"Centuries ago, a Roman examining this newly made mirror, would have recognized the approaching end of the long.." "war between paganism and Christianity." "The goldsmith had placed the head of Janus, the Roman god of beginnings, by the Christian cross, a symbol reported to be favored by Emperor Constantine himself." "FIRST PART MIRAGE OF ROME" "This film is dedicated to those who suffered, to the persecuted, and to the victims of all violence." "At the beginning of the IV century, Rome has reached, at the height of its domination, the apex of decadence." "The poverty of the many, prostrated by a series of wars, contrasts with the richness of the few who provoked them." "Corruption and abuse from the violent are triumphant." "However, for three centuries, a new word of justice, brotherhood and peace.." "has risen for the humble:" "the Christian word." "The blood of seven persecutions, by which they tried to drown it, has made it stronger." "Emperor Constantine, who rules Gaul, has been touched by it perhaps and tolerates it." "Maxentius, who rules in Rome, fears it and opposes it." "Our story starts in a little river port in the North of Gaul.." "at the eve of the conflict of the two emperors." "Civilian traffic towards Marseille and Rome.." "is suspended from the third hour of today, and comes under the orders of the military command." "Only the goods of Fabius Severus may leave." "Thanks, pals." "Is this all?" "No, the most important is missing: gifts for my daughter." " See you in Rome." "Tell Rome that she'll see the Roman soldiers again." "Be careful, those of Maxentius are Roman too!" "Maxentius, all Africans, all barbarians." " The Romans are for Constantine." "See you!" " See you, Quadratus!" "All for Constantine, except you." " I?" "Hey, one of you two!" "I'm done with it. 20 years of service, 10 wars, 3 wounds is enough, isn't it?" "You, come here quick, load this stuff on board and I'll take you to Rome." "Which are you taking to Rome?" " That one." "Your friend, who's more robust." "No, wait." "If it takes him for ever to get it, we're done." "Do you understand?" "Yes" " What did I say?" " You'll take him to Rome to carry your luggage." "Very well." "Run faster, you're going to Rome." "Rhual!" "Don't leave me!" "This boat belongs to Fabius Severus Maximus, senator of the imperial transports." "Take this." "You see.." "the river, then the sea, then Rome." "That guy must be loaded with money." " He?" "In Rome, to say Fabius is like saying "half emperor"." "Hey, you!" "What did you bring?" "Wheat from Gauls, to fill the bellies of the Romans." "And so the Romans will fill the bellies of the lions I brought from Africa." "Why Romans, the Christians!" "It seems they'll round them up and kill them all." "They told me the ordinance is a matter of hours." "Hail." "You traveled instead of Lavinius." " Who gave the order to begin unloading?" "Me, you were drinking." " Great!" "You don't waste a minute here." "Regulations." " Very well." "And delivery orders?" " Which?" " Down!" " What orders?" "Down!" " Look, the courier's biga is leaving." "I reserved you a place." "In a few hours you'll be eating at home." "Thanks." "I've waited 10 years I can wait one day more." "Regulations." "You, take the sacks and bring them back on board." "You too, with the sacks." "On board!" "Wait!" "Wait!" "Put the sacks down!" "Decurion, what's the matter?" "Rhual!" "Hey, decurion." "Have you come to teach us our job?" "What do you want?" "Nothing." "I want to count the sacks, weigh them, with tables handy." "We put seals and do the deliveries." " Do you need anything else?" "I need to see the wheat going to the deposit, to the people." "Do you know who speaks a lot about the people?" " The poor." "I understood it as soon as I saw you." "Do you know what you are?" "A Christian, a Christian swine." " If you say it again, I'll kill you." "We'll kill you soon, fortunately." "Christians in Rome have their days numbered." "He's a spy for Constantine." " Damn hunchback!" "Shut his mouth!" " Take him to the food administrator." "To the food administrator, to the prefect, to the emperor." "Nobody will shut my mouth!" "Calm down, we're working here!" "Here discipline is as necessary as bread." "Is it you who escorted the cargo?" " Yes, from Gaul." "And now you won't deliver the wheat to Livy?" " Who said so?" "So what's this fuss about?" "Rome needs as much.." "what's your name?" "Quadratus." " Quadratus as she needs Livy." "He who brings the wheat and he who distributes it." "Roasted." "Come, shake hands and back to work." "But I'm going to weigh, count the sacks, and put the seals." "Listen, sonny, you're exceeding the limit." "Don't you see?" "We, the officials, the state, have trust in you, and you.." "With whom do you think you're talking?" "What are you up to?" "To count the sacks, to weigh them, to put seals on them!" "It's clear: you mean we're all thieves!" "I want to do my duty." " By insulting imperial authority!" " Shut up!" "The prefect!" "Thieves, starvers!" " Long live the Christian!" "Lower your voice!" " And shut your mouth or I'm going to put seals on you too." "On me?" " Yes." " The prefect!" " Now no one will save you from the Mamertine prison!" "To whom the Mamertine?" " To you!" " To the starvers of the people." "The prefect!" "Are you the decurion who arrived from Gaul?" " Yes, I am." "Very well." "How many years of combat?" " 10." "Very well." "You'll be anxious to return home?" " Sure." "But, my dear friend, first you'll have to count the sacks, weigh them and seal them." "It's another way to serve Rome." " That's what I want!" "They called me a Christian." "Alas, little by little it's becoming honorific title." "Come, quick, everybody to work." "Did you see?" "Rhual." "What did I tell you?" "Imbeciles!" "For four sacks of wheat!" "Thieves!" "No flour, no bread, no nothing, and they got 2 inches of fat on the face." "Go to the dock and count them one by one or these will steal the ship too." "Go!" "Enough now, decurion." " Enough?" "When I think that you called me a Christian!" "Why Christian?" "Do I have a face that wants slapping?" "What's that got to do with it?" " Ah, you don't know how to recognize a Christian!" "Quiet." "I did it to explain it to you." "It's clear you're not a Christian." "Imagine I'm a Christian." "You slap me." "What do I do?" "Like this." "So that you may slap me again." "No!" "I'm not a Christian and therefore I give it back to you." "One for one." "Get it!" "just for your information." "Come on with sacks." "Come on." "May I ask something, sir?" "Do you think they'll let me go on board the galley?" "When it's unloaded." " Today?" " Don't bother our friend with that just now." "It's yours." "Fifteen." "Didn't it fall from you just now?" "It doesn't matter." "It's an amulet my mother gave me." "You know women, she says it brings luck." "And you, you don't want it back?" " 16, 17, 18." "No, I threw it away." "You threw it away?" " Superstition." "I don't believe in it." "I only believe in what I touch." "Nineteen." "A fellow used to say as you." "He said there is no rainbow because you can't touch it." "20, 21.." "And when he was in agony and crying he didn't want to die," ""Fool," they told him:" "Death doesn't exist, you can't touch it"." "Tell me the truth." "Are you scared?" "Scared I?" "First, I'm not a Christian." "Then, a gladiator is scared of nothing." "Hey, boy!" "Where is all this going?" " To Fabius's." "There's a big party." " Does the horse go to Fabius's too?" "The horse too?" " The horse too." "It's nice, eh?" "23, 24.." "Can't you see, all to Fabius's." "If he told me, "Will you work for me," that would be luck." "We are ready." "He's my nephew, his name is Tarcisius, mine is Lucian." "And you?" "Rhual, Rhual!" "How many sacks so far?" "27." " 26." "26." " Pay attention." "See you soon, Rhual." "Lucian!" "Fabius Severus Maximus to the guests of this his villa by the sea:" "Hail." "Yes, Rhual, this is our master." "Sure he couldn't tell you, "You'll work for me."" "He's Fabius Severus, he's but a statue." "A servant of his told you, but you're happy anyway, eh?" "Moreover, soon you'll fight as a gladiator before him and many important people." "They'll applaud you." "And moreover.. open the gate." "You've all the time before they call you.." "to go for a ride along the beach with this horse you like so much." "Really?" " Go." "Good luck .. as you call it." " Thank you, Lucian." "Come, Come." " What if they call for the gladiators?" "No way!" "They're starting to eat now." "They always call for the gladiators at the end." "Life is beautiful, Tarcisius." "What are you doing here?" "Will you answer me?" "I'm watching you." "Do you know you can't enter here?" " So much the better." "Who never dares never arrives." " Where?" "How can I say where?" "Far!" "Farther!" " Where that emperor on his horse arrived?" "The statue on the beach?" " Who knows where he wanted to arrive!" "There he is: a block of stone." "Then you saw me a little ago?" "And you opened the gate." "Will you carry me on your black horse?" "And if I say no?" " I order it to you." "Come here." " No." "Are you always so cheerful?" " Why?" "Come here." " No." "You come, the pillow is ready." "Move yourself." "And now we ask the Moon.." "for what we want." "When two meet for the first time in the moonlight, what they ask for will happen." "You don't believe it?" "No." "I knew it." "You only believe in what you can touch." "What do you know?" " One can see." "It could be." "I met one like you." "One who said that the rainbow doesn't exist because you can't touch it." "Then, on his death bed, he cried he didn't want to die." "And the others said." "Why are you crying?" "What are you scared of?" "Of death?" "But death doesn't exist:" "you can't touch it." "Did this story affect you?" "Not me." "Who brought you here tonight?" " Luck." "But you don't