Theirs is a
sterling citizenship. The wanton metropolis of the Caesars is
blessed immeasurably by the company of these who follow the risen
Lord.
It is after the midcentury that the great Paulus, having met with
shipwreck on Melita, draws near to Rome. Quintus leads the company
that goes out southward forty miles, to welcome the Christian
traveler. At Appii Forum, that common town with its bargemen and
its tavern keepers, they give the kiss of welcome to a little bent
and gray-haired Jew, who shall go down into history as Christ's
most illustrious apostle. The faithful Luke is his companion.
Along the famous highway of the Via Appia, where emperors and
warriors, scholars and Oriental tradesmen have walked, Quintus
escorts their guest. Past the tombs of the Roman great, by
uncounted statues, past suburban villas they go, until, through the
Porta Appia, the holy prisoner, chained to a Roman guard, finds
himself in the city of the Caesars.
One rare privilege the Roman knight then envoys. In his hired
house, near the Pretorian camp, Paul speaks without interruption
his words of grace.
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