The Nemesis: A Tale Of The Days Of Trajan.

to last one hundred and twenty clays , and this was the night of the last day of the triumph . One hundred and seventeen clays of rejoicing still remained for the Romans , and they looked forward with intense relish to the fights in the Colliseuni , and those other amusements , the accompaniments of such a festive time .

In the Suburra , however , revellers werestill to be found , although no light indicated the joyous meeting ; the outside of the house lay iu the sombreshadow , and the sound of festivity escaped not beyond the walls . But this house was the

temple of Bacchus , and here were assembled many of the noblest Romans , met in spite of prohibition and disgrace , to celebrate the rites of the wine god . The Bacchanalian rites were introduced by the Greeks into Italy , in the year before

Christ 496 . At first they were simple and inoffensive , and continued so till the Christian era , when they rapidly degenerated , and in the days of Nero came to be celebrated with such licentiousness , as in a manner to destroy public morals . They were

at first celebrated in secret , and by women only , but latterly men were admitted , aud took a leading part , when they were made the cloak for the most unnatural excesses . The infamous and

disgusting Domitian patronised them , and his example soon was followed by the principal Romans . Nerva , his successor , however , issued stringent acts for their suppression , and under the stern and virtuous reign of Trajan they were rendered so

despicable , that their votaries carefully concealed them , only celebrating them at rare seasons , and with the utmost secrecy . They might have in time died out , but for one man , who , by his skill , drew many Romans loack to the rites , as Toy his

caution , he prevented them reaching the public . The house was situated in an obscure part of the Suburra , but being large , was amply convenient for all their purposes . The principal trichinium , or dining hall , was a spacious apartment ,

capable of holding a large company . The floor was paved with small pieces of party-coloured marble , the walls were ornamented with pictures , and great expense and skill had been lavished upon the roof . The pictures represented scenes from

the life of Bacchus . Here Pentheus King of Thebes , was torn to pieces by his mother and her sisters for refusing homage to the god . There Mynias , was raving in madness , caused by the same neglect . There the long-eared Midas was worshi pping him , and here the Tyrrhenian

mariners were changing into dolphins . Statues of the god , wild Bacchautees , satyrs , old Silcaus , & c , were ranged along the sides of the room , while immense brazen candelabra lent a light to the scene , that rivalled that of the day . The windows

however were carefully closed , aud bars cf iron crossed the oaken shutters , while to prevent the escape alike of a single laugh or a whisper , thick silken curtains were carefully drawn over them . On the principal couch reclined a man well

stricken in years , his hair fastened with the fillet , and his brow covered with a chaplet of roses . This was the Magister Bibendi , or King of the Revel Tall and graceful , his fine features , which intemperance had not yet destroyed , showed him to be a child of Greece , and a nobler name in the annals of philosophy , than that of Murtius , was , in his

day , unknown in Athens . A brilliant youth , was followed by a glorious manhood , and an honoured old age was expected to be his ; but from some undiscovered cause , his friends began to look black on him , tales , vague and indefinite began to be

whispered abroad of him , tales full of disgrace and shame . To escape from these , he fled to Rome , accompanied by his daughters , Phryne , aud Myra , and also by Lais , the sister of his dead wife . At least , so were the women esteemed in

Rome . In the imperial city , Murtius soon made friends , for his name , although not his disgrace , were well known to the Roman philosophers . He kept a hospitable board , his daughters and his sister-in-law were beautiful women , and thus his house became a favourite lounge of the youngnobles . In Rome however he continued the

practices which had turned his friends against him . Murtius was a bold and original thinker , but in the mythology of Athens he found nothing but vice and immorality among the gods , so sweeping

along with such a current , he became a votary of Bacchus , and a leader in the celebration of the rites . He soon made himself acquainted with those Romans , who had worshipped at the same shrine ; by them he was warmly welcomed , his

ability and humour recommending him to their best attentions . He soon reorganised the orgies , purchased a house in the Suburra , for the celebration of the rites , which he furnished in a most expensive fashion , and instituted certain signals for

their protection against the law . It was he who kept alive the dying fire in spite of all the edicts of the Emperoi \