believe in it either, do you?" "Tonight.." "maybe." "Good night, Rhual." " Good night." "It's an enchantment to watch the sky together like this." "It's beautiful." " Yes." "Who knows what's up there?" "How big is the sky.." "it scares me." "Then close your eyes and you won't be scared any more." "No!" "Fabiola!" "Fabiola!" "Fabiola!" "Why are we hiding?" "Fabiola!" "Look!" "So many strange stones!" "Who knows what they are." "A star!" "This fell from the sky for you." "A good sign, you know." "When I closed my eyes I asked that I may offer you a present." "See: here it is." "Fabiola!" " It's a beautiful name." "She's Fabius's daughter." "Really." "Fabius has a daughter?" "Is she young?" "Beautiful?" "Well, it's late." "I've to go back." "Where?" "To Fabius's." "I was invited." "Maybe I'll become his friend." "Fabius's friend." "He has money and he commands." "He commands!" "And then?" " He commands." "Also the rainbow and death?" "That's nonsense." "Why did you tell it then?" "Well.." "let's go now, it's late." "Go." " And you?" "Go." "Listen." "I too would like to stay here." "Stay then." " Believe me, I can't." "Not even if I ask you to?" "I can't, but I'll be back, I assure you." "I'll be back soon." "You don't believe it?" "And if I tell you that I need you tonight.." "or never again." " Listen." "Try to understand me, honey." "Life for me begins tonight, you know?" "And if I suffered so much I could die?" "Also my mother told me so, and I left." "I dreamt of Rome since I was a child." "Luck carries me to Fabius's house." "I'm finally here.." "and you want me to renounce it!" "But when I return, it'll be with a wagon full of gold and with a 100 horses." "Don't get bored, you'll see." "Cheer up." "Come." "Let me go." " You want me to leave you here?" "I order you to leave me!" " You order it to me?" "Rhual!" "Don't leave me!" "I'll be back!" "Fabiola!" "Fabiola." "Everybody's looking for you and you.." "Fabiola, tell me who he was." "No." "Let me guess!" "Let me guess!" "A handsome boy, young, brown, quick.." "But, Fabiola, what do you have here?" "Syra!" "Tonight.." "I don't know what I'm doing." "You can do what you want, I'm your slave." "Your father bought me to serve you." " Don't say so." "You're a friend, you know." "And my father didn't buy the affection you feel for me." "Tell me you've forgotten it." "Smile." "You're not obliged to." "Yes, smile." "Come." "Help me be happy!" "It's so difficult!" "Yes, to the Christians too." "And now, I invite you to drink to the health of the Christians." "Long live the Christians!" "Why?" "We've reached the point when it is shouted in the streets." "What does the master say?" "That fish are made to swim and my guests to drink." "To your health, Manlius Valerius, and to mine, of course!" "You know the age of this Falernian?" "102." "Just think: wine lives longer than us." "Even if you, Antonianus, believe that, from a certain amount of millions, one doesn't die any more." "However, Fabius, Manlius Valerius is right." "Cheerful, my friends, a day is less than an instant.." "Alas: nothing can stop it." "You turn to the other side and it is night already." "Well said, Fabius." "You're so right." " Sure, catch the fleeting instant." "You're great, Fabius!" " Manlius Valerius." "You have always fought as a lion:" "of what are you scared now?" "Of the ants?" " Ants?" "Truly who's scared of the ants?" "Who cares?" "Meanwhile they gnaw the oak and empty it." "No!" "Drink, Manlius Valerius." "The Christian "ants" have been working for 300 years. 300 years, remember." "But we were there too this morning." " At the port?" " What happened?" "Did they set fire to the ships?" " They plundered the food board." "Worse." "Worse." "The prefect, minister of Maxentius, had to deal as between equals with a common soldier." " Why?" "Was he a Christian?" "Because the air we breath is Christian." "Perhaps even in our midst there are Christians." "They are everywhere." "What do you know?" " Here's a Christian!" "I'll find them all, one by one, if you give me the task." "I recognize them from their face." "Look at his face!" "He's a Christian!" " Corvinus!" "Stop!" "He's just a boy, master." " Hey you, listen!" "Come here!" "What do you want from us?" " He wants your biga." "If I give it to him, what's left?" "Can I take yours?" "No, it's not so!" "They say that we must share." "You take one wheel, he the second, I the rest, and then we all three walk." "Imbeciles, idiots." "Wait, Fabius." "Let us see him." "I never saw a Christian from close up." "Have you noticed?" "They all stink." "I recognize them from the smell." "Silence!" "Here he is!" "All look at him!" "He who makes the Empire tremble." "He whom you ask to be sentenced to death." "Let them talk, Lucian." "This instead will be a great day for you, you'll see." "Armodius!" "Everything ready?" " Yes, master." " Let's start then." "There are neither masters nor slaves." "Well said, Fabius, "We're all equals," say the Christians." "Worse!" "They say that the masters are thieves or their sons." "They're right." " Even worse!" "They say that the last shall be first." "The servants over the masters." "So the servants shall sit at your table, shall sleep in your bed, and shall strip you of everything." " It will be so much fun!" "You always agree with Fulvius, unless I give you more presents than him." "Here's my present now!" "Take!" "Do you like it?" "Hey?" "They're calling you." " Master, the Prefect of Rome is coming." " Tertullus Galba here?" " Yes, master." "Your father is here." "He'll give you the rest." "What can I do?" " Syra!" "Let him go out, that he may return to Rome immediately." "You!" "Don't leave." "Gentlemen, if there is any Christian among you, I have good news for him." "The Emperor didn't sign the decree." "What happened this morning at the food board made him more uncertain than ever." "The thing at the food board?" "What does he need more to decide?" "A pretext at least." "A provocation, at least." "A corpse!" "Give him a dead man killed by the Christians!" "For example, dear Fulvius." "If this morning you had let yourself be killed at the port." "A dead man of your importance!" "Just think!" "What a scandal!" "What a splendid opportunity wasted!" "The Emperor is right in not signing, Galba." "Blood brings bad luck and decrees are useless." "Moreover, we must admit, the world is changing." "My dear friends." "I invite you to admire in Tertullus Galba, what is missing in all of us." "A pure and strong loyalty." "For more than 3 hours I've refrained from telling you I'll see the Emperor tomorrow." "And for 3 hours, you, who are here for this reason, have pretended to ignore it." "Tertullus Galba comes and says to me:" ""I know you'll see the Emperor tomorrow, ask him for the decree." Here's my answer, Galba." "Armodius!" "It's huge." " Whom does it resemble?" "Powerful gentlemen, my answer is within that boar." "Your dog, Fabius." "Out with the dogs!" "And you come forward, who are faithful and fond friends." "Come you all!" "You too, you too, Galba." "Let's see. "The lid shakes because the water is boiling in the pot."" "Instead of pressing it, remove it and the vapor will diffuse and disappear!" "Yes!" "You fear to be ruined and dispossessed, because Christianity will free the slaves, true?" "And you?" "Don't you believe it?" "Cut it!" "Armodius!" "Armodius, from where did you take those doves?" "From your dovecote, master." " And now that they're free, where do you think they'll go?" " They'll go back there, master." "And if I free my servants, where will they go?" "To Fabius's." "Because at Fabius's they'll be able to work, eat, and sleep." "Time flies, oh divine Maxentius." "I'll tell him tomorrow:" ""Foolish is he who thinks he can stop it by force." "Wise is he who anticipates it in his thoughts."" "Maxentius, do you want your name to resound greatly through the ages?" "Protect the Christians!" "He's either mad or a traitor!" " He's playing into Constantine's hands!" "Fabius!" " No, I'm trying to save Maxentius!" "I'm trying to prevent Constantine from preceding him." "Constantine is not threatening us with soldiers but with ideas." "You're betraying us all." "You're drunk." "No, no it's not the wine that betrays." "It's fear!" "How many persecutions have there been till today?" "Seven." "How many were the Christians before?" "200,000." "How many are today?" "20 times more." "Isn't the reckoning clear to you?" "But this time we need to reach the roots." "Extirpate it all." "All." "That's it, but till the last one." "Because if one is left, only one, woe to you!" "And woe to me also!" "You have to kill them all." "All." " And their friends?" "And those who admire or pity them?" "Even when you've killed them all, you'll find twice as many in your way." "You're stupid, it's not enough to have this, you must also have the other!" "Understand that blood brings bad luck!" "You come in time, Fabiola!" "You father has lost his mind." "Between him and you, it's always he who is more farsighted." "My daughter." "Lucian!" "Lucian!" "It's true, beauty is always cruel." "Come all!" "You have inflamed him and now he'll do something very stupid" " I don't think so." "Come!" "You too, everybody." "Listen carefully." "Listen, everybody!" "Listen, Lucian, to what your master promises to you." "A day will come when you, Lucian, and all my Christian servants, will drink the water of freedom." "You the first ones, Lucian." "Because you'll give it to the other men." "You deserve it and I'll give it to you." "Armodius, let a scribe come." "But on that day, my friend, you'll be happy and will have to cry." "And all your comrades will be happy and will cry with you." "In Africa, in Gallia, in the darkest alleys of Rome." "For when you will be free.." "I'll be dead" "Here is my testament." "Did you understand?" " What?" "In whichever of my possessions they may