Plays

epub:type="ordinal z3998:roman">XI

Constantine	I am greatly astonished, soldiers, that Gallicanus should be so long in presenting himself before his sovereign.
Soldiers	The moment he arrived in Rome he went to the Church of Saint Peter, and, prostrating himself on the ground, gave thanks to the Almighty for giving him the victory.
Constantine	Gallicanus?
Soldiers	It is true.
Constantine	Impossible!
Soldiers	Here he comes. You can ask him yourself.

Scene XII

Constantine	Welcome, Gallicanus! I have awaited your arrival with impatience. I long to hear from your own lips how the battle went and how it ended.
Gallicanus	I will tell you the whole story.
Constantine	Wait a moment, for even the battle is of small importance compared with the one thing which I want most to hear.
Gallicanus	What may that be?
Constantine	On your departure for the war you visited the temple of the gods; on your return you went to the Church of the Apostles. Why?
Gallicanus	You ask that?
Constantine	Have I not told you, man, that I wish to know above all things!
Gallicanus	I will explain.
Constantine	Proceed, I beg you.
Gallicanus	Most Sacred Emperor, I confess I visited the temples on my departure, as you have said, and humbly sought the help of gods and demons.
Constantine	According to the old Roman custom.
Gallicanus	To my thinking, a bad custom.
Constantine	I am of the same mind.
Gallicanus	Then the tribunes arrived with their legions and we began our march.
Constantine	You set out from Rome with great pomp.
Gallicanus	We pushed on, met the enemy, engaged them, and were defeated.
Constantine	Romans defeated!
Gallicanus	Routed.
Constantine	When was such a disaster ever known in our history!
Gallicanus	Once again I offered those hideous sacrifices, but what god came to my help? The fury of the enemy redoubled, and great numbers of my men were slain.
Constantine	I am amazed.
Gallicanus	It was then that the tribunes, disregarding my orders, began to surrender.
Constantine	To the enemy?
Gallicanus	To the enemy.
Constantine	And what did you do?
Gallicanus	What could I do but take to flight?
Constantine	Impossible!
Gallicanus	It is true.
Constantine	What anguish for a man of your courage!
Gallicanus	The sharpest.
Constantine	And how did you escape?
Gallicanus	My faithful companions, John and Paul, advised me to make a vow to the Creator.
Constantine	Good advice.
Gallicanus	I found it so. Hardly had I opened my lips to make the vow than I received help from heaven.
Constantine	How?
Gallicanus	A young man of immense stature appeared before me carrying a cross on his shoulder. He bade me follow him sword in hand.
Constantine	This young man, whoever he was, was sent from heaven.
Gallicanus	So it proved. At the same moment I saw at my side some soldiers whose faces were strange to me. They promised me their help.
Constantine	The host of Heaven!
Gallicanus	I am sure of it. Following in the steps of my guide, I advanced fearlessly into the midst of the enemy until I came face to face with their King, by name Bradan. Suddenly overcome by the strangest terror he threw himself at my feet, surrendered with his whole army, and promised to pay tribute in perpetuity to the ruler of the Roman world.
Constantine	Now praise be to Him Who gave us this victory. Those who put their trust in Him will never be confounded.
Gallicanus	My experience witnesses to it.
Constantine	And now I should like to know what became of the treacherous tribunes?
Gallicanus	They hastened to implore my forgiveness.
Constantine	And you showed them mercy?
Gallicanus	I show mercy to men who had abandoned me in the hour of peril and surrendered to the enemy against my orders! No, assuredly!
Constantine	What did you do?
Gallicanus	I offered to pardon them on one condition.
Constantine	What condition?
Gallicanus	I told them that those who consented to become Christians would be allowed to retain their rank, and might even receive fresh honours, but that those who refused would not be pardoned, and would be degraded.
Constantine	A fair proposition, and honourable to the leader who made it.
Gallicanus	For my own part, purified in the waters of baptism, I have surrendered myself completely to the will of God. I am ready to renounce even your daughter, whom I love more than anything in the world. I wish to abstain from marriage that I may devote myself wholly to the service of the Virgin’s Son.
Constantine	Come near, nearer yet, and let me fold you in my arms! Now, Gallicanus, the time has come for me to tell you what up to now I have been obliged to keep secret.
Gallicanus	What is it?
Constantine	My daughter, and your own two also, have chosen the same holy path which you yourself wish to follow.
Gallicanus	I rejoice to hear it.
Constantine	Their desire to keep their vow of virginity is so ardent that neither entreaties nor threats can alter their resolution.
Gallicanus	God help them to persevere!
Constantine	Come, let us go to their apartments.
Gallicanus	Lead on. I will follow.
Constantine	They are coming here. Look, they hasten to greet us, and my glorious mother, noble Helena, is with them. They all weep for joy.

Scene XIII

Gallicanus	Be at peace, most holy virgins. Persevere in the fear of God, and preserve untouched the treasure of your virginity. Then you will be worthy of the embraces of the eternal King.
Constance	We shall keep our vows with more joy now we know that you are on our side.
Gallicanus	Have no fear that I shall put any obstacle in your way. Far from it! I consent gladly, and desire nothing better than to see you fulfil your vow, my Constance, you, for whom I was eager to risk life itself.
Constance	I see the hand of the Most High in this change in you.
Gallicanus	If I had not changed, and for the better, I could never have consented to renounce you.
Constance	The Lover of virginal purity and the Author of all good resolutions made you renounce me because He had already claimed me for His own. May He Who has separated us in the body on earth unite us in the joys of eternity.
Gallicanus	So be it! So be it!
Constantine	And now, since we are united in