Arriving in face of the Caesars he threw
aside the cloth and held up before them and in sight of all the people
the grizzly head of Simon, the son of Gioras. By this public murder of
a brave captain of their foes was consummated the Triumph of the Romans,
and at the sight of its red proof trumpets blew, banners waved, and from
half a million throats went up a shout of victory that seemed to rend
the very skies, for the multitude was drunk with the glory of its brutal
vengeance.
Then silence was called, and there before the Temple of Jove the beasts
were slain, and the Caesars offered sacrifice to the gods that had given
them victory.
Thus ended the Triumph of Vespasian and Titus, and with it the record
of the struggle of the Jews against the iron beak and claws of the Roman
Eagle.
CHAPTER XXIII
THE SLAVE-RING
Had Miriam chanced to look out of her litter as she passed the Temple
of Isis, escorted by Gallus and the guards before dawn broke upon that
great day of the Triumph, and had there been light to enable her to see,
she might have beheld two figures galloping into Rome as fast as their
weary horses would carry them. Both rode after the fashion of men, but
one of them, wrapped in an Eastern garment that hid the face, was in
fact a woman.
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