“We see too little of you these days, nephew,” Marios greeted him warmly. “Are your duties so onerous?”
“Not so much my duties as my cares,” Constantine admitted. I suppose you are familiar with what is happening in the palace.
“A flock of vultures serving only Galerius have come to roost there. Have they attacked you?”
“Not directly yet. It’s Mother I’m troubled about, her and her Christian friends.”
Christians of Drepanum
“Helena is too close to the Christians of Drepanum for her own welfare,” Marios agreed. “But we are a family of strongminded people and I haven’t been able to persuade her to give them up.” ‘Is she a Christian herself?”
“I asked her that question not over a month ago and she assured me she is not.” Marios looked at him keenly. “What about you? Dacius told me about the young priest of Caesarea and Antioch.” “Eusebius?” Constantine smiled. “He is naive enough to believe their god is working through me.”
“Then you are not tempted to follow the man they call Christ?” A familiar picture came into Constantine’s mind at his uncle s words, the first time it had been there in many months. It was the face of the slender shepherd with the wise and understanding eyes that seemed not only able to penetrate one’s soul but also to bring assurance and comfort in times of uncertainty.
“I saw a painting of the man they worship on the wall of a ruined church at Dura on the Euphrates,” he said. “He must have been quite different from other men.”
“Different enough to invite his own death on the cross and the deaths of thousands who have followed him since,” Marios said shortly. “Put his face from your mind and choose some easy faith, like the worship of Mithras.”
“Why?”
“Diocletian might die any day; for all I know, Carinus may be poisoning him slowly with some subtle medicine on the orders of Galerius. When that happens, you will be the son of an Augustus and probably a Caesar.”
“Fausta thinks Galerius will try to have me killed when the Emperor abdicates.”
“She is probably right,” Marios said soberly. “An alliance with the house of Maximian would do you no harm. Of course their blood line is weak but yours is strong enough to overcome it. Do you expect either Maximian or Galerius to favor the match?” Constantine shook his head glumly. “Emperor Maximian made that clear before I left Rome. Only Diocletian could force him to give Fausta to me, and they are pushing me farther from him every day. Unless I’m wrong, a decree will be issued tomorrow starting a new campaign of persecution against the Christians and I shall be charged with carrying it out, at least in Nicomedia. I’m sure Carinus arranged it, hoping I will refuse.”
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