The Faithful Eponina
Though Rome had extended its conquests over numerous tribes and nations
of barbarians, and reduced them to subjection, much of the old love of
liberty remained, and many of the later Roman wars were devoted to the
suppression of outbreaks among these unwilling subjects. In the reign of
Vespasian occurred such a rebellion, followed by so remarkable an
instance of womanly devotion that it has since enlisted the sympathy of
Julius Sabinus, a leading chief among the Ligones, a tribe of the Gauls,
led by ambition and daring, and stirred by hatred of the Roman dominion,
resolved to shake off the yoke of conquest, and by his arts and
eloquence kindled the flame of rebellion among his countrymen. Gathering
an army, he drove the Romans from the territory of his own people, and
then marched into the country of the Sequani, whom he hoped to bring
into the revolt.
But the discomfiture of the Romans lasted only until they could bring
their forces together. A battle ensued between the hastily-levied
followers of Sabinus and a disciplined Roman army, with the inevitable
result. The barbarians were defeated with great slaughter, the death of
most, the flight of the others, bringing the rebellion to a disastrous
end.
Sabinus was among those who escaped the general carnage. He sought
shelter from his pursuers in an obscure cottage, and, being hotly and
closely tracked, he set fire to his lurking-place and caused a report to
be spread that he had perished in the flames. He had been attended in
his flight by two faithful freedmen, and one of these, Martialis by
name, sought Eponina, the loving wife of the chief, and told her that
her husband was no more, that he had perished in the flames of the
burning hut.
Giving full credit to the story, Eponina was thrown into a transport of
grief which went far to convince the spies of Rome that she must have
received sure tidings of her husband's death, and that Sabinus had
escaped the vengeance of Rome. For several days her grief continued
unabated, and then the same messenger returned and told her that her
husband still lived, having spread the report of his death to throw his
pursuers off his track.
This information brought Eponina as lively joy as the former news had
brought her sorrow; but knowing that she was watched, she affected as
deep grief as before, going about her daily duties with all the outward
manifestations of woe. When night came she visited Sabinus secretly in
his new hiding-place, and was received in his arms with all the joy of
which loving souls are capable. Before the dawn of day she returned to
her home, from which her absence had not been known.
During seven months the devoted wife continued these clandestine visits,
softening by caresses and brave words her husband's anxious care, and
supplying his wants as far as she was capable. At the end of that time
she grew hopeful of obtaining a pardon for the fugitive chief. For this
purpose she induced him to disguise himself in a way that made detection
impossible and accompany her on a long and painful journey to Rome.
Here the earnest and faithful woman made every possible effort to gain
the ear and favor of the emperor and to obtain influence in high places.
She unhappily found that Roman officials had no time or thought to waste
on fugitive rebels, and that compassion for those who dared oppose the
supremacy of Rome was a sentiment that could find no place in the
imperial heart. Repelled, disappointed, hopeless, the unhappy woman and
her disguised husband retraced their long and weary journey, and Sabinus
again sought shelter in the dens and caves which formed his only secure
places of refuge.
And now the faithful wife, abandoning her home, joined him in his
lurking-place, and for nine long years the devoted couple lived as
homeless fugitives, mutual love their only comfort, obtaining the
necessaries of life by means of which we are not aware. By the tenderest
affection Eponina softened the anxieties of her husband, the birth of
two sons served still more to alleviate the misery of their distressful
situation, and all the happiness that could possibly come to two so
circumstanced attended the pair in their straitened place of refuge.
At the end of nine years the hiding-place of the fugitives was
discovered by their enemies, and they were seized and sent in chains to
Rome. Here Vespasian, who had gained a reputation for kindness and
clemency, acted with a cruelty worthy of the worst emperors of Rome. The
pitiable tale of the captives had no effect upon him; the devotion of
the wife roused no sympathy in his heart; Sabinus had dared rebel
against Rome, no time nor circumstance could soften that flagitious
crime; without hesitation the chief was condemned to death, and instant
execution ordered.
This cruel sentence changed the tone of Eponina. She had hitherto humbly
and warmly supplicated her husband's pardon. Now that he was dead she
resolved not to survive him. With the spirit and pride of a free-born
princess she said to Vespasian, "Death has no terror for me. I have
lived happier underground than you upon your throne. You have robbed me
of all I loved, and I have no further use for life. Bid your assassins
strike their blow; with joy I leave a world which is peopled by such
tyrants as you."
She was taken at her word and ordered by the emperor for execution. It
was the darkest deed of Vespasian's life, a blot upon his character
which all his record for clemency cannot remove, and which has ever
since lain as a dark stain upon his memory.
Plutarch, who has alone told this story of love unto death, concludes
his tale by saying that there was nothing during Vespasian's reign to
match the horror of this atrocious deed, and that, in retribution for
it, the vengeance of the gods fell upon Vespasian, and in a short time
after wrought the extirpation of his entire family.
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