THE
Chaldean Magician
AN ADVENTURE IN ROME
IN THE REIGN OF THE EMPEROR DIOCLETIAN
BY
ERNST ECKSTEIN
Author of “Quintus Claudius,” etc.
From the German by MARY J. SAFFORD
NEW YORK
WILLIAM S. GOTTSBERGER, PUBLISHER
11 MURRAY STREET
1886
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1886
by William S. Gottsberger
in the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington
Press of
William S. Gottsberger
New York
[1]
THE CHALDEAN MAGICIAN.
CHAPTER I.
A cloudless October day, A. D. 299,was drawing to a close; the western skybehind the crest of Mt. Janiculum stillglowed with crimson light, but the populationin the streets and squares of the world’scapital were already moving in a bluishtwilight and yellow-red lamps shone, veiledby smoke, from the taverns of the many-gabledSubura.
A youth with a white toga thrown overhis shoulders, coming from the QuerquetulanianGate, turned into the Cyprian Way.His manner of walking was somewhat peculiar.Sometimes he rushed hastily forward,[2]like a man impatiently striving toreach his destination; at others he glancedhesitatingly around or stopped a few secondsas though repenting his design. Passingthe Baths of Titus he perceived, only afew yards distant, another youth who hadentered the Cyprian Way from a side streeton the left and with bowed head was pursuingthe same direction over the lavastones of the pavement. Looking moreclosely, he recognized a friend’s countenancein the new-comer’s pallid features.
It was nearly six weeks since he hadseen pleasant Lucius Rutilius; for the twoyoung men’s paths in life were entirely different.While Rutilius, the son of a wealthysenator, was fond of moving in the most selectcircles of the capital, visiting the theatres,the races and combats in the arena,and during the summer spending his timealternately at his country estate in Etruria,the waterfalls of Tibur, the shore of the[3]gulf of Baiae, or the strand of Antium,Caius Bononius, the son of a knight, led asomewhat secluded existence in the solitudeof his study, allowing himself at the utmosta short trip during the hottest months tothe world-renowned Diana’s Mirror, thelovely secluded lake in the neighboring AlbanHills, where he owned a modest littlegarden. Spite of this diversity in externalcircumstances, the two young men cherisheda deeply-rooted friendship for each other.Lucius Rutilius valued the comprehensiveknowledge, insatiable thirst for information,and proud independence possessed by CaiusBononius; while the latter knew