live.." "What's happening?" " The master is speaking." " Fabius?" "Where?" " In there." "Whatever their age may be, men and women.." "Silence, stop and listen." " He's freeing us all." "Silence." " Who is talking?" "All my Christian servants.." "will have the supreme reward of their faithfulness." "On the same day of my death, they shall be free." "You, who were upstairs, did you hear well?" "Is it true that he freed us all?" "Since when?" "Lucian, speak." " Eh?" "Come, back to work." "Say it, Tarcisius." "The gladiators!" "He said only us." "I heard it well." " Did he say all the Christian slaves?" "And you go an prepare the bath." "The gladiators." " Lucian, I'm happy." "Are you sleeping?" "They called us." "It's your turn." "Good luck." "Go, Rhual." "And you, be ready." "As soon as the party is over we're going to Rome." "I'm sorry but I'll have to beat you, lad." "You're blind drunk." "I'm perfectly lucid." " And you want to do this foolishness." "This foolishness is the wisest act conceived by a Roman mind in the last three centuries." " In this moment?" "An act favoring the Christians!" "Exactly!" "Those who aren't Christians will become so." "and all Christians means no Christians." "I'm leaving, Fabius." " No, no, stay." " Why?" " I care." "But friends, why so much noise?" "Syra!" "Our Fabius can't do this act of wisdom and he won't do it." "Is this what you want?" " Yes." "He'd show to have really grown old." "I old?" "Feel my muscles." "I'll bury you all!" "Tomorrow when he wakes up he won't remember a word of this comedy!" "So what?" "It's all written down!" "But what is written down can be canceled or destroyed, can't it?" "Unless it's already been proclaimed and announced everywhere.." "even from tonight." "Don't you agree, Fulvius?" "Look, she's exactly like her father!" "Armodius!" "No." "Not yet the gladiators." "You, come here." "Let 5 decurion riders leave immediately with the messages.." "with the copies of my testament and bring them to all my lands." "Ah!" "They must all be Christians." "It's safer." "Have them here, at the foot of the stairs, with their horses." "I'll hand them over the copies myself." "Alright." "And now, dear friends, let's have some fun!" "The boy is quick." "Very well, retiarius!" "So you think I've grown old and that I'm drunk!" "Well, look at this." "Gladiator!" "2 sestertii if you win." "And 50 if you let me win." "Armodius, help him." "That's it." "I'll show you who is old." "Come!" "Show some courage, young man." "Come on." "Did you understand?" "100." "Well done, Fabius, don't let him win." " Armodius." "Ready!" "200." "1000, 1000 sestertii." "Is he the young man?" " Yes, he is." "A good lesson." " Fabius, you're beginning to lose." "Well done, lad." "Good shot." " Not, well done: the boy's done very well." "But the match is not over." "I only need a good bath." "A youth bath, Fabius!" " And prolonged!" "We'll talk about it again soon." "At the second round." "Gladiator.." " Armodius," "Call Lucian immediately." "Listen one moment, boy." "Lucillus is right." "We need soldiers, not retiarii." " Do you prefer the circus or the barracks?" "The barracks." " Would you rather be a hoplite or a knight?" "A praetorian." "You run too fast, young man." " That's why he'll get to it." "Shall we crown the winner?" " No!" "Come closer." "Have you heard?" "This honor belongs to me." "To the daughter of the defeated." "Come." "Come closer." "Are you scared?" "What's your name?" "No, no, don't tell me." "Give me your hand." "Syra, tell me what you read." "Give it to me." "It's the hand of the heroic winner." "The fate line is deep." "There is also the sign of glory." "You shall win." "You'll always be lucky." "Give it to me, you didn't read well." "The fate line is deep, that's true." "A great destiny." "But how many tears are on your path, and how many you already caused to shed." "I see an old woman." "Who is she?" "Your mother?" "And a young woman abandoned on the beach, crying alone." "What do you care?" "You want to be successful, don't you?" "The glory line is deep." "Friends!" "I believe I can announce great news!" "Listen, come all!" "Lucilla, come here!" "Great news." "We have amongst us a future emperor." "Look, it's my father's crown." "Is it enough for now?" "Here he is." "Let's stop now!" "Take the emperor to the kitchen and tell the servants to feed him." "And we, dear friends, let's go to the baths." "Syra!" "What are you doing here?" "Go and prepare my bath." "Fabiola." " Take away all this in front of me!" "Your father needs you." "Now." "Take away the tunic!" " Don't let that gladiator leave." "Come, quick!" "Send me your gladiator here, because I'll pay him with my own hands!" "He'll say in Rome, "I beat Fabius."" ""I beat Fabius," but he'll leave from here black and blue." "Out, away!" "You, out." "I said out!" "Come, my daughter." "I need you." "I have a torch lit within my head." "And they were all laughing!" "Scoundrels!" "They hate us because we're strong, Fabiola." "Speak, tell me I'm right." " Yes, you're right." "And we'll be so even more." " And even more alone." "Yes." "These bloodthirsty idiots don't understand." "There is none who understands that we'll be alone." "There won't be one servant to light the sacred fire before Jupiter's statue." "We'll have to light it ourselves, Fabiola." " No, papa, come." "You're tired." "Every day among our servants there are a hundred Christians more." "And even I now," "I must tell you that when I pronounce Jupiter's name.." "I feel that I just pronounce three syllables and nothing more." "What are you thinking now?" "Eh?" "Give me a kiss." "Do you know for whom I've worked all my life?" "For Rome, for the emperor, they say." "Nonsense." "I've worked for you and maybe I even stole for you." "Actually, no "maybe." I tell you that I stole.." "but they all steal anyway." "What's the matter?" "Are you upset with me?" " Why?" "Aren't you happy?" "Aren't you happy?" "You never told me so." "I didn't know it either." "I understood it tonight." "Is there anything in the world that I denied to you?" "No." "And there is nothing in the world that I can't give it to you, you know." "Yes." "Maybe it's for that." "For that!" "How is it for that?" " You're tired." "Don't torment yourself." "How?" "I live for you." "I hoarded for you, and you say you're unhappy for that." "No, I don't believe you, it's not true." "I know what's the matter with you." "To see me on the ground like a servant!" "He caught me treacherously, damn him!" "They paid him." "They told him: "Knock him flat and we'll give you double."" "I'll summon him." "I'll make him spit out the truth." "Else, I'll pull out his tongue." "No, you won't do it!" " I'll give him 100 lashes." "Against an innocent boy." " You'll count them!" "Oh, yes?" "Then you won't see me any more." "You defend him even to this extent?" " If I had not met him tonight.." "perhaps I wouldn't be alive." "Fabiola, Fab..!" "You hope you've come to see a finished man!" "No, after your daughter, I love you the most." " Because we fear for your skin." "What you did is grave." "You offended Maxentius's prestige." "Do you also think so?" "Galba, you're silent not to lie." "No, because it's useless to speak." "I know you." "It's Fulvius who wanted to try to make you ponder one day more." "But I care for your opinion." "Your gesture will be like a pebble thrown into the water." "It'll travel far." "In all the parts of the empire." "Maybe you don't know how far your name is spread?" "Yes, I do." "My name is great." "On my tomb they will read:" ""Richer than the emperor, feared like the emperor, he made nobody happy, not even his daughter."" "But now it's not about us." " It's about the empire." "It's about Rome." "Rome?" "You're as hypocritical as a servant." "It's your pockets and not Rome!" "Watch out, Fabius!" "Stay with us!" "An instant decision is needed!" "Away everyone!" "Away, away, everyone!" "I want to be left alone." "I want to be left alone." "Alone as a dog." "Away, away!" "Alone." "Alone." "I've always been alone." "Alone like a dog." "I've always been alone." "Fabiola." "Fabiola!" "Rhual." "Rhual." "Rhual!" "Hey, you!" "Did you see that gladiator going out?" " Which?" "He who wrestled with the master." "No, we come from there." "If he had we would have seen him." "Lucian, what'll you do when you're free?" " I'll be free soon." "I'm already old." "Shall we leave right away?" " As soon as he hands us the copies we're off, lest he should regret it." "What will you do, Claudius?" " Me?" "I'll lie down on a meadow and pay a slave to call me:" ""Claudius, Claudius, Claudius", and I say nothing." "Lying and watching the sky all day long." " Rhual." "Who was calling that young man, the gladiator?" " Lucian." "Has he gone away?" " He's looking for him." "Lucian!" "Rhual!" "What's the matter with that animal?" "What's happened?" "Quiet." "Silence." "What a loss!" "What a void for us and for the empire!" "He was so pious and generous." " And great." "Perhaps the greatest man of our time." " What a pain for Maxentius." "Who could have approached him after he was left alone?" "The Christian slaves." "Those of the message decury." "Did you see them?" " I saw them conspiring on the terrace." "Take them." "I'll question them myself." " Take them all, arrest them all." "Whom?" " The Christian slaves." "There is none in this house who is not chargeable." "You have nothing to say?" " She left her father before you." "Look, Galba." "Look with what they killed him." " Sacrilegious!" "Who could have defied the gods' wrath with this profanation?" "The Christians." "This is their signature." "Get down." "Come on, get going." "Now cry as much as you like." " But you won't get out without talking." "You must take back all that you said." "Move away." "You must spit out the name of the murderer." "Because you know it, hey?" "Sebastian is here." "I told