an errand of mercy, and was returning, disguised, towards the Temple, when, as she was passing close to the garden of Chios, a crowd of brawlers, inflat...

As the day advanced a message was brought to the priestess that a woman was without who wished to speak to her, and that she carried roses in her hand, an offering to Diana.

Had it been woman against woman, she would not have crushed the Roman; but it was not so. It was a woman in conflict with the goddess. Saronia had been powerless to help, and da...

Which way should he take? Would she come to sacrifice? What should he do--should he give up this foolhardy expedition and retrace his steps? No; a strange fascination drew him o...

In the Sacred Grove of Hecate, where the sun lit up the cypress-trees, and the birds sang on the billowy branches of the cluster-pine, and laurels greeted the gods, waving their...

'He is away, my lord and master, my wedded husband, the Proconsul of Ephesus. Gone to Rome on State matters. Let him go! There are other Romans here as good as he, perhaps bette...

Acratus was at the head of his plunderers. Nothing was too small or great for his rapacious maw. He came up the marble steps of the studio of Chios and knocked violently.

'Thou hast heard,' said the Proconsul, 'that Saronia has abjured her faith in the great Diana, and is a prisoner within the Temple where once she reigned supreme, second only to...

'That may be, noble Chios; but take my word for once: the guilty shall suffer for their own sins. This vile body of mine shall be torn limb from limb rather than one hair of her...

The sun had risen in all its splendour, and was flooding the bay and mountains with silvery light. The river Cayster moved on its course, and mixed its waters with the blue of t...

'How do I know? Well, really, I cannot answer thee, but thou must know if a man loves there must be something to love. Chios is a confirmed bachelor. I believe he almost hates w...

Saronia was now a priestess of Diana Triformis, and initiated into the mysteries of Hecate. She had grown rapidly in favour with her companions, and was looked on as one of the...

It was night in the city of the Ephesian goddess. Gathered around the glare of a rude lamp sat Endora and a few who had come to consult her. Said one:

From morn to eve great songs of praise and adoration went up before the shrine of Diana, and soft music echoed through the great Temple, sometimes swelling like the martial note...

The next day at early dawn the harbour was filled with shipping. There were the light-sailing laburnae, the stately biremes, majestic triremes, and quadriremes, with sterns risi...

Next morning some fishermen, who had come down the river Cayster in their boat of many colours and crooked prow, moored it near the spot where Chios and Saronia met the previous...

'As I thought. She would not stir as much as the quiver of a leaf to aid me; she hates me. Nevertheless, I am no worse by thy asking, rather better, for a fresh knowledge spring...

The soft winds moved the leaves of the silver poplar, the violet-scented air fanned their cheeks, the convolvuli were closing, and the narcissi nodded good-night; it seemed sacr...