The Sack of Rome/Act II

Scene I
Palace of Valentinian

(Enter Valentinian and Heraclius)

VALENTINIAN
 * Hast thou seen Maximus?---Is he return'd?
 * 'Tis whisper'd that he's now about the court:
 * I order'd Ricemar to urge his stay
 * To try his valour in the feats of war,
 * Till I found means to sooth Ardelia's grief,
 * Or reconcil'd her to my ardent love:
 * Yet I suspect my will is disobey'd.

HERACLIUS
 * I, through the Campus Martius, saw him pass,
 * Sullen and fierce as is the baited bull,
 * Whetted for blood and roaring for his prey,
 * When rushing on the victim of his rage.

VALENTINIAN
 * He surely meditates some great revenge.
 * He has a bold, assuming, haughty soul---
 * A daring pride that spurns the least affront---
 * I fear him more than ÆTIUS

HERACLIUS
 * But Ætius is the idol of the army,
 * And at his beck---the young barbarian princes.
 * Haughty and brave, he brooks not thy delay;
 * Impatient for the promise made Gaudentius,
 * Sighs for a union with the fair Eudocia.
 * A son so near---a sceptre in his eye,
 * May empire give to his aspiring father.

VALENTINIAN
 * Go lead him hither with his favour'd son,
 * My hand shall rid me from all fear from them:
 * Once in the palace, and the work is done:
 * I'll save my daughter for a nobler union.
 * But find out Maximus---'tis him I dread;
 * A man thus injur'd never can forgive.

HERACLIUS
 * He lov'd Ardelia with the purest flame;
 * Indeed she was, for innocence and truth,
 * For elegance, true dignity, and grace,
 * The fairest sample of that ancient worth
 * Th' illustrious matrons beasted to the world
 * When Rome was fam'd for every glorious deed.
 * But she's no more!

VALENTINIAN
 * Hah! slave, forbear---
 * Mean'st thou to try my love, or wake my fears?
 * Say thou at once---suspense I ne'er could bear.

HERACLIUS
 * Despair, resentment, agonizing grief,
 * This morn have clos'd the period of a life
 * Too pure and spotless for the Roman world.

VALENTINIAN
 * Then I'm undone forever---double the guards.
 * Go find Petronius out---suffer not him,
 * Nor Ætius, to see another sun:
 * To make the work complete, bring Ætius hither;
 * My sword is ready for a traitor's blood,
 * Nor dare another arm attempt his death.

(Exit Heraclius)


 * Down coward conscience, nor disturb a prince.
 * My recent crime haunts all my sleepless nights;
 * Yet, shall I fill the measure of my guilt
 * And turn assassin?---Am I so lost, as thus
 * To stain my hand with the Patrician blood---
 * Pollute my court---disgrace the Roman name?
 * No, that can't be---her infamy's complete.
 * And no new crime is wanting in the list
 * To stigmatize, and blast her ancient fame.
 * In this apartment, now my gloomy cell,
 * Where I have seen Ardelia drown'd in tears,
 * And almost dying with indignant grief,
 * All other crimes are light---let Ætius die.

(Enter Edoxia)


 * But hah!---here comes my torment---
 * My other conscience---to kill me with a look---
 * The fair---the excellent---the wrong'd Edoxia;
 * Her presence freezes all my powers of speech;
 * I dare not lift my eye to meet her frown---
 * I'm all confusion---guilt---perdition---death.

(Retiring hastily)

EDOXIA
 * Oh! fly me not, my sovereign---
 * I only come to warn my much lov'd lord,
 * A lowering storm may burst upon his head.

VALENTINIAN
 * I fear no storms but from an injur'd wife;
 * The sharp invectives of neglected beauty.

EDOXIA
 * My wrongs I here forgive---thy safety now
 * Is all I have to wish---my soul is all alarm.

VALENTINIAN
 * What idle terror has assail'd thy brain;
 * Or what new rupture threatens empire next?

EDOXIA
 * No foreign foe awakes my anxious thought;
 * The faithful Ætius commands the legions,
 * And guards the posts from Tyber to the Rhine,
 * From bold inroads and fierce barbarick foes.