him." "That's who accused us." " She's a viper." "She hates us." " She hates us." "As you entered here, did you turn your mind to God, John?" "What did you ask to the Lord?" "I can't tell you, Sebastian." " And you, Peter?" "I.." "I thought of this one here and said:" ""Lord, make her spit out the truth and then.." "and then lose her tongue."" "And so your prayer crossed Heaven, all filled with souls, arrived at God, and what did it ask to the Lord?" "Eh?" "Go, you're free." "Accompany her." "Forgive them." "Come." "We didn't want to kill her." " But we have to defend ourselves, otherwise one day we wake up and find the decree." "The Lord knows we're innocent and that's enough." "It's surely painful that a calumny should weigh over all our community, but it's more painful that an act should be committed.." "like the one you've just done." "Tonight we'll all gather together because this is a grave time." "After the ceremony, whoever will shed light over this crime, will be heard." "The Lord be with you." "Does it get out into the city this way?" "Yes, on the street Nomentana." "Come." "Are you afraid I might denounce you?" "An idea that frightens more you than me." "Careful, it goes down." "There's a step." "Aren't you scared?" "Didn't you understand that it was indeed I who accused you?" "Yes." "But I also understood that you wouldn't do it again." "True?" "Who killed Fabius?" " I don't know." "Why don't you look at me?" "Look into my eyes and say: "I don't know."" "I don't know." "I believe you." "Don't you ask me?" "Don't you want to know why I accused you?" "No." "Neither do you ask me what I saw?" " If you wish to tell me." "I only wish that you be saved." "Listen." "Sebastian!" "Listen to me." "Did you see only Manlius Valerius and the gladiator on the biga?" "Yes." " Alone?" "Alone." " And nobody noticed such a sudden departure?" "Only Lucian and I." "Through here we exit on the Nomentana." "Thank you, Syra." "How do you know my name?" " He who knows Fabiola, knows you." "And he despises us." "Life is long, Syra." "See, a torch has not burned out yet, and you have already changed." "How many torches can burn out in a day?" "Life is long, Syra." "But what's the matter?" "They want to carry Fabius to Rome today and raise the people against you." "While the guilty will be among the crowd, and the crowd won't see them." "There's one who has seen them." "Who follows each step of every one of us." "What can I do to help you?" "Now you've changed." "Go back to Fabiola." " Yes." "See you, Syra." " See you." "Sebastian, there's nobody." "We can get out." "Fabius!" "Fabius!" "Why, why!" "The last words my father heard from me were bitter words." "I shall never be able to withdraw them." "Why didn't you arrest all the Christians of the house?" "You don't believe they're guilty.." "Is that true?" " Everything in due time, Fabiola." "You don't tell me what you think." "But I trust in you." "And I tell you that perhaps the murderer.." "had toasted with my father a moment before." "All who had toasted with him were with me at the time of the crime." "Everything in due time, Fabiola." "Come, talk!" "Who kidnapped Syra?" "Peter and John." " This is not enough for the Justice Prefect." "Who are Peter and John?" "Speak clearly." "Good Romans?" "They carry the cross under the tunic." "It was the Christians who kidnapped Syra." " Surely." "Syra is a very important witness for the guilty." "You think she's in danger?" "All is possible as long as those people have free hands." "But Galba keeps looking for proofs." " Yes." "Come, Armodius." "I understand your impatience, you loved Fabius and would like to see the guilty already crucified at the Suburra gates, but the wheel of justice is slower than our heart, slower.." "and safer." "Who knows where he's looking for the guilty?" "He fancifully flies away, especially away from the Christians." "He's already come to suspect that young man, that provincial, the one you crowned at the banquet." " Why?" "Is there a reason?" " No reason, but.." "he can invent it." "Justice is slow, he said, but he didn't tell you that she's often blind and misses the target, when we don't come and help her." "There." "And although Diocletian's persecutions had killed more than 200,000 of them.." "when the Christians counted themselves again, by the Lord's will, their number had doubled." "Perhaps Corvinus will tell you." "Do you understand?" "Talk to him." "He must know something." "And so tonight will tell Sebastian." "Do you think it was funny?" "Corvinus!" "Tarcisius!" "When will you learn not to fight?" "Hey?" "When will you learn?" " It was him." "I don't want fights!" "The Prefect." "Last night you were at Ostia, in Fabius's house." "Armodius told me." "Who brought you there?" "Who was it?" " Fulvius, but I left as soon as you arrived." "I know it." "What you and Fulvius have in common?" "Luxury, money, vice?" "Remember that you're not rich." "Will you recognize the gladiator who wrestled with Fabius?" "What wrestling?" "I wasn't there." " How did you return?" "On a barrow." " No." "At his age one slap is enough, and you've already slapped him." "I slapped him too." "From now on you'll keep him locked in your school even during the night." "Yes." "What did he do to you?" " Nothing" "Let me see." " Nothing." "And you keep defending him!" "Corvinus is a scoundrel!" "It's not his fault." " No?" "And whose is?" "We should treat him differently, show him that we trust him, love him." "My Laetitia, you're hopeless case." "But I envy you." " Laetitia!" " Laetitia!" " Laetitia!" "Laetitia, do you know who's here?" " Laetitia!" "Let me pass." "Faustina!" "You start carrying this upstairs, but careful not to break anything." "Faustina." " She went there running." "To the shop?" " No, to Cassian's school." "Quadratus, always the same." " You too, you look like a child." "Faustina!" "Laetitia!" "Where are they?" " There they are." "Where are they?" " There." "Laetitia!" " Dad!" "Laetitia!" "Laetitia!" "Darling." "Old crybaby." "You grew white hair too, hey?" "Will you prepare for me a nice plate of snails today?" "Faustina!" " Coming." "The snails." " They're coming, dead." "Here are the snails." "I must tell you the truth." "In Gaul.." "in Gaul, after Laetitia and Faustina I used to miss snails." "Too bad you don't wear your hair in pigtails any more." "You don't like them?" "You never tried them." " And never will." "Teacher, try them or we're not friends any longer." " Anything but the snails." "At least one." "No, dad." " Don't insist, he doesn't like them." "What kind of teacher is he, whimsical like a child?" "So?" "You returned my trust in life." "And praises to Faustina." "Teacher, we'll write in your book that you ate snails." "What book?" " A history." "What history?" " The history of the Christians." "I beg your pardon, Cassian, but you must clear up a doubt of mine." "Quadratus, have you gone crazy?" "Quadratus!" "Thanks goodness." "I was afraid he might be a Christian." " Actually, I am a Christian." "But you slapped me back!" " One must turn the other cheek to an enemy, but not to a friend." " Then you're a Christian." "Don't look like that!" "You look as I did before trying the snails." "The dead is coming." " What's up?" "The dead of Ostia." " Fabius." "Which Fabius, Fabius Severus?" "They killed him last night." " Fabius?" "Where is their meeting?" " Corvinus will soon know." "We must prevent it by all means." " Or forbid it with a decree and then surprise them all gathered." "But he must be able.." "to unleash these damned people against the Christians." "Romans!" "Generous and righteous people, listen!" "The emperor has wept!" "With these words the illustrious senator Arborius Silvanus and prefect of the praetorium consoled this morning the hapless orphan." "As always, every action of the emperor is an interpretation of the people's mind." "Because all the people of Rome weep." "And so?" " You are safe." "I'll tell you tonight." "Where?" "At the catacombs of the Nomentana." "Did you hear his name?" "The key of the school." " Will you be able to tell us?" "Don't tell anyone." "Leave some mark along the road, on the wall, like this." "Quick." "The broken status of Jupiter." "Here's the instrument of the crime." "Here's the symbol of the sacrilege." "The signature of the murderers!" "The Christians to the lions!" " Kill the murderers!" "Let's go away." "Let's go!" "Obey!" "Romans!" " Romans!" "Fabiola!" "Fabiola!" "Stand back, tramp!" "A wretched gladiator dares to speak to Fabiola!" "What's going on?" "Wretched gladiator!" "I found you at last!" "Didn't you hear me calling you?" "You ran away like a thief." "Not like a thief, like a murderer." " Dad!" "Do you know who he is?" "He's that scoundrel.." " Dad, you're hurting him." "Why?" " He fell there." "They bumped him." "Did he?" " They were ten, no wonder." "Laetitia, the linen." "This is Laetitia, and this is my sister Faustina." "You did find somebody who pounded you, eh?" "But it won't happen again." " Hold this one moment." "What are you looking at?" "Won't you leave?" "See how they beat you." "What a career!" "Yes, I have had a career." "I'm decurion of the Praetorians." " Sure, the Praetorians." "You must be kidding." "Third century." " Come home with us and eat something." "If you don't believe me, you will." "I'll come to see you in uniform, and I'll bring a basket of oranges so big for her and wine for you." "We'll drink and be merry, you'll see." "Rhual." "Rhual!" "You let me down when I most needed you." "Forgive me." " Rome is full of lies." "I left to hear them no more." "They speculate on my father's death." "Hypocrites." "I should have distanced you from all his friends." "My father had no friends, Syra." "Forgive me." "Of what shall I forgive you?" "It is not your fault." "I thought that their merriment gave you delight in living." "I couldn't be your