Page:The collected works of Henrik Ibsen (Volume 5).djvu/198

162 Rhine; it was the Emperor who raised up the King of the Alemanni, as he lay grovelling before him. My name is not fortunate enough to find any place in this document,—nor yours, Florentius, nor yours, Severus! And here, in the description of the battle of Argentoratum—where was it? Yes, here it stands!—it was the Emperor who determined the order of battle; it was the Emperor himself who, at peril of his life, fought till his sword was blunted, in the forefront of the battle: it was the Emperor who, by the terror of his presence, put the barbarians to headlong flight; read, read, I tell you!

Noble Caesar, your word suffices.

What mean you, then, by your deluding speeches, my friends? Would you, in your too great love for me, make me a parasite, to be fed with the leavings you have pilfered from my kinsman's table?—What think you, Decentius? What say you to this? You see, in my own camp, I have to keep an eye on adherents who, in their blind zeal, are sometimes in danger of straying over the border-line of revolt.

[Hastily, to the Tribune.] I assure you, my words have been sadly misconstrued if

[Also to the Tribune.] It could never enter my mind to