VALENTINIAN
 * A woman, weaken'd by a sense of wrongs,
 * With a creative fancy, spreads contagion,
 * If she names her fears---yet tell the cause,
 * If any cause thou hast, thus to alarm
 * And agitate my mind.

EDOXIA
 * Petronius Maximus

VALENTINIAN
 * What of Petronius?

EDOXIA
 * 'Tis him I fear:---As from the Circus,
 * Late this morn I came, he enter'd---
 * Rage in his eye---unheeding what he saw;
 * Lost in deep thought, and wrap'd in dark intrigue,
 * He onward mov'd, with slow and solemn steps---
 * A dark, fix'd brow, and gesture of despair---
 * He walk'd, and stop'd, and trod, and stamp'd the ground,
 * And gnash'd his teeth, and clench'd his nervous palm,
 * Then spread it on his breast and press'd it hard,
 * As if afraid his heart would burst its bounds---
 * Then sob'd a lowly sigh---alas! Ardelia!
 * And, as the shadow moves beside the man,
 * His steps were measur'd by an Alan prince;
 * But neither heeded all the sports of Rome.
 * Forgive my lord, my soft officious care
 * To guard thy peace from each domestick foe.

VALENTINIAN
 * Thou best of women! how shall I atone
 * For half the wrongs my faithless heart has done
 * To beauty blended with superiour worth?

EDOXIA
 * Ill boding dreams and gloomy apparitions---
 * Fresh bleeding ghosts, and shades of darkest hue,
 * Haunt all my slumbers---some deep design,
 * Of terrible import, in Maximus I saw;
 * Waste not a moment---oh! secure thyself,
 * And when we meet again, we'll talk of love.

(Exeunt)

Scene II
(Valentinian and Heraclius)

HERACLIUS
 * Ætius attends thy will, as does his son---
 * With them Beotius, prefect of the city.

VALENTINIAN
 * Let only Ætius enter---tell him
 * The business is of such import---
 * No other ear must witness---thou wilt thy self
 * Take care of both Beotius and Gaudentius

HERACLIUS
 * I will my lord---he and his noble friend
 * May fight Attila in the shades below,
 * If that fierce warrior still remembers Rome.

VALENTINIAN
 * No vulgar souls we'll send the gods this day;
 * Petronius next, and then defy the world.

(Exit Heraclius)


 * My arm be strong---away with conscious qualms---
 * His is a life worthy of Cæsar's sword:
 * 'Tis true I but suspect his cover'd treason:
 * Yet, Ætius must die---as shall Gaudentius.

(Exit)

Scene III
(Eudocia and Placidia)

EUDOCIA
 * Oh ! my Placidia,
 * The good, the generous Ætius is dead,
 * And murder'd by the hand of Valentinian.

PLACIDIA
 * Impossible!---'tis but the tale of malice, whisper'd round,
 * By some vile foe to Valentinian's house.

EUDOCIA
 * 'Tis done,
 * And hell itself records the dreadful deed.

PLACIDIA
 * My father ne'er could stain the imperial throne
 * By such a crime as this!
 * What! like the madman of old Philip's race,
 * Plunge his drawn dagger in the faithful breast
 * Of such a friend as Ætius?

EUDOCIA
 * He has,
 * And my Gaudentius just escap'd the blow
 * Heraclius design'd, by speedy flight,
 * And in his stead Beotius was slain.

PLACIDIA
 * Where is the virtuous youth?---and where his friends?

EUDOCIA
 * He pass'd the guards, Traulista by his side,
 * And, through the western gate, they, swift as lightning,
 * Hasted to Liguria---though much he lov'd,
 * He'll ne'er forgive the murd'rer of his sire;
 * He has a filial heart and valiant arm,
 * And nature's instinct wakes a tender strife.
 * The genuine virtues of his youthful heart,
 * Cherish'd by reason---ripen'd to sublime,
 * Nurs'd up by honour, gratitude and worth,
 * Call loud for vengeance o'er his father's tomb.

