He had expected to find him a half-crazy villain, and his rage after he had heard the epigram against himself, left with the rope, had strengthened the chief priest’s opinion.  But since then he had heard of much that was good in him; and Timotheus felt sure that his judgment was unbiased by the high esteem Caesar showed to him, while he treated others like slaves.  His improved opinion had been raised by the intercourse he had held with Caesar.  The much-abused man had on these occasions shown that he was not only well educated but also thoughtful; and yesterday evening, before Caracalla had gone to rest exhausted, the high-priest, with his wise experience, had received exactly the same impressions as the easily influenced artist; for Caesar had bewailed his sad fate in pathetic terms, and confessed himself indeed deeply guilty, but declared that he had intended to act for the best, had sacrificed fortune, peace of mind, and comfort to the welfare of the state.  His keen eye had marked the evils of the time, and he had acknowledged that his efforts to extirpate the old maladies in order to make room for better things had been a failure, and that, instead of earning thanks, he had drawn down on himself the hatred of millions.

It was for this reason that Timotheus, on rejoining his household, had assured them that, as he thought over this interview, he expected something good—­yes, perhaps the best—­from the young criminal in the purple.

But the lady Berenike had declared with scornful decision that Caracalla had deceived her brother-in-law; and when Alexander likewise tried to say a word for the sufferer, she got into a rage and accused him of foolish credulity.

Melissa, who had already spoken in favor of the emperor, agreed, in spite of the matron, with her brother.  Yes, Caracalla had sinned greatly, and his conviction that Alexander’s soul lived in him and Roxana’s in her was foolish enough; but the marvelous likeness to her of the portrait on the gem would astonish any one.  That good and noble impulses stirred his soul she was certain.  But Berenike only shrugged her shoulders contemptuously; and when the chief priest remarked that yesterday evening Caracalla had in fact not been in a position to attend a feast, and that a portion, at least, of his other offenses might certainly be put down to the charge of his severe suffering, the lady exclaimed: 

“And is it also his bodily condition that causes him to fill a house of mourning with festive uproar?  I am indifferent as to what makes him a malefactor.  For my part, I would sooner abandon this dear child to the care of a criminal than to that of a madman.”

But the chief priest and the brother and sister both declared Caesar’s mind to be as sound and sharp as any one’s; and Timotheus asked who, at the present time, was without superstition, and the desire of communicating with departed souls.  Still the matron would not allow herself to be persuaded, and after the chief priest had been called away to the service of the god, Euryale reproved her sister-in-law for her too great zeal.  When the wisdom of hoary old age and impetuous youth agree in one opinion, it is commonly the right one.