such cases; but I do not complain when I remember how much we owe to these very divinities; nor am I ashamed to do everything with my own hands Whither away, Caesarius?
Caesarius.
To the church, most gracious Emperor; I would pray for the soul of my departed master.
Julian.
Go, go! In these matters every one is free.
[Caesarius, with several of the older courtiers and officers of state, goes out to the left.
But the freedom I concede to the meanest
citizen, I claim for myself as well.Be it known,
therefore, to you all, Greeks and Romans, that I
return with my whole heart to the beliefs and
rites which our forefathers held sacred,—that they
may be freely propagated and exercised, no less
than all new and foreign opinions;—and as I am a
son of this city, and therefore hold it pre-eminently
dear, this I proclaim in the name of its
guardian deities.
[Julian gives a sign; some of the attendants withdraw the veil from the stone: an altar is seen, and, at its base, a flagon of wine, a cruse of oil, a little heap of wood, and other appurtenances. Strong but speechless emotion in the multitude, as Julian goes up to the altar, and prepares for the offering.
Themistius.
Oh well may I, as a Greek, melt into tears at the sight of so much humility and pious zeal!