PLACIDIA
 * Alas! the gath'ring storm---what chosen blasts,
 * Heaven's vengeance next pours down, is with the gods.

EUDOCIA
 * The death of Ætius augurs ill to Rome;
 * His soul, too firm to fear, or Goths, or Huns;
 * Too great to be corrupted, or deceiv'd,
 * Sooth'd their rough passions, balanc'd their ambition;
 * They lov'd, they fear'd, and will avenge his death.

PLACIDIA
 * When jealousy's at war with wild ambition,
 * And reason quits the helm amid the storm,
 * The furious hurricane of passion swells
 * Till ev'ry sail hurls on to sure perdition.

EUDOCIA
 * Ah! my Gaudentius---could Eudocia's blood
 * Wash off the guilt contracted by her sire,
 * These veins I'd ope, and warm libations pour
 * Down at thy feet, to make his daughter
 * Worthy of thy love---love did I say?---no---
 * He must forever hate---despise---detest---
 * And curse the name of Cæsar's blasted race,
 * And fly the sight of his too wretched daughter.

PLACIDIA
 * Alas! I fear---I know not what I fear---
 * Imagination's short of what I dread
 * From complicated guilt, which stalks abroad.
 * Oh! Heaven avert the destiny of Rome!

EUDOCIA
 * I'm sick of life---of pageantry and pomp---
 * Of thrones and sceptres stain'd by human blood:
 * Come let us wander down the sacred walks,
 * The silent grots, where virtue once reclin'd.
 * The verdant forests bend their lofty tops
 * To make a covert for the weary head;
 * There tranquiliz'd beneath pale Cynthia's shade,
 * We'll breathe and whisper disappointed love;
 * And weep our country, family and friends,
 * 'Till bright Aurora streaks the eastern skies
 * And lights us back among the busy throng.

(Exeunt)

Scene IV
(Valentinian and Heraclius)

VALENTINIAN
 * The gilded morn in transports hails the day,
 * And the shrill trumpet sounds to martial sports;
 * But yet a certain heaviness hangs o'er me,
 * As though a tempest burst from midnight clouds.
 * Were I afraid of either gods or men,
 * I'd swear this day is like the ides of March,
 * Big with portentous omens:---Calphurnia's dreams,
 * And my Edoxia's fears, bear such a semblance
 * That through the night, (even if a cricket moves)
 * I start---I cry---my evil genius! say,
 * Dost come with Ætius' or Petronius' sword?

HERACLIUS
 * No superstitious dread should ere pervade
 * The royal bosom of a Roman prince;
 * Encircled deep by faithful veteran bands
 * Who wait his fiat, and observe his nod,
 * To feed his pleasures, or to blast his foes;
 * To light the capitol, or guard the state,
 * Or make the empire tremble at his frown.

VALENTINIAN
 * The noble Ætius, of princely birth,
 * Possess'd a soul by Roman valour warm'd,
 * That won the plaudits both of friends and foes;
 * The legions lov'd---the citizens ador'd,
 * And all will murmur at his sudden fall:
 * Yet more I fear Petronius's rage,
 * Than all the city, senators, or troops.

HERACLIUS
 * Thou hast done well to cut a traitor down
 * Ere he usurp'd and rob'd thee of a throne;
 * And if plebeian, or patrician tongues,
 * Should utter menace, or a plaintive word,
 * Teach them the fate of Rome hangs on thy will.

VALENTINIAN
 * But where is Maximus?
 * Though he's in friendship, gen'rous and sincere,
 * Yet injur'd once, implacably he hates:
 * 'Twou'd beggar language to describe his pride,
 * His strength of passion when arous'd to rage;
 * Inexorable vengeance tears his soul
 * Constant and noble, as a god he loves,
 * But as a furious fiend, rewards his foes;
 * Nought but their death can cool his passions down.

HERACLIUS
 * Petronius Maximus returns no more
 * To interrupt the pleasures of the court:
 * Ardelia dead---the funeral pile burnt down---
 * Her ashes gather'd in a golden urn;
 * He in despair has left the imperial city.
 * Beside the margin of the Tuscan shore,
 * In a small villa of the Anician name,
 * He's gone to weep his folly and his fate.

