Free Hadrian's wall by William Dietrich Page B

afterward. Why had the elephant escaped at that very moment? Why were torches so ready at hand? We dismissed his complaints as jealousy but now, looking back…"
    "Valeria was not hurt?"
    "Frightened and then rescued, twice in two days. She found the experience exhilarating. Her eyes were wide, her skin flushed, a lock of hair astray-"
    "Fetching."
    "Too much so. Galba told everyone we had no time for circuses, saying Marcus wouldn't appreciate his men gaming while he was waiting for his bride. The soldier Titus said he could understand his commander's impatience! The men laughed, but I blushed. It was barracks talk, improper in front of a lady."
    "And Valeria?"
    "There was an earthy honesty to these soldiers quite different from the gambits and wit of Rome. She thought it exotic and grown-up."
    "So you finally exited the city."
    "Not yet. Clodius picked a fight about religion."
    "Religion!"
    "Clodius wanted to show he was one of the soldiers. We'd passed a temple of Mithras, closed at the emperor's new order, and a couple men muttered at this sacrilege against the soldier's god. So Clodius demanded of me why Christian preachers don't bathe."
    "Of you?"
    "He knew I speak freely about my faith. He knew I'd bathed myself. And he pretended not to know that public baths are a center for sexual vices and political intrigue. He said it was well known that Christian priests stink, which I explained is because they care nothing for this world out of preparation for the next. Then Galba reminded Clodius that Christianity was once more the state religion, with Julian's death and Valentinian's succession, which allowed Clodius to reply that Constantine converted originally only to seize the gold of pagan temples and-"
    "Jupiter's ghost! All this, and you weren't even out of the city?" Religion today is a topic as dangerous as it is heated. The emperor Julian tried to bring back the old gods, while Valentinian recognized that political power has shifted to the new. Here in Britannia the Christians remain a fanatic minority, but conversion can help a career. The only thing all sides share is intolerance.
    "Clodius wouldn't stop because of his jealousy. He called the Christ a slave's god, a weakling who counseled peace and was slain for it. He said Christians were tyrants, ending religious freedom. The litter bearers stumbled at these insults, almost spilling Valeria onto the pavement, and I don't think their clumsiness was a mistake. They were Christians and offended, some of them."
    "This Clodius seems a fool."
    "He was young and proud, which may be the same thing."
    "Valeria was a pagan? "
    "She was uncertain. Her parents worship the old gods, myself the new. She prayed to Minerva and Flora and Jesus without preference, even though I warned her that Christ tolerates no other gods."
    "What did Galba say?"
    "He ordered us all to shut up. He said religious opinion always makes trouble. As to the truth of a belief, he'd yet to see a god give a direct opinion on the matter. What good is a sign, he demanded, if a dozen believers interpret it a dozen different ways? It was Cicero who asked if all the dead of the battle of Cannae had the same horoscope. So Clodius asked the senior tribune what god he worshiped."
    "And his reply?"
    "The god Spatha. The Roman cavalry sword."
    I laugh, despite myself. This man Galba is beginning to sound like the only one with common sense! Savia is offended I find the senior tribune's remark amusing, and I'm not surprised. One reason Christians are disliked so much is that they have no humor about their own righteousness. They invite mockery.
    "What happened next?"
    "We came to the city gates. There were horses for the men and a mule cart for Valeria's trousseau. Galba had suggested a carruca, with a couch to recline on, but she'd insisted on a swifter raeda, even though it meant she'd have to spend the journey sitting up. We watched the men vault into their saddles with full armor, one arm on the saddle and one