Caesar Dies

The Project Gutenberg EBook of Caesar Dies, by Talbot MundyThis eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it,give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online atwww.gutenberg.netTitle: Caesar DiesAuthor: Talbot MundyRelease Date: December 9, 2003 [EBook #10422]Language: English*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CAESAR DIES ***Produced by Jake JaquaCAESAR DIESby Talbot MundyI. IN THE REIGN OF THE EMPEROR COMMODUSGolden Antioch lay like a jewel at a mountain's throat. Wide, intersecting streets, each nearly four miles long, granite-paved, and marble-colonnaded, swarmed with fashionable loiterers. The gay Antiochenes, whom nothing except frequentearthquakes interrupted from pursuit of pleasure, were taking the air in chariots, in litters, and on foot; their linen clotheswere as riotously picturesque as was the fruit displayed in open shop-fronts under the colonnades, or as the blossom onthe trees in public gardens, which made of the city, as seen from the height of the citadel, a mosaic of green and white.The crowd on the main thoroughfares was aristocratic; opulence was accented by groups of slaves in close attendanceon their owners; but the aristocracy was sharply differentiated. The Romans, frequently less wealthy (because those whohad made money went to Rome to spend it)— frequently less educated and, in general, not ...