friend." "Fabiola, I left you alone." "Don't say so." "Tell me about you and the Christians." "What did they do?" "They could have killed me.. because now I know where they hide." "And one of them told me:" ""You're free, go."" "I could denounce them and he told me: "You're free."" "The Christians?" " Yes." "What do they do to defend themselves?" " Nothing, they don't fear our justice." "I know." "The Christians didn't do it." "The Christians didn't do it." " That's true, Fabiola." "But all are against them." "You were the first to accuse them." " I did it for you, to help you." "Instead we must tell the truth, Fabiola, even if it hurts." "What truth?" "We know who was the last one to talk with your father." "What do you mean?" "Recently I saw him unsettled, hiding in the crowd, as if pursued by remorse." "It's not true." "It's not true!" "Rhual didn't do it!" "If I hear his voice again." "He didn't do it." "You cannot judge him!" " But, Fabiola.." "Nobody has the right to accuse him, if I love him!" "I'm ready to put down whoever should accuse him, including him who freed you." "Understand?" "It's my fault." "It's my fault if you talk like that." "I ask you again for forgiveness." "I wish I had the courage to say.." "he killed my father.." "and I love him." "I don't know what I'm saying." "I don't know what I want." "Don't abandon me, Syra." "I too am very scared to be abandoned." "We must help each other, Fabiola, you and I, and ask for help together." "To whom?" " He told me:" ""A torch has not burned out yet, and you have already changed."" "So do you know where the Christians gather?" " Yes." "Then, come." "As a consequence of the disorders provoked by the Christians, all their meeting are forbidden under penalty of immediate arrest." "A recompense of 30 Denarii will be paid for each captured Christians." "I hope you're satisfied, Sebastian, we've begun to clean up." "I wish Maxentius could say Sebastian was the first to catch the rebels." "Which?" "Those who have suffered accusations, injuries, all the provocations today at Fabius's funeral but wouldn't lift their hands?" "You're more reckless than I thought." " Sure it would have been useful to see the Christians react and catch them with weapons in their hands." "With weapons in their hands, so that they might be called rebels." "One who loved you less than I do would suspect you're a Christian." "I'll just think that you take advantage of Maxentius's special good-will." "I don't take advantage, I try to earn it." "Where's the emperor's seal in that decree?" "The military command issued it." " It's an abuse." "I cannot give illegal orders to my soldiers." "I'd betray their trust." "What shall I say if they ask me, "Who's sending us against these innocent?"" "Well, Maxentius will learn how you judge Constantine's followers!" "For this task the command of your century will pass to decurion Rhual." "Call the young gladiator who arrived this morning from Ostia with the proconsul." "Laetitia, did you see Corvinus?" "What did you learn?" "The Lord be with you." "We must be careful, do you understand?" "And Sebastian?" " He can't come." "Why?" " Maybe Cassian knows." "Will you stop prattling?" " They asked me if Sebastian would come." "Sebastian won't come." "Is it true that Sebastian can't come?" "Why?" "Did they recognize me?" " Who?" "Didn't you see them?" "Lucretia and Julia." " Ah, your friends!" "Who stopped coming over." " Yes." "Look." "They kneel before Lucian." "Before my servant Lucian." "Who is the one who freed you?" " I don't see him." "These young people were at Fabius's funeral this morning, and ask to become Christians." " In the most dangerous time." "Why?" "All those speeches, those cries were bought against you." "I said, it means they're innocent, they're good people." "I was close to Fabiola's litter, a few steps away." "She was disgusted as well and hated those impostors and bullies." "Therefore she left." "If you wish to become a Christian.." "What's your name?" " Aurelius." "If you wish to become a Christian, Aurelius, learn not to hate your enemy, but to forgive and to love him." "Christian love must be stronger than evil, than pain, than fear." "than joy." "Do you wish to?" " Yes." "In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." "Stop." "The signs indicate Nomentana." " You're wrong." "Besides I know, I was told." "Stop!" "I command the soldiers." "Are you trying to lead them astray?" "I understood, you know." "It's the first time after many years that we meet gathered in this place." "The first.." "and maybe also the last." "With the trial for the murder of Fabius Severus, some wish that a calumny should become a sentence." "Some wish that the Christians be pointed at to the people as murderers, so that they may suffer the fate of the murderers that every morning at dawn, are executed in the circus." "No, Fabiola, the Christians didn't do it." "The Lord be with you." "Stay here and wait." "I'll take care of them." "Have you seen a boy?" "He's waiting for Laetitia." " No, I saw nobody." "Our brother Gaius Sulpicius, is here to assure us that prefect Galba has decided to discover the truth." "Let us answer to his questions." "Well, Peter and John, let's hear you first." "Fabiola had just left the room.." " When Fulvius and the others arrived.." "Then Fabius began to shout and threw us all out." "And after a while we saw that young man." " The gladiator." "The gladiator who was going to him." "I told you to go through Nomentana!" "And he made you go through the other side." "He seems to be afraid, or to wish to waste time." "Hundreds have escaped." "He made you lose hundreds of sesterces." "Hey, you!" "Who gave you the order?" "What are you doing here?" " This is what we're doing." "Was my direction wrong?" " Stop it!" "We thank the Lord for having enlightened you, Syra." "Then everything bears against the young gladiator." " Why?" "Appearances can be gathered against him as against us." "No." "When that boy called me last night, his was not the voice of a murderer." "but that of a creature in need of help." "We cannot accuse him." "Not even if there is somebody who saw him?" "What do you mean?" " Speak, tell him." "Come, take heart." "There is one who know who did it and is coming to tell us." "I'm waiting for him." "He's a friend." "A boy who wants to help us." "What's his name?" " Corvinus." "There they are!" "Over there!" "Corvinus." "I knew you would come." "What's the matter?" "Of what are you scared?" "Who lead them here?" " Is she with you?" "Yes, she's with me." "It's not true, it cannot be you." "I don't even believe it, you know?" "Why did you call me last night?" " I called nobody." "You became a decurion, eh?" " You climbed fast." "Rhual." "What are you doing here?" "Fabiola." "Do you know you're arresting innocent people?" "Fabiola." "END OF THE FIRST PART" "SECOND PART:" "THE BLOOD OF THE MARTYRS" "Voluntary witness Rhual, decurion of the 3rd century of the Praetorian Guard." "Sebastian, is this decurion Rhual of your century?" "Yes, he is." " Decurion Rhual, if you are faithful to our gods, burn the incense." "Romans, Romans!" "The consequences of this trial may be very grave and far reaching." "Our pride has always been Justice, which is Truth." "Let's respect her in silence." "Do you know what you have to say?" " He asked me to testify over the facts." "Do you confirm and assure his loyalty?" " I do." "You must say everything that you saw and heard." "Speak, tell us what you saw." "I saw Fabius Severus dying." "Lucian took me to the stairs and then left me." "I walked down." "Fabius was seated low on the seat." "He was talking quietly." "He was crying." " What did he tell you?" "It was hard to hear." "He was muttering, saying that he wanted to be left alone." "He repeated "alone" many times." "I pitied him and felt that my anger disappeared." "Then you admit that you bore a grudge against Fabius?" "Against all on that night." "Continue." "He wanted to be left alone, so I went up and left." "When I was half through the stairs, I heard a stifled cry." "I turn and see Fabius staggering and raising his hands to his head." "He sought support from the pedestal and fell down like a rock." "And the statue fell with him." "Therefore nobody used the statue to kill him." "Nobody!" "I am sure!" "You've been bought!" " You've been paid." "Impostor!" " He's a Christian!" "He wants to help the Christians!" " He killed him!" "Murder..!" "Enough!" "Speak, Rhual!" "Tell the truth!" "But you, did you see who hit Fabius?" "No." "Behind him there was but an empty corridor." "So you didn't turn as soon as you heard the cry." "Yes, immediately." " And you saw nobody?" "No, nobody." " Not even a shadow?" " I saw him only." " A footstep's sound?" "No, nothing!" "Lifting his head, my hands were soaked in blood." "He had been hit from behind." "Sure, from the spirit of Proserpina." " No, from Jupiter's lightning!" "Why didn't you call me?" "Why didn't you talk then?" "He died suddenly and I was scared.." " Scared?" "Of what?" "If you were innocent." " I was scared." "I only thought of fleeing." "When I was climbing up again, I heard some horses coming." "They belonged to the Christian messengers whom I later saw on the terrace." "Those?" " Yes." "Then you affirm at the time of the crime they were far away." "Yes, I do!" "A more trustworthy testimony from the house-slave Syra affirms the contrary." "Syra is here." "We can question her." " I withdraw my accusation." "It was false." "That woman cannot give testimony." "She's a slave!" "I proclaim Syra a free woman, from this moment." "But she can't.." "Register that." "How were you able to flee?" "When I turned again there were two men next to Fabius's body." "I was there.." "When you turned again, while you were fleeing?" "Yes." " Go on." "I was there alone, with bloody hands." "I wanted to justify myself, but they wouldn't