“You must not speak to me so kindly, for I do not deserve such goodness.  What is my life after all?  I would let it go, as a child leaves go of a beetle it has caught, to spare you one single anxious day.”

“I know it,” answered Hadrian firmly, and he went to the prefect in the adjoining room.

Titianus had come in obedience to Hadrian’s orders; the matter to be settled was what indemnification was to be paid to the city and to the individual owners of the storehouses that had been destroyed, for Hadrian had caused a decree to be proclaimed that no one should suffer any loss through a misfortune sent by the gods and which had originated in his residence.  The prefect had already instituted the necessary inquiries and the private secretaries, Phlegon, Heliodorus and Celer, were now charged with the duty of addressing documents to the injured parties in which they were invited, in the name of Caesar, to declare the truth as to the amount of the loss they had suffered.  Titianus also brought the information that the Greeks and Jews had determined to express their thankfulness for Caesar’s preservation by great thank-offerings.

And the Christians,” asked Hadrian.

“They abominate the sacrifice of animals, but they will unite in a common act of thanksgiving.”

“Their gratitude will not cost them much,” said Hadrian.

“Their bishop, Eumenes, brought me a sum of money for which a hundred oxen might be bought, to distribute among the poor.  He said the God of the Christians is a spirit and requires none but spiritual sacrifices; that the best offering a man can bring him is a prayer prompted by the spirit and proceeding from a loving heart.”

“That sounds very well for us,” said Hadrian.  “But it will not do for the people.  Philosophical doctrines do not tend to piety; the populace need visible gods and tangible sacrifices.  Are the Christians here good citizens and devoted to the welfare of the state?”

“We need no courts of justice for them.”

“Then take their money and distribute it among the needy; but I must forbid their meeting for a general thanksgiving; they may raise their hands to their great spirit in my behalf, in private.  Their doctrine must not be brought into publicity; it is not devoid of a delusive charm and it is indispensable to the safety of the state that the mob should remain faithful to the old gods and sacrifices.”

“As you command, Caesar.”

“You know the account given of the Christians by Pliny and Trajan?”

“And Trajan’s answer.”

“Well then let us leave them to follow their own devices in private after their own fashion; only they must not commit any breach of the laws of the state nor force themselves into publicity.  As soon as they show any disposition to refuse to the old gods the respect that is due to them, or to raise a finger against them, severity must be exercised and every excess must be punished by death.”