VALENTINIAN
 * Where are his friends?---his num'rous train of clients?
 * Where the admiring crowds fed by his hand,
 * And basking in his wealth?

HERACLIUS
 * Just as the world in ev'ry age have done,
 * Paying their court where better fortune smiles;
 * 'Tis not the sun, when muffled up in clouds
 * And plunging down the western briny main
 * Mankind adore.
 * The eastern monarch just from Thetis' bed,
 * With rosy blushes on his morning beams,
 * Majestick rising o'er the burnish'd world,
 * Beholds his homagers on ev'ry side;
 * As in the field of Mars amid the sports,
 * The son of Theodotius, is a god.

VALENTINIAN
 * Yet anguish tears, and love inflames my breast;
 * Oh! would oblivion wrap a sable veil
 * O'er my remorse, and o'er Ardelia's grief,
 * O'er her bright form, and her untimely death,
 * I might defy the vengeance of her lord:
 * Methinks I see her lovely tearful eye
 * With scornful glances fir'd---till grief and fear,
 * And consternation numb my torpid frame.

HERACLIUS
 * Why should an emperor fear?

VALENTINIAN
 * Say, where's Gaudentius?

HERACLIUS
 * He, swift of foot as an Herulian archer,
 * Escap'd my sword, and shelters in the camp;
 * But after him---with thy express command---
 * A trusty messenger I have dispatch'd:
 * This night his sire may meet him in the shades.

VALENTINIAN
 * Where is Traulista---prince of the Ostrogoths,
 * Dauntless and brave---his first---his chosen friend?

HERACLIUS
 * Gone to Liguria with the son of Ætius;
 * He lov'd him much.

VALENTINIAN
 * Then let him share his fate.

HERACLIUS
 * Leave them to me, and chase thy cares away;
 * The sports are ready---guarded every post,
 * And while the victims in the Circus bleed,
 * Smile that thy foes on the same moment fall.

VALENTINIAN
 * Hafte to the field of Mars---there I'll forget,
 * A pang e'er touch'd my heart.

HERACLIUS
 * There learn all Rome---
 * That if they brave the mandates of thy lip,
 * A sov'reign's arm shall punish as it ought.

(Exeunt)

Scene V
(Gaudentius solus---in disguise---just returned to the city, where he was shewn the murdered body of Ætius)


 * Was this the dowry of the fair Eudocia,
 * The mangled body of my much lov'd sire
 * Presented by her father's guilty hand?
 * Just gods avenge---the trait'rous deed avenge!
 * What is the faith---or what the gratitude,
 * Or what the sacred promise of an emperor!
 * As cruelty portrays an abject mind,
 * Servility precedes the fall of states
 * In this declension of the Roman world,
 * While tyrants dip the scymitar in blood,
 * And sport on human misery at large,
 * Shall I sit down with folded arms and see
 * A monster gorging on a parent's blood;
 * Or unaveng'd behold a father die
 * By Valentinian's base ungrateful hand!
 * Yet he, alas! is my Eudocia's sire:
 * But glory, fame, ambition and revenge
 * Bid me erase this passion from my heart,
 * And boldly stem the madness of the times,
 * Recover Rome and reinstate her power,
 * And bring her back to glory, wealth and fame.
 * But hah!---Eudocia, pensive and alone;

(Seeing Eudocia at a distance)


 * Shall I advance, or banish her forever?

(While he hesitates, Eudocia slowly crosses the stage without observing him)


 * One tear dissolves the firmness of my soul,
 * Unmans the mind, and melts the warrior down;
 * Dashes his hope, and weakens his resolve;
 * 'Tis ruin to retire---death to speak.
 * Chaste as Diana in each graceful move,
 * While Venus lights the features of her face
 * And gives her son the torch to fire my soul;
 * Yet honour, conscience, virtue and the world
 * Forbid a union with his bloody house;
 * My father's murderer---the gods forbid!
 * Yet she's all innocence---and virtue's soul
 * Shines forth conspicuous in her heavenly form:
 * I haste from her as from the hand of death.

(Exeunt different ways)