let me." "Lucian was calling me and they wouldn't let me answer him." " Calling you?" "Why?" "Because I had called for his help when I saw Fabius die." "They wouldn't let me answer!" "And one of them carried me away." "And did you come to Rome with him?" " Yes." "Only with him?" " Yes." "Ah, no." "Almost immediately a boy got on." "His name is.." "Corvinus." "Did you know him?" " No." "Did you see him at the banquet?" " No." "And who were the two men?" "Prefect Fulvius Petronius and proconsul Manlius Valerius." "Enough!" " Christian!" "You've been bought!" "The prefect of the city suspends the session to reexamine the acts!" "But didn't you.." "return to Rome on a barrow?" "We are not at school here." " Corvinus, you father wants you." "Corvinus." "Happy!" "Happy!" "Well done, Rhual!" "Cheer up, my daughter." "You're safe, everybody says so." "And also Rhual." "I told you he was a good boy." "Leave!" "Careful, Corvinus, if you don't talk immediately, you won't talk any more." "Here's the decree." "The emperor has heard the people, now he's waiting for justice to speak." "Wait, has he already condemned the impostors?" "War is at the gates, Galba." " Murderers!" "Rome is impatient." " To disappear, because she repelled the law." "Hannibal today would laugh in the face of Romans like us." "And Constantine.." "Constantine has already won." "Out." "Bastards." "Out!" "Arrest him." "He offended the emperor." "They say the decree is ready." "If they are condemned, the signature is ready." "Let me be." " But, Fabiola.." "Let me be." "Rhual, what are you doing?" " They've arrested me." "Why did you arrest him?" "Because he spoke the truth, eh?" "Out." " To shut his mouth, true?" "Of course, to shut his mouth!" "What do you want from me?" "Look here, 20 years of service." "Let me go!" "Let me go!" " Dad!" "Laetitia, I've fought 20 years for Rome!" "Can you tell it from my face?" "She's my daughter." "Let him go!" " Scoundrels!" " Come." " My daughter is there." "Come, calm down." "You need to leave now." " They got her, they want to condemn her." "Don't worry, Quadratus." " For this have I fought 20 years?" "For what did I fight?" "For whom did I fight?" "The actual perpetrator of the crime is not amongst them, but it is certain he hides in the despicable mob of tramps and slaves, scattered all over Rome to conspire against Caesar." "Some ask why the Christians would have killed him." "They killed him because Fabius's death meant their freedom." "They killed him because Fabius had benefited them." "and this protected them from any suspicion." " Galba!" "Where is Galba?" "They killed him because the time was ripe!" "Fabius had talked with us and is it possible to throw an absurd, intolerable.." "shadow of suspicion over the friends of the dead, over the loyal of the empire?" "And before the danger threatening the empire, one must tell the truth." "We hate the Christians!" "We hate the Christians because they won't fight." "Have you forgotten the Chaldean legion?" "3000 Christian soldiers, 3000 lost." "They preferred to be killed by us rather than to fight the enemy." "We hate the Christians, and if this is a crime, hang us on the rostra and open the way to the legions of Constantine!" "Well said!" " Death to the Christians!" "Crime!" "Galba!" "Where is Galba?" "Everyone to Galba's!" "Galba!" "Galba was a Roman!" "As soon as he had knowledge of the truth, he couldn't outlive the shame of having sided with the enemies of the empire, and killed himself." "You take his post." "Very soon.." "we'll come to learn who was the Christian who induced this naive provincial to accuse us, and consequently to accuse himself." "Someone will tell us in due time, someone too dear to the emperor to be himself suspected." "When he understands, we shall indicate to him Galba's example." "But we already know, that it was a Christian who introduced the young man to the house," "Not us." "That it was a Christian to push him towards Fabius." "Not us." "And that it was a Christian to lead him to the scene of the crime." "Galba killed himself." " It was his son Corvinus's fault." "It's him." "They're taking him away." "Did Galba kill himself?" " Yes." "After speaking with his son?" " He threw him out and shut himself in." "Move away, let them pass!" " Why did he kill himself?" "Was he a Christian?" " He was just." "But are you sure you saw Corvinus?" " Yes, in the villa." "While Lucian was looking for Rhual?" "Hence, when the crime was taking place, Corvinus was still there?" "Yes, he was." "Scoundrel!" "Then it's clear!" "Thus it would be easy to deduce that the murderer was that young gladiator instigated by the Christians." "Too easy, and unfair." "Unfair as they who hide in the darkness of the catacombs to celebrate their rites." "We, on the contrary, honor the gods under the sun, in the daylight." "and we don't confuse Rhual the gladiator with the enemies of Rome, but we esteem decurion Rhual as a faithful servant of the empire." "as one of us." "Yes, it's true." "We saw him rushing to kneel at the feet of the victim." "It's true: he lifted his head with the clear intention of helping him," "It is true, finally, that it was we who removed him." "We removed a shocked youth, whose innocence was clear." "An innocence revealed in his gaze, in his demeanor." "An innocence that even now stands out before the eyes of all." "But if a doubt should still exist in somebody's mind," "I ask you to question her in whom the voice of blood speaks, and who can neither feel hatred for the innocent nor indulgence for the guilty." "Let Fabiola tell us whom she suspects." "If the young decurion sent by his father's friends, or all the enemies of Fabius, inasmuch as enemies of Rome." "Fabiola!" "Do you consider decurion Rhual guilty?" "No, I believe he's innocent." " Hence, do you consider the Christians guilty?" "It's for justice, illustrious magistrate, to answer this question precisely." "Only Fabiola can tell us how was her father's mind regarding the Christians." "My father used to tell me," ""Every day there are 100 more Christians among our servants, soon there won't be one slave left to light the sacred fire before Jupiter's statue, and we'll have to light it ourselves, Fabiola."" "And I remember he added," ""When I pronounce the name of Jupiter.." "I feel there is nothing more sacred."" " That's not true." "That's not true!" "That's not true!" "I saw Fabius dying, I heard his last word, as a cry of my mother's that I had denied." "That's why." "That's why I was scared." "Fabius.." "Fabius invoked the name of Christ." "That's was his last word." "He said "Christ," as if to say, "I believe."" "And I kept silence." "They paid me to keep silence." "But if you condemn those innocents, you have to condemn me too, because I'm a Christian too!" " Stop it!" " Condemn me!" " Stop it!" "No, please!" "The tribunal of Rome declares that the Christians are guilty of murder." "And it submits their sentence to the emperor's decision." "Death to the Christians!" "Death to the Christians!" "Quick, go, go!" "Learn how to live, my son." "Let's go." "What's in there?" "You steal too, eh?" "Let me see." "Give it back." " Be quiet." "What's this?" "What's for?" "You don't even know how to steal." "Now let's square things up." "When did you see me?" "Where?" "At Fabius's villa?" "Liar!" "Stop with that stuff!" "What are you going to store there?" "You hold it as a treasure." "Are you going to store your god inside?" " Yes, my God." "Oh really?" "And where are you taking it?" " To those who are dying." "It's no laughing matter for you." "It's clear that you're scared." "Scared!" "I'm going to kill you, you know?" "You and that damned old man Cassian, This is what I wanted to tell you." "Why does he care for my father's death?" "I don't care at all and he cares?" "Tell him to forget that I'm alive, if he wishes to stay alive." "Why are you shouting?" "He's right." "You're scared." "So what am I to tell Fulvius?" "Eh?" "Now you need to get off with it, those two could talk." "You need to decide, boy, there's not enough space for all in this world." "You need to decide, either you're on our side or not, you kill or be killed." "And the mightiest is always right, like among the beasts." "Your father, who didn't understand it.." " At least, at least pay me." "Get off?" "So did Fulvius say that I have to take care of it?" "As if I had done it for myself." "Pay me!" "Tarcisius!" " Murderers!" " Tarcisius!" "Tarcisius." " Poor angel." "He was taking communion to the prisoners of the Mamertine." "Murderers!" "With the sling eh?" "You were playing with it!" "Why did your father kill himself?" "You know and now I know too." " Come on, come on!" "Teacher, teacher!" " What's happening?" "Let him go!" "Scoundrels!" "Where is Cassian?" "Where is Cassian?" "Scoundrels!" "Tarcisius!" "Faustina!" "Quadratus." "Look at what those monsters did." "They have scattered the pages about." " I'll pick them up, Faustina." "Faustina.." "It's the history of the martyrs." "Cassian has studied and dictated all his life to write it." "And look what has become of everything." "Pick it all up and order it." "It's our history.." "the history of the Christians." "Faustina." "You shall complete these pages." "You shall write:" ""The persecutions were reinstated." "Among the first martyrs were the child Tarcisius and Faustina, true servant of God."" "And add:" ""With her died Cassian.." "the author of this book."" "Fabiola, I open to you Rhual's prison and you don't thank me, you leave us and don't even say goodbye." "Won't my friend say anything to me?" "Yes, that I'm leaving for ever." "Thus I'll free yourself from an unsafe accomplice." "Didn't you wish this?" "We're even, Fulvius." "My last suggestion, as a friend." "Tomorrow at dawn you must be already far away." "Lucian." "Tarcisius is here." " Did you bring Tarcisius?" "Yes, so that he may bless him." "Lucian is here on the side." "But, listen, now as you pass by.." "let me see him too." " Yes." "Goodbye." "Goodbye, Tarcisius." "You could have saved him and didn't do it." "That child's name was Tarcisius, remember it." "We were merry that night." "He was running happy on the beach, and I.." "I was going to Rome." "They killed him!" "Throwing stones!" "Go away." "You're free." "I'm not asking you to come with me." "You can go wherever you want." "Wherever you want." "I'm leaving now.." "and you won't see me any more." "Don't you believe me?" "You're wrong, I'm not here to plead with you." "I know your thoughts." "I know that for you I set fire to those houses," "I threw those stones." "but it's not true." "It's not true!" "Whatever happened had to happen." "Facts are stronger than us." "No!" " Why do you say no?" "Whatever I had done, nothing would have changed." "Besides, don't talk me about the others." "For me you are the only one in the world." "Do I have to cry it to you?" "Call me wicked, wretched, but I don't want you to die." "Nothing can stop me." "I'll tear you out of here, even by force." "Because you love me to, even if you hide it, you're like me, Rhual." "You love life." "You want me like I want you." "You're not a Christian!" "You see nothing!" "You remember nothing!" "Not even your father!" "Let me go, let me go!" "Fabiola!" " She killed herself!" "No, she's just fainted." "Let's lift her up." "Take her home." "She'll recover soon and hear people rushing to her." "Great news has just come to Rome." "Fabiola." "Fabiola, can you hear me?" "I have something wonderful to tell you." "Can you hear me?" "Fabiola." "Since that night when your father freed the Christians, his last word immediately run through the provinces everywhere, and has arrived at Constantine's camp." "Fabiola.." "more than ever the echo of this word resounds as a miracle all over Rome." "Constantine has chosen as banner the cross of Christ." "All those who are persecuted bless your father and look up to you, who've distanced yourself from Maxentius." "You're the hope of the Christians, Fabiola." "If you will it, no more blood will be shed." "I don't want to know anybody's business, but how many of you are like me?" "After risking our lives 100 times!" "And for what?" "For whom?" "For whom?" "Indeed, for whom." "Constantine, Maxentius." "They're all the same." "No." "There, in Gaul, where he rules, I never saw such infamies, such stealing." "Rome is alive there." "And to continue to live she must become Christian, let Constantine come and sweep away all this filth, and Maxentius who lives in its middle!" "Maxentius is dead for me." "Now he's just become a puppet in the hands of that guy, Fulvius Petronius." "Of the hypocrite, thief, and scoundrel." "Fulvius." "Fulvius." " What's the matter?" "Nobody can enter." "Let me pass!" " No!" "Have you learned to say no?" "Since when?" "Maxentius asked me news about you, and what he can do for you." "He doesn't forget what he owes to your father." "Fabiola, perhaps you understand that your father saw more clearly than we do." "Fabius didn't recommend to us a war." "What's the matter?" "Shall I call someone?" " No." "Fabiola, what a pain to see you so." "But if you wish, we can still do much of what your father desired." "We can mitigate the contrasts between us and the people, between us and the Christians." "Who knows?" "Why excluding that, the weapons may be thrown into the river?" "It takes so little to dissipate suspicion and hate." "Did Maxentius ask about me?" " And he's ready to do anything for you, as if he were your father." "It's enough for you to ask him to." "Well." "Tomorrow night, in my villa in Ostia." "Hail." "Hail." "Free passage." "Syra is looking for you." "Fabiola will receive the enemies of the Christians in her villa in Ostia." "It was Fulvius's doing, I know." "Everybody in the palace knows it." "There was so much hope today in Rome.." "this meeting destroys it." "Look above, Syra." "Talk to her." "She's a woman who loves and has the courage to defend her love." "Perhaps I envy her and I cannot change her." "Don't leave me alone." " Alone?" "Syra, didn't you learn to pray God?" "When I pray, I feel united to all who love me." "To all." "Including the friends who have left." " Yes, Sebastian." "But if trust in a friend could help you.." "Will you come?" " You can rely on me." "See you later, Syra." "Shall I see you again?" " Certainly." "See you later, Sebastian." "Among the prisoners there's our comrade, decurion Rhual." "Bring him to me." "Syra, where is mistress?" " Who wants her?" "An officer of the Praetorium." "Sebastian!" "Rhual!" "Rhual!" "Have you run away?" " No." "Sebastian is watching the prisons and he let me come." "Do you have to go back?" " I promised to return before sunset." "I need to speak to you, Fabiola." "Will you?" " Come, Rhual." "To see nobody, to talk to nobody." "I'll ask just that." "To remain shut up in there till the end." "Sebastian talked to me and all became clear." "Have you seen the sunrise?" "All is gray, you only see shadows, and then suddenly, you find the pines, the beach, the sea." "I was brutal and unjust with you." "Will you be able to forget it?" " You're here, Rhual, only that matters." "Come." " I exasperated you." "and because of me you're making a mistake." "Tell me it's not too late." "I have a great thing to ask you." "The greatest thing I desire, is that you give me an order.." "and be able to obey you." "Come." "Do you remember?" "Yes." "I told you I would return with a cart full of gold coins, and here I am empty handed." "And you.." "are more powerful than ever." "You have the lives of thousands of people in your hands." "Look." "I love you." "You've been always before my eyes.. and you'll be forever." "Oh, Rhual." "See, when I was a child, my mother used to tell me.." "that there was always somebody at our door." "I'd rush to open and see nobody." "She would smile.." "and tell me: "You didn't look carefully, Rhual."" "Now I believe.." "I believe, I understand what my mother meant." "What?" "Tell me." "That we are not alone in the world, Fabiola." "Do you understand?" "Nothing in the world was made for us alone." "We would like that." "I too, see, even now would like.." "Rhual." " Fabiola!" "I've just come to ask you not to receive the enemies of the Christians." "I know you do it to save my life." " And of your friends." "But you should not do it." "They have one end only: to be seen with you so that people may believe that Fabiola is with them, against the Christians." "Is that all you want?" "I shall not see the emperor." "I shall not see anybody." "I have already promised to obey you." "I shall never do anything that might remove you and forgive me.." "for the evil that I did." "Fabiola!" "Love." "My love." "Sebastian!" "Sebastian!" "You let the decurion Rhual escape." "And you're also an accomplice of a Christian traitor." "Finally then you've revealed yourself:" "you also are a traitor and a Christian." "You'll be executed tomorrow at dawn." "Follow me, you're under arrest." "Corvinus." "Corvinus, come here." " Corvinus!" "What a beautiful suit." "Where are you going?" " To the seaside." "To Fabiola's villa?" " About so." "Why don't you wait for us and come with us?" "No, affairs of state." "But Fabiola must not see you." "Wait until the young man is alone." "I'll tell Syra." "She would be torn to pieces, only to save Sebastian." "Syra, well said." "But then, look, I know him." "He'll gather his friends." "And rush to save him." " Exactly." "That's what we want." "Scram!" "Do you want to save Sebastian?" " We want them to save Sebastian." "Rhual!" "Rhual!" "Rhual!" "The imperial retinue." "It's already here." " Alright." "Let them come." "Syra." "You made him leave." "You wanted to save Sebastian." "He's the only one who will die." "The only Christian for whom I won't ask Maxentius for mercy." "Fabiola." "Fabius's seat, your father's seat, will be Maxentius's seat tonight." "Nothing can console your heart more." "I hope for myself and all of you." " Beautiful, Fabiola." "You Fabii.." "have the genius of hospitality." "Maxentius has a child's heart, and you could enchant it." "When will Maxentius come?" " He'll come." "But when?" " Soon." "I sent the Numidians." "They're faithful creatures." "Stop!" "If you are a friend of Sebastian of Narbona, the Lord has sent you in time." "They want to kill him at dawn." "Gather his soldiers, the friends of the Christians." "Save him." "Save him!" "He fell for it." "It went well." "Here are the soldiers with Sebastian." " They're taking him from prison." "Tell everyone they're taking him to the olive garden." " Hurry up." "Fabiola." " Go away." "Go away!" "Fabiola, we can tell you now." "The emperor never thought of coming to you tonight." "The sun is about to rise, Fabiola, but this is not a usual day." "It is the day that will signal a new era for the empire." "A new era." "What did Rome need?" "That you be with us against the Christians." "And now all know that you are with us.." "All." "Maxentius, who listens to the people, has signed the decree, thanks to you." "Hail, friends." "I'm leaving." "I want to arrive in Rome on time to see tied to the stake the last one who let the mask drop, The beloved of the emperor!" "In this moment, Sebastian of Narbona will pay for his treason with his life." "Manlius Valerius!" " Now Constantine can come." "He won't find a Christian alive in all Rome." "Friends, all to the circus at the first hour!" " No!" "You won't leave." "Stay a little longer in this house, in Fabius's house." "Where perhaps you will never have the opportunity to return!" "Come!" "Come you all, servants of Fabius's house!" "I called you so that you may come and greet our guests." "They are the greatest people in the empire!" "Look at them carefully." "Look at them all, one by one!" "Because you must never forget them!" "They rush to Rome to see her finally freed from the enemies of their gods." "Honor them, servants of Fabius's house, because here.." "within these walls, they have accomplished their most perfect work." "You Fabii fit among the rabble from which you came." "Antonianus, why so many words?" "What work, Fabiola?" "Why didn't you claim the credit?" "Why did you leave the glory to others?" "Now you can pride yourselves before the people and the emperor, and obtain in return from Maxentius honors, lands, and money." "I also will come to Rome." "And all my servants will come with with me, who will scatter in the streets and squares." "And they'll cry to all that you.." "you alone have checked the voice that could have shaken the empire at its foundation." "The sacrilegious voice that invoked Christ!" "The first of the new Christian victims wasn't Sebastian of Narbona, it's another." "He fell here." "In this house." "His name was Fabius, and it was you who killed him." "Throw them out!" "Throw my father's murderers out of our house." "Throw them out!" "Out!" "They killed Fabius." "They killed Galba, but they won't Sebastian." "They won't kill him." " Well said, my son." "The horses are here." "Here they are." "I found about 30 grazing." "Let's go, Rhual!" "Arm yourselves well." "All!" "All!" "They say that Rome must be washed:" "it'll be a blood bath!" "Wait here." "Only Sebastian will decide what must be done." "Rhual!" " Coming." "Syra." "Syra!" "Syra." "Catch him!" "Murderer!" "Catch him!" "He killed Fabius!" "Catch him!" "Open your eyes, Pompey." " You'll end up banging your nose." "No worry." "It's 10 years since I learned how to sleep while I walk." "Beautiful olives this year." " In Germany the consul would sleep on horse and I on foot." "Come, take courage, Pompey." "Wake up, we've almost arrived." "Well." "Talk to me a little, so I won't sleep." " I'll tell you a story." "He still wants to tell stories!" " Come, tell us." "Do you know the story of the birth of the King of Kings?" "What?" " Of the birth of the King of Kings." "On that day Joseph looked at the vault of the sky." "And the vault of the sky was still." "The flight of birds had stopped." "The air was immobile." "Then he looked at the earth.." "and saw that also the river flow had stopped." "The mouths of the kids were touching the water, but they weren't drinking." "And he saw some workers motionless around a bowl, in the act of taking some food." "And those who were taking it to the mouth had stopped in their movement." "But the faces of all were lifted up." "And nearby, sheep that were led to the pasture didn't walk and stayed still." "The shepherd raised up the hand to strike them with his stick and the hand remained raised up." "Then.." "suddenly, all things regained their motion and all went to and looked at a cave." "And a woman said:" ""My soul was magnified, for today my eyes have seen a new miracle."" "Fabiola, if you could feel what I feel.." "and believe with me." "I believe with you, Syra." " Really?" "Fabiola." "Now we are really close." " Yes!" "And we'll never separate." "No, never.." "Never." "Will you do.." "something for me?" "I'll do whatever you want." "Will you baptize me?" "Do you remember?" ""In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost."" "Me?" " Yes." "In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." "So a great light appeared, so great that eyes could not tolerate it." "As a luminous cloud, that covered the whole cave." "And then was dispersed." "And little by little, as that light vanished, the Child appeared and was taken to the breast by His mother, Mary." "And was born.." "the King of Kings." "And the voice said:" ""Glory in the heavens.." "and peace on earth to men of good will."" "My story has ended." "Come on, boys." "It's late." "Rhual, stop!" "What kind of freedom will you give me?" "How can we claim to call ourselves Christians?" "My God!" "My Lord!" "When will this chain of hate and blood be broken?" "The Christians with weapons in their hands!" "You are all witnesses." "You too who would talk about peace." "Hypocrite!" "Have you finished telling tales, Sebastian?" "The Christians are armed rebels against the state." "Soldiers, at your place." "Hit this dog!" "Do your duty." "Obey him." "And your God?" "Why doesn't He come to save you?" "Where is He in this moment?" "You're alone, Sebastian." "And you're afraid." " Yes, I'm afraid of your sword, Manlius Valerius." "I'm afraid for you, brother." "Because your sword won't defend you from the fire blast of God's judgment." " Arm the bows!" "You shall call, and the wind will scatter your word!" "You shall try to hide and the flames will illuminate your refuge!" "Take aim!" " What will you do with your sword, brother, on the day of God's judgment?" " Shoot!" "Shoot!" "Look what your Christian words have done to a maniple of veterans." "A bunch of cowards." "Hit him!" "My Christ have mercy on your strength." "Then go." "Go quickly to your Christ to defend my cause!" "Rhual!" "What did you do?" " I have.." "I have revenged you." "You are not Christian." "He detested us." "He hated us all." "He would provoke us." "He insulted God!" "A Christian never kills." "It was stronger than me." "But it won't happen any more." "Never." "I swear to you." "I told you so!" "Fabiola is a Christian, a renegade Christian!" "She also must die immediately." "To the circus!" "Let them be destroyed till the last generation." "Rip open their chests!" "Stone them, burn their flesh, and let the wind scatter their ashes!" "Prefect." "Fabiola has become a Christian." "They've already taken her down here." "Fabiola!" " Among the Christians, within the crowd, she can't be found." "He had her arrested." "What an exploit!" "In this moment, before all Rome." " What did you do, idiot?" "Why?" " Don't you understand?" "Fabiola with the Christians." "Who'll ever believe them to be the killers of her father?" "Go away!" "Let the gladiators and the lions be immediately ready!" "I swear to you, I'll find her again." "Call the commander of the Praetorians." "Quick." "Tell me what I should do." " What your father did." "We're looking for Fabiola." "Did you see her?" " No." "Fabiola!" "Fabiola!" "Fabiola!" "Laetitia!" "Fabiola." "Who saw Fabiola?" " Laetitia!" "Dad!" " Laetitia." "Laetitia." "Will you have it back?" "And won't you throw it again?" "Be strong, Rhual." "For a true Christian, death does not exist." "Are you decurion Rhual?" "Yes." " Come with me." "Lucian, Fabiola is here." " Where?" "Lady." " Lucian." "If you can, help me." "Your servant, Fabiola, only asks this of God." "I've been unworthy." "With my lies, my desires, I am responsible for this massacre." "It doesn't matter what we have been." "I beg you, tell me what I should do so that all may know the truth." "Truth doesn't know obstacles." "Who can claim to stop or accelerate the sun?" " But I..what should I do?" "Tell me, Lucian." " Have faith." "Laetitia, what are you doing?" "Don't climb those stairs!" "Look, dad." "Each steps near us to the end.." "and afterward all will be beautiful." "Always." " Laetitia," "Why are you torturing me so?" "You think I can let you go, that I can lose you?" "My child, you must do what your father wants." "You'll deny it." "You'll deny to be a Christian." "Laetitia.." "Lady.." "Lady.." "I pray you as a slave prays." " Dad." "I beg you, I humble myself before you." "Grant me the grace." "Lady." "Dad." " Laetitia." "See, dad." "I am but a drop of this river." "Can you stop me alone?" "I am a Christian, dad." "How can you wish me to deny?" "See." "If we don't have the strength.." "it's enough to humble ourselves before God." "We are not alone any more and discover that, from death itself, life is born." "Here is Fabiola." "Tell Fulvius that we've found her." "Lucian!" "Do you want to die with them?" "The murderer of Manlius Valerius refuses to fight, he demands to choose his fate." "That's too easy, really." "Any way, didn't you come from Gaul to be a gladiator?" "Isn't this an excellent opportunity?" "Listen, Rhual." "Will you refuse to fight even if I granted them pardon?" "Even if I should put all their lives into your hands?" "Ah, that's true." "I forgot a Christian doesn't fight:" "He stabs in the back." "I didn't think that to be Christian meant to be a coward." "You are a coward!" "The lions!" "Laetitia!" "Laetitia!" "Laetitia!" "Look how the arena is being filled, brother." "They are all friends and all armed." "They are waiting for one signal from you to stop this massacre and start another one." "I'll fight." " You'll fight?" "The gladiators." "Maxentius is waiting for you, and will grant life to decurion Rhual, who is descending this moment to fight." "Look, he'll have to face the most terrible gladiators." "Look." "Hail, Caesar!" "It's Rhual, he's there!" " Sebastian's friend." "Romans, Sebastian of Narbona asks this of us!" "He's disarmed." " He says that Sebastian told him." "You're going to be killed, idiot!" "Well done." " For me he's stupid, an idiot." "What did Sebastian say?" " He said that a Christian never kills." "What an idea!" " That's their idea." " And now they kill him." "Look." "I told you they'll kill him." " He killed him!" "No, not yet." "They won't kill him." "He's pouring blood like a fountain." " He'll win this time too." "You'll see!" "Kill him!" "He's finished, Fabiola." "The boy is condemned, he's about to die.." "and you'll be the one who killed him." "You close your eyes?" "You think you won't hear his cry when he'll cut his throat?" "You have just to give a signal to save him" "Look!" "Look there, it's Fabiola!" "It's Fabiola!" "Look!" "Rhual!" "Fabiola is a Christian!" " Fabiola is a Christian!" "The Christians are innocent!" "Kill them!" "Kill them all!" "Kill them!" "Kill us." "Constantine has arrived!" "And he brings us peace!